Saru to appoint financial advisors to plot future

The South African Rugby Union (Saru) announced on Thursday they would appoint a financial institution to review their financial ecosystem.

The decision to take this step was made during a General Council meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday and following Saru’s failure to reach a 75% majority vote for private equity group, Ackerley Sports Group (ASG), to get a controlling share in the union’s commercial arm.

It is understood the rugby unions who voted against ASG becoming involved in Saru had mandated the Executive Council and management to initiate a new process, to look into the rugby’s body financial system.

Saru said on Thursday the first step in the new process would be to appoint the financial institution through an independent selection process to advise members on all aspects of rugby’s financial sustainability and the role that a potential private equity investment might play.

‘Review commercial prospects’

“We have been given a new mandate from the General Council to start a new process to review our commercial and financial prospects and define the process,” said Mark Alexander, president of Saru.

He said that to provide full confidence in the process, the financial advisors would be chosen through an independent selection process. One representative each from the franchise unions and non-franchise unions as well as two independent members of the Executive Council would form the selection committee, supported by the SA Rugby CEO and CFO.

“We will take a measured and consultative approach under the guidance of the financial advisers as we review the financial challenges and opportunities,” said Alexander.

The Council was also advised that the highest level of financial distribution previously agreed by the members (known as the gold model) was guaranteed for the three years thanks to an acceleration in commercial sales.

Alexander said that although a loss would be reported for 2024 the work undertaken by management and strong commercial sales for 2025 had secured the organisation’s financial prospects for the next three years.