Northridge Law LLP ("Northridge"), a leading independent law firm dedicated to highly complex and high-stakes legal matters in sport, today announced that it secured a strategic minority investment from Cordillera Investment Partners, L.P. ("Cordillera"), an investment management firm that exclusively invests in niche, non-correlated assets. The investment supports Northridge's next phase of growth and expansion across key areas of sports law.
Founded in 2017 by five of the current partners, Jonathan Ellis, Ian Lynam, Jon Walters, James Eighteen and Paul Shapiro, Northridge has grown into the largest sports law practice in Europe with a market-leading position demonstrated by its current Tier 1 ranking in both Legal 500 and Chambers legal directories, and winning M&A Team of the Year at the British Legal Awards. The firm provides mission-critical services to key industry stakeholders, addressing the industry's growing complexity.
Northridge employs 44 legal professionals dedicated exclusively to sports. The firm combines the quality and rigor associated with Magic Circle firms with unrivalled collective experience and expertise in sport. This differentiated offering has resulted in Northridge delivering compound annual growth of 16% over the past five years.
"Our focus has always been on building the ideal firm to advise the sports industry when the stakes are highest," said Ian Lynam, Partner at Northridge. "Northridge's success stems from our focus providing the best advice on the most complex matters in sport requires the kind of specialist expertise which can only be built by working in the industry every day."
Jonathan Ellis, Partner at Northridge continued, "As the sports industry continues to grow and evolve, we see a significant opportunity to be even more ambitious. This investment will enable us to accelerate our strategic priorities, broadening and deepening our capabilities, expanding internationally, and continuing to invest in exceptional talent and innovative technology. Cordillera is an ideal strategic partner with aligned values and culture. We know they will support our vision of continuing to invest in our people and capabilities, while strengthening our ability to serve clients at the highest level."
The investment reflects Cordillera's differentiated approach to sports investing. Rather than focusing solely on teams, leagues, or clubs, Cordillera seeks opportunities to invest in high-quality service businesses that stand to benefit from increasing institutional investment in sports. In addition to sports-related service providers, Cordillera targets opportunities across emerging leagues and formats, women's sports, specialty sports finance, youth sports, and other opportunistic areas.
"Identifying opportunities in undercapitalized segments of the sports market has led us to explore a growing ecosystem of sports-related service providers around the world," said Chris Heller, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at Cordillera. "These businesses benefit from powerful tailwinds in sports but importantly are not exposed to on-field performance or league risk. We believe Northridge is a perfect example of a clear leader in this ecosystem. Not only are they a highly talented group of lawyers with deep domain expertise in sports, but they are talented entrepreneurs who have built Northridge from the ground up into one of the preeminent sports law firms globally. We are excited to partner with Northridge as it enters its next phase of growth and to support the firm in seeking to capitalize on the significant opportunity ahead."
The investment includes the appointment of Chris Heller from Cordillera to Northridge's Board. Control and majority ownership of the firm will remain with the Northridge partners, and Northridge will continue to operate as an independent, partner-led business.
Northridge was advised by KPMG, Kindleworth and Shoosmiths. Cordillera was advised by Ropes Gray.
About Cordillera Investment Partners
Cordillera Investment Partners is an investment management firm focused on investing in niche, non-correlated assets. Its investments are generally in sectors that are misunderstood, undercapitalized and uncorrelated with traditional assets. Cordillera manages approximately $1.8 billion of capital on behalf of endowments, foundations, family offices, wealth advisors and other institutional investors. For more information on Cordillera, please visit www.cordillera-ip.com.
About Northridge
Northridge is an independent law firm that focuses on highly complex and important matters in sport. Launched in October 2017 by five of the current partners Jonathan Ellis, Ian Lynam, Jon Walters, James Eighteen and Paul Shapiro with a small team, it has become the biggest sports law practice in Europe with 44 dedicated sports lawyers. The firm offers a unique combination of scale and expertise tailored to advise on the largest and most demanding projects in sport. Northridge is currently recognised as Tier 1 for Sport in both the Chambers and Legal 500 legal directories.
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Contacts:
Prosek Partners
pro-cordillera@prosek.com
