In January the New Zealand Rugby Players Association said they would block sale
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) took another step towards selling a minority stake in its commercial arm, including rights to the iconic All Blacks brand, to a US private equity firm on Thursday, but still needs to secure the buy-in of players.
The proposed deal, under which Silver Lake would purchase 12.5 per cent of the commercial rights for NZ$387.5 million (€231.8m), was unanimously approved by the 26 constituent provincial rugby unions at NZR’s annual general meeting.
The All Blacks are by far New Zealand’s best-known sports team and many in the rugby-mad country have expressed concern at even small part of such a national treasure coming under foreign control.
Read more/Source: The Irish Times
