Saracens takeover by consortium including Pienaar completed

Saracens’ £32 million (R653 million) takeover by a consortium including World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar has been completed, it was announced Wednesday.

In October, the English Premiership giants first unveiled a takeover plan that saw Saracens owner Nigel Wray, who has backed the club financially since 1995 and recruited Pienaar as a player, agreeing to sell his controlling stake.

Saracens, confirming the deal had gone through, said in a statement on Wednesday: “The board of Saracens Group Holdings Limited is pleased to announce the completion of the previously announced transaction regarding the refinancing of the group and the acquisition of a controlling stake in the group by Kimono House Limited.

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“Kimono House is owned by a consortium of investors including Dominic Silvester, Neil Golding, Nick Leslau, Paul O’Shea, Francois Pienaar and Marco Masotti.”

Pienaar, 55, led South Africa to Rugby World Cup glory on home soil in 1995.

Saracens have enjoyed their most successful period under Wray, who first invested in the London club in 1995 and took full ownership in 2018.

They were crowned European champions three times in four years between 2016 and 2019 and have won the English Premiership trophy five times since 2011.

Saracens, however, were relegated at the end of the 2019/20 season for repeated breaches of the Premiership’s salary cap.

Nevertheless they still retained a clutch of stars including England internationals Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Mako and Billy Vunipola and Elliot Daly and immediately gained promotion from the second tier.