Valencia receives $143m injection from new minority owners Pitchwise Holdings

SINGAPORE – Valencia CF will receive €100 million (S$143 million) in direct investment following Pitchwise Holdings’ acquisition of a 42% stake, the La Liga club announced on Oct 23.

The Spanish football club announced “a new chapter in its history” on Oct 23, with US-led consortium Pitchwise Holdings buying the minority stake based on a €1.25 billion enterprise valuation of Valencia CF.

Pitchwise Holdings comprises private family offices and long-term institutional investors led by experienced sports executives Ann Rodriguez and Corey Woolfolk.

It is also backed by George Roberts, Henry Kravis, co-founders of 50-year-old global investment firm KKR & Co, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as Penner Sports Group, a family investment and sports ownership led by husband-and-wife duo Greg Penner and Carrie Penner.

Greg is the chairman of Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, taking over from his father-in-law Rob Walton in 2015. Carrie is Rob’s daughter and the granddaughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton.

Pitchwise is acquiring the significant minority stake in Valencia through the purchase of shares from Meriton Holdings.

Pitchwise will also provide €100 million in new capital, which will be immediately available for direct investment into the club.

Singaporean Kiat Lim, 33, will continue as Valencia president as part of a new ownership group alongside Rodriguez and Woolfolk.

Lim, who took over from Chan Lay Hoon in March 2025, said: “There has been no shortage of interest in Valencia; the Pitchwise team was the only partnership I was keen to pursue.

“They bring long-term investment expertise and sports acumen, and we have gotten to know each other very well. With Ann, Corey, George and Pitchwise Holdings, I am confident that we are entering a new era and we can achieve great things for Valencia CF.

“Together we will build a modern club whose men’s and women’s teams compete consistently in Europe, whose academy produces world-class talent, and whose new home at Nou Mestalla becomes a landmark for the city and the entire region of Valencia.”

The significant injection will go some way to finance their new stadium, the Nou Mestalla, which is expected to cost €322 million and slated to open in 2027.

With a capacity of 70,044, it will be the fourth-biggest stadium in Spain after Barcelona’s Nou Camp (105,000 after redevelopment), Real Madrid’s Bernabeu (81,044) and Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano (70,692). The current Mestalla stadium has a capacity of 49,419.

In 2014, Meriton Holdings, which belongs to Lim’s father, Singapore tycoon Peter Lim, bought Valencia and effectively saved them from bankruptcy and administration after years of mismanagement.

According to the club, the 73-year-old has committed over €200 million, the largest in La Liga history by a single individual, allowing the club to stay financially stable and continue investing in key projects, including the Nou Mestalla as construction finally restarted in January 2025.

During this era, they qualified for the Champions League thrice, reached the Europa League semi-finals and won the King’s Cup in 2019 and reached the final again in 2022. But they have also had 14 different head coaches, the latest being Mexican Javier Aguirre.

In Peter’s 11 seasons with the club, Valencia finished in the top half six times, but find themselves languishing in 19th out of 20 teams with just one win and six points from nine games following a slow start to the season.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.