Ropes & Gray and Shoosmiths have advised on a deal which has seen leading sports boutique Northridge Law take private equity investment, as the trends for external investment in the legal and sports sectors gather pace.
Northridge, which is ranked in the top tier of Legal 500’s London sport ranking, and counts the Football Association and Chelsea FC among its clients, has today (31 March) announced a minority investment from San Francisco private equity firm Cordillera Investment Partners.
The firm was founded in 2017 by a group of former Charles Russell Speechlys partners, and has carved out a strong reputation at the top of the sports market, advising on high-profile matters such as the sale of Chelsea FC in 2022 and Spotify’s commercial partnership with FC Barcelona the same year.
Founding partner Jonathan Ellis said the investment would allow the firm ‘to accelerate our strategic priorities, broaden and deepen our capabilities, expand internationally, and continue to invest in exceptional talent and innovative technology.’
Ropes advised Cordillera on the deal, led by private equity partner Shona Ha and tax partner Chris Agnoli, while Shoosmiths acted for Northridge.
Ropes has acted for Cordillera on several previous matters including its $10m investment in the Professional Triathletes Organisation last summer.
Northridge generated revenues of £13.3m for the 2024-25 financial year, up 12% on the previous year, the firm’s Companies House filings show, with operating profit of £6.3m.
Alongside Ellis, the firm was founded by Legal 500 Hall of Famer Ian Lynam, leading partners Jon Walters and James Eighteen and next generation partner Paul Shapiro.
‘Our focus has always been on building the ideal firm to advise the sports industry when the stakes are highest,’ Lynam said. ‘Northridge’s success stems from our focus – providing the best advice on the most complex matters in sport requires the kind of specialist expertise which can only be built by working in the industry every day.’
The 2022 sale of Chelsea FC to an investment group led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital was a particularly high-profile mandate for the firm given the scrutiny surrounding Roman Abramovich’s ownership and the war in Ukraine.
It was completed on an ‘accelerated timeline under unprecedented scrutiny’, the firm said at the time of the deal, which also involved Simmons & Simmons and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Cordillera’s investment will see it take a seat on the firm’s board. The investment group focuses exclusively on what it terms ‘niche and non-correlated assets’; its strategy is to target small but diversified businesses which can offer large returns.
Interest in external investment in law has been growing in recent months, with Cohen & Gresser positioning itself to become one of the first US law firms to tap external capital, confirming that it is exploring ‘innovative’ structures with investment firms.
Last year the newly merged McDermott Will & Schulte also confirmed that it was considering its options around private investment, while stressing that any such moves were at preliminary stage.
Other recent deals involving football clubs have included Apollo’s investment in Wrexham FC, the football club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, on which Gibson Dunn and Latham & Watkins advised.
Latham also advised Apollo on its launch of a $5bn investment vehicle which subsequently acquired a majority stake in Spanish football club Atlético Madrid, with A&O Shearman leading for Apollo on that deal.
Photo by Virginia Marinova on Unsplash.
