Asia-based football investment platform backs England's Charlton Athletic

ACAFP, described as a subsidiary of Japan’s ACA Group, which also controls ACA Investments, is one of seven disclosed shareholders in Global Football Partners alongside various individuals and families. Each shareholder owns at least 5%. Hiroyuki Ono, CEO of ACAFP and a partner at ACA Investments, will join the board of Global Football Partners.

Charlton Athletic, which was established in 1905 and enjoyed a nine-year run in the Premier League that ended in 2007. Since then, the club has seen a string of ownership changes – including four in the last four years – and been relegated to League One, the third tier of the English football league system.

ACAFP was created in 2021 as a multi-club ownership platform to cultivate a Southeast Asian fanbase – and associated monetisation channels – for European football teams. In early 2022, on announcing the acquisition of KMSK Deinze, which competes in Belgium’s second division, Ono said he thought it would cost around USD 50m to accumulate stakes in four more clubs. Most will be minority investments.

Earlier this year, ACAFP bought Juventud Torremolinos, a club in Spain’s fifth division. At the same time, the platform is establishing partnerships with Asia-based clubs – such as PVF Football Academy in Vietnam, Albirex Niigata Singapore, and Imabari FC in Japan, to bring young local players to Europe. For example, Deinze recently signed Marselino Ferdinan, an 18-year-old Indonesian international.

Efforts to generate interest in Deinze include heavy use of different media channels. Last year, a documentary-style programme ran on national television in Vietnam that tracked the progress of some youth players from a local academy who were invited to spend time in Deinze academy system.

ACAFP would like a portion of this intake to graduate to the first team, having noted the social media surge experienced by other European clubs that have signed Asian players, Ono told AVCJ last year. Capturing the “journey” is part of the story. A short video platform has been established that runs five-minute packages, in English, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Dutch, comprising highlights and other footage.

According to a statement, ACAFP is already working with the prospective Charlton Athletic management team on shared scouting networks, data systems and coaching structures and techniques. Discussions are also taking place about running audio-visual content on ACAFP’s platform and Charlton TV.

“Over the past year, we have focused on connecting Asia and Europe with football through the multi-club ownership model, but we are also aiming for releasing the value of sports and create a borderless community,” Ono added. “Our door is always open, we want to learn a lot from England, the home of football, and also to expand Charlton’s appeal more globally.”

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• North Asia
• Europe
• Consumer
• Media
• Buyouts
• Singapore
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• sports & entertainment
• ACA Investments
• buyout