Black Knight's £45m takeover makes Exeter Chiefs first US-owned Premiership club

Black Knight Rugby has completed a £45 million takeover of Exeter Chiefs, making the Sandy Park club the first American-owned side in the Gallagher Premiership after members voted to approve the sale of 100% of shares in Exeter Rugby Group Ltd.

The club becomes a new subsidiary of Cannae Holdings, Inc, the US investment firm led by AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley and CEO Ryan Caswell. The deal ends Tony Rowe’s 25-year role as the club’s primary financial backer — a tenure that included navigating a £25 million debt accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rowe will remain as CEO for the next two years and expressed enthusiasm about the transition. “If you had to choose an investor in the world of sport, you could not choose better than Black Knight,” he said. “Although I feel privileged to have led this club for the last 25 years, the financial burden was becoming too much for me and my family. With Black Knight, we can look forward to a positive future, building on what we have already achieved.”

Foley, who also owns FC Lorient in France’s Ligue 1 and Moreirense FC in Portugal’s Primeira Liga, said he intends to run Exeter along similar lines to Bournemouth, who finished sixth in the Premier League last season. “Exeter is the type of asset we have been seeking as we transform Cannae into a focused portfolio of sports and entertainment businesses,” he said. “We have a proven track record of building successful sports and entertainment brands and we intend to bring that same approach to Exeter.”

Caswell, who visited Sandy Park two months ago ahead of the deal, described the acquisition as delivering a “compelling entry price with upside at both the club and the league level.”

Gallagher Premiership Rugby CEO Simon Massie-Taylor welcomed the investment, noting that Black Knight’s existing experience in elite sport — which includes ownership of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights alongside Bournemouth — gives the consortium a credible foundation. “Their arrival is another powerful signal of where the Premiership is heading,” he said.