Recanati family takes control of Maccabi Tel Aviv in $50 million deal
The family exercised its right of first refusal to buy the Federman stake in the basketball club, ending a proposed investment by Rapyd CEO Arik Shtilman and raising its ownership to 58%.
The ownership structure of Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball Club is set to undergo a major shift after the Recanati family agreed to purchase the Federman family’s stake in the team for approximately $50 million, becoming the club’s controlling shareholder.
The Recanatis, who already own 29% of Maccabi Tel Aviv, recently notified the club’s shareholders that they were exercising their right of first refusal under the shareholders’ agreement to acquire the entirety of Fedanco Sports’ holdings in the club. Following completion of the transaction, the family will hold a 58% stake in one of Israel’s most prominent sports franchises.
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Maccabi Tel Aviv player Lonnie Walker in action against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Euroleague.
(Photo: Oz Mualem)
The deal marks one of the largest ownership transactions in Israeli sports and reshapes a process that had previously been expected to bring new investors into the club.
In May, Fedanco Sports, the investment vehicle owned by the Federman family that holds a 29% stake in Maccabi Tel Aviv, announced that it had reached an agreement to bring in new investors, including high-tech entrepreneur Arik Shtilman, CEO and co-founder of payments company Rapyd.
Under that proposed structure, Shtilman was expected to acquire a 50% stake in Fedanco Sports and join Maccabi Tel Aviv’s board of directors as its representative. Fedanco Sports and Shtilman had also proposed investing $30 million in the club alongside additional investors, subject to approval from the club’s shareholders.
The agreement would have reduced the Federman family’s stake in Fedanco Sports, turning it into a minority shareholder, while bringing new capital and technology-sector backing into the club.
However, the proposal was contingent on Maccabi Tel Aviv’s existing shareholders not exercising their contractual right to purchase Fedanco Sports’ stake, a right that the Recanati family ultimately chose to activate.
The Recanati family said following the transaction that it intends to significantly increase investment in the club, stating that it plans to allocate “tens of millions of dollars” toward the players’ budget in the coming years.
