West Ham in talks over selling stake in women’s team to US private equity fund | OneFootball

West Ham are in advanced talks over selling a stake in their women’s team to an American private equity fund dedicated to investing in women’s sport.

The Guardian has learned that Monarch Collective, of which the co‑founder set up Angel City FC before investing in the NWSL teams in San Diego and Boston, wants to buy up to 49% of the Women’s Super League club in a proposed deal that values the side at about £55m.

West Ham’s existing ownership group of David Sullivan, Daniel Kretinsky and the David Gold family is expected to retain a controlling interest. The club declined to comment.

West Ham would become the second WSL club to sell shares to American investors this year in a trend that reflects the competition’s growing global appeal, a position likely to be strengthened by the commercial benefits of England’s second successive European Championship win this summer.

Chelsea sold 10% of their women’s team to Alexis Ohanian, an American entrepreneur who co-founded the social media platform Reddit and is the husband of the tennis legend Serena Williams, for £20m in May in a deal that valued the WSL champions at £245m.

Aston Villa are believed to be in talks with US investors over potentially buying up to 10% of the women’s club after the remaining 90% was sold to Villa’s parent company, V Sports, controlled by their owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

Monarch is understood to have held talks with Chelsea this year and to have approached West Ham after failing to close that deal, despite the club having a very different profile.

West Ham have played in the WSL since 2018 but have never finished in the top five and are the only top‑flight club linked to a men’s team not to have played a game at their men’s stadium in the past six years. West Ham are in dispute with the London Stadium landlord, E20, over the cost of renting the ground for a WSL fixture – a source of frustration for the club – and play at Dagenham & Redbridge’s 6,000-capacity Chigwell Construction Stadium.

Monarch is the largest women’s-dedicated sports fund in the world and would bring additional investment, including in the squad, and expertise. It would look to resolve the dispute with E20.

Monarch was founded by the venture capitalists Jasmine Robinson and Kara Nortman, who raised $150m in a funding round two years ago and have since raised a further $100m to invest in women’s sports. The company’s all-female investors include the philanthropist Melinda French Gates and the former Netflix executives Cindy Holland and Annie Imhoff.

Nortman was a co-founder of Angel City along with Ohanian, Natalie Portman and Julie Uhrman, and retained a small stake when the club were sold last year with a $250m valuation, a record for a women’s sports team. Monarch has since invested in San Diego Wave and the expansion club Boston Legacy FC, who will join the NSWL next year.

Ohanian is not an investor in Monarch so despite his previous business interests with Nortman at Angel City there is no conflict of interest if the company’s bid for West Ham succeeds.

West Ham’s women’s team have been the responsibility of three female directors since 2023: Karren Brady, Tara Warren and Nicola Keye. Monarch would make its own appointments to the leadership team.

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