Chelsea investor Ares joins Mbappe in SAILGP

Published: 2025-06-19 01:31:12 ET ARES

Published on 06/19/2025 at 01:31

CHELSEA, McLaren Racing and Miami Dolphins investor Ares Management has joined Kylian Mbappe in buying into the French SailGP team.

The US firm's minority stake will see the sailing team become entirely privately owned, and follows recent celebrity investments in the series from the likes of Anne Hathaway (Italy) and Ryan Reynolds (Australia).

Ares Management is a major sports investor, having pumped $500m into Premier League club Chelsea in 2023 while also owning stakes in the holding company of Atletico Madrid, baseball side San Diego Padres and David Beckham's MLS side Inter Miami, as well as the Formula 1 team McLaren and NFL franchise Miami Dolphins.

The private equity firm was also involved in Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor's takeover of French football club Lyon, via his Eagle Football vehicle.

Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment co-lead Jim Miller said that SailGP had achieved "impressive growth across its teams, viewership and engagement", adding that it was "thrilled to enter the league and join the France SailGP Team's existing owners group".

"With the team's expanding ecosystem of dedicated athletes, sponsors and fans, alongside Ares' experience, we are eager to lend our capabilities."