Angel City Football Club Sells Controlling Stake to Willow Bay and Bob Iger

Paul, Weiss advised venture capital firm 776 and Alexis Ohanian, founding controlling shareholder of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team Angel City Football Club, in the sale of a controlling stake in Angel City to Willow Bay and Bob Iger. Bay is dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and Iger is CEO of the Walt Disney Company. The transaction has an enterprise value of $250 million and makes Angel City the most valuable women’s sports team in the world.

Under the terms of the transaction, Bay will serve on and have full control of Angel City’s board of directors, serve as the controlling owner for NWSL purposes and represent the team on the NWSL Board of Governors. Bay and Iger will invest an additional $50 million to support the club’s future growth. Ohanian, the founder of 776 and Reddit, remains on Angel City’s board of directors, which also includes founding members Natalie Portman and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman.

The Paul, Weiss team was led by corporate partner Neil Goldman and associate Joseph Boris, and included counsel Jason Tyler; litigation partners Christopher Boehning, Andre Bouchard and Gregory Laufer; executive compensation partner Jarrett Hoffman; tax partner Lindsay Parks; and antitrust partner Marta Kelly.