Trivela Group Issues Statement Proposing Majority Acquisition of Silkeborg IF
11/19/2024 08:00 AM
In a joint press release, Trivela Group and the Board of Directors of Silkeborg IF Invest A/S have announced that they have executed an agreement whereby Trivela will acquire 80% of the shares of professional football club Silkeborg IF A/S.
"We have achieved one of our clear objectives; for the football club to balance financially on its own.
"At the same time, there has been significant development and stability in our performance in the league, and we want the football club to build on this progress.
"We are very confident that Trivela Group is the right investor to help the club achieve this, and that they match our values and approach.
This proposal is being brought before the shareholders of Silkeborg Invest for a formal approval vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting in December, in Silkeborg.
The current owner, Silkeborg Invest, is a publicly-traded local investment firm, and will remain partner and 20% owner.
If approved by the Silkeborg Invest shareholders, this will mark the addition of a fourth club to the Trivela Group collective, after the 2022 acquisition of Walsall Football Club in England, the 2024 acquisition of Drogheda United FC in Ireland, and the recent addition of grassroots club Trivela FC in Togo.
Silkeborg IF is based in Silkeborg, Denmark, a town in central Jutland. The club was founded in 1917, and currently participates in the Danish Superliga, the top division in Denmark.
The club plays its home matches at JYSK Park, a 10,000 capacity stadium build in 2017. The club has primarily participated in the top flight of Danish football over the past decade, with their top finish coming in 2021-22, when they placed third behind runners-up FC Midtjylland and champions FC Copenhagen.
The club have experienced strong success both from a financial and sporting standpoint in recent years, and are currently reigning champions of the Danish Cup, having played in European fixtures this summer against Molde FK (Norway) and KAA Gent (Belgium) as a result.
As of today, the club sits in 4th in a very tight Danish Superliga, 2 points behind co-leaders AGF Aarhaus, FC Midtjylland, and FC Copenhagen.
In addition to experiencing sporting success, the club has been consistently profitable, and was recently ranked 5th in Europe on "Off the Pitch's" 2023 list of the Top 10 most financially sustainable clubs, behind BodoGlimt (Norway), Molde FK (Norway), Manchester City (England), and Fiorentina (Italy).
The club has also been successful in producing and transferring talented players – notably Lukas Engel of Middlesbrough in England, and Alexander Lind of Pisa in Italy.
Trivela Group Managing Director and Walsall FC & Drogheda United Co-Chair Benjamin Boycott said: "I'm pleased with Trivela's potential move into Denmark, with the proposed acquisition of Silkeborg IF.
"The management at Silkeborg has done an outstanding job running a competitive and profitable club these past many years, and it has been a pleasure to get to know them as we've sketched out this proposed transaction.
"The club is financially successful, debt free, and experiencing good sporting success of late as well.
"I have a great deal of respect for the club, the town, and the local culture, and am very hopeful to be invited in to be a part of it, if the Silkeborg Invest shareholders deem to approve us as owners."
Prior to the proposal being made public, Trivela has already completed full due diligence on the club, and has already been approved by the Danish league as qualified owners. Trivela's management feels that this next evolution in the group will stand to benefit all parties.
Boycott continued: "As I've always said to our supporters in Walsall and Drogheda, if and when we acquire more clubs, it will have to be of benefit to all parties – we won't do it just to do it.
"I hope that our supporters can see and feel the shared benefits thus far, with player collaboration on the likes of Evan Weir and Douglas James Taylor benefitting both DUFC and WFC, and shared supporter experiences such as this summer's Trivela Cup and the recent FAI Cup Final, which a number of Walsall supporters attended.
"We believe that these benefits will be felt even more as we add Silkeborg to the Trivela family, with the potential for mutually-beneficial player movement between clubs, potential technical and administrative staff career advancement and development opportunities inside the group, shared commercial sponsorship deals, and even more shared supporter experiences between clubs.
"I'd also honor the work that has been done at Silkeborg in the areas of operational efficiencies and player development through the domestic academy there.
"Adding this club to the Trivela Group is adding some real knowledge and experience in areas where we want to improve across the board.
"There are many things they do very, very well that we can learn from and implement throughout the group. Obviously this marks a major step forward for Trivela.
"We've made a series of major investments thus far, including in England with the acquisition of WFC and via the football club, the follow-on acquisitions of Bescot Stadium and the property surrounding it, followed by the significant renovation of the Locker, and in Ireland with the acquisition of DUFC and via the football club, the follow-on acquisition of United Park.
"This move into Denmark is a significant investment as well, being made due to the sporting and financial excellence of the football club, our belief in Denmark as a growth market, our strong belief in current management, and what we perceive to be excellent and mutually beneficial synergies between SIF and our current family of clubs.
"This major investment reflects our renewed and stalwart commitment to our overall vision of building a family of clubs that are well-run and successful from both a business and sporting standpoint and which all benefit each other."
Chairman of the Board of Silkeborg IF Invest A/S, Henrik Lyhne added: "The overarching and most important goal for us is to ensure the continued stable and sustainable operation and development of Silkeborg IF, and a new majority owner is the natural next step.
"We have achieved one of our clear objectives; for the football club to balance financially on its own.
"At the same time, there has been significant development and stability in our performance in the league, and we want the football club to build on this progress.
"We are very confident that Trivela Group is the right investor to help the club achieve this, and that they match our values and approach.
"Through our many conversations and interactions with Trivela as well as with the football clubs under their ownership, we have been assured and impressed by of their dedication, professionalism, and integrity."
Trivela Group was founded in the United States in 2021 by Benjamin Boycott and Kenneth Polk. Mr. Boycott is the full-time Managing Director of Trivela, while Mr. Polk is Founder & CEO of Arlington (Arlington.com). With over 25 years of experience, Arlington currently serves the needs of over 80 families with over USD 13 billion under stewardship.
Kenneth Polk said: "The family clients of Arlington have been honored to be a part of what Ben has been building since day one.
"The proposed Silkeborg IF acquisition, if approved, accelerates our vision of creating an ecosystem that stewards the ownership of financially sustainable football clubs."
If approved, the proposed transaction would see the retention of current CEO Kent Madsen and current CFO Claus Christensen, who have operated the club successfully for many years, with Boycott joining the Board of Directors.
To provide further clarity on the takeover and what it means for Walsall FC, Co-Chairman Benjamin Boycott and CEO Ben Sadler will be releasing a video message later this week.
