Ontario Municipal Employees' Retirement System, Toronto, is acquiring an indirect 5% stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team and Toronto Raptors basketball team.
The $400 million deal was made through a 20% direct stake in Kilmer Sports, owned by Larry Tanenbaum, MLSE chair. Kilmer Sports owns 25% of Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment.
"This is an exciting and unique opportunity for OMERS members in Ontario communities to be connected to these iconic sports teams in their own backyard," said Blake Hutcheson, OMERS' president and CEO, in a Nov. 5 news release.
"As an investor on their behalf, we actively seek out investment opportunities of the highest quality, that are fortified by trusted partnerships and that offer the potential of significant long-term upside. This one happens to be here in Canada and Ontario which is also really important, and meaningful to OMERS," Hutcheson said.
OMERS is solely a financial investor and will not participate in the operational decisions of MLSE or any of the franchises it owns, which also includes the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts and Major League Soccer's Toronto FC.
The passive stake in the NBA's Toronto Raptors follows that league's decision in 2022 to allow pension funds, university endowments and sovereign wealth funds to purchase stakes.
As of June 30, OMERS had C$127.4 billion ($96.1 billion) in assets.
