After Apollo acquires Atlético, as long as the chairman sent is not a conspicuous bag who wants to interfere in everything, but can be self-aware, do a good job in budget audits, respect professional experience, and empower existing executives and executive teams, Atlético will have the economic foundation to break out of the Spanish cultural circle and move toward globalization. Globalization of Atlético is also a long-cherished wish of Xiao Hill and Cerezo.
The key to this acquisition is the governance structure: Apollo obtains 51% of your bed's equity and controls the board of directors, while Atlético's current management (Xiao Hill, Mayo, Alemany) will control the execution system. The original Atlético HoldCo will be disbanded. In principle, Apollo, as a private equity fund, does not buy teams, but cash flow and valuation growth. Therefore, the board of directors controlled by Apollo only cares about ROI, EBITDA, and the timing of exit. Operational matters such as transfers, tactics, and business are still autonomous by the Atlético management.
This two-tier structure is actually the complementarity of two resource systems: Apollo lacks local political connections and football ecological experience in Spain, but as the third largest private equity fund in the world(AUM exceeds Oak + Red Bird + Clearlake), and has strong capital, brand and international network; Atlético’s current management has been deeply involved in Spain and Latin America for decades, and is familiar with human connections, public opinion, bureaucracy and sports operations, but has always been limited by insufficient capital. Therefore, Atlético provides knowledge, connections, and operational experience in the football field, while funds and brand resources are injected by Apollo, and both parties need each other.
From the perspective of Atlético, this is also a responsible selling of the team. Hill Jr. and Cerezo planned for capital entry several years in advance. From the introduction of "God of Wealth" Mayo in 2023 (proficient in business development, sponsorship negotiations, and media copyright structures) to the invitation of Alemany (one of the managers who best understands resource allocation and lineup balance in the Spanish football environment) a few weeks ago, the arrival of these two star executives has not only improved Atlético's operational quality also allows capital to "move in", which directly drives up the club's market valuation: from approximately €1.2B when Ares took a stake in 2021 to €2B when negotiating with Apollo in 2025, Atlético completed its self-valuation upgrade before the sale.
Apollo took over Atlético in the form of capital increase and share expansion, which means that more of the funds it injected went into the company (S.A.D.) level for project development, which is consistent with its motivation to value the sports city. No matter who the owner is, the person who spends the money is the Atlético de Madrid Club; the method of payment comes from the club's own cash flow and the capital structure provided by the investors. Apollo will not let Atlético immediately spend a lot of money to buy people. It is more likely to release cash flow by improving the capital structure, reducing debt costs, and reducing fixed expenses, thereby allowing Atlético to increase the club's operating income and budget margin while complying with budget discipline and the La Liga salary cap, thereby improving market competitiveness.
On the other hand, Apollo’s experience in the infrastructure and real estate fields also provides support for Atlético’s sports city plan. This complex built around the Metropolitan Stadium integrates sports, commerce, entertainment and residence. It is essentially a "sports version of Wanda Plaza". In this type of assets, Apollo has rich experience in trading. In the future, it may package the sports city into a real estate investment trust (REIT, Real Estate Investment Trust) to securitize fixed assets and obtain cash flow.
At the same time, the debt restructuring that Apollo is good at has also given Atlético a new solution to the historical debt of approximately €500M. Through Apollo's financing channels (such as its Athene pension and annuity fund pool, as of 2022, its fund pool will reach $250B), the club can replace the original high-interest loans with long-term, low-interest, stable capital, thereby reducing leverage, reducing interest, and directly increasing EBITDA. In other words, Apollo, as a major shareholder, has the ability to reconstruct the club's balance sheet through financial engineering and lay the foundation for subsequent valuation growth.
Therefore, from Apollo's perspective, Atlético Sports City is a medium-sized infrastructure platform located in a first-tier European city, and the club itself is the first flagship project of its sports fund: a "sports + real estate + finance" project prototype that can be copied, valued, and securitized.
The American private equity logic represented by Apollo emphasizes profit, valuation, and exit timing, while the club values represented by Atlético emphasize emotion, identity, and spiritual belonging. As the owner, how Apollo can strike a balance between the two in the form of financial control + football autonomy, reduce the friction caused by the conflict of positions between the board of directors and management, not only allow investment to return, but also allow the club to retain its soul and sense of belonging, will be the key to this acquisition and even the future destiny of Atlético.