Following the completion of a final Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Ownership Group of Seattle Sounders FC and global investment firm Carlyle have come together to invest in and operate leading National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club Seattle Reign FC. Owned and operated by France’s OL Groupe since 2019, Reign FC is one of the leading clubs in the NWSL, which is widely considered to be the most competitive women’s soccer league in global football.

Latham & Watkins LLP represented Carlyle in the transaction with a corporate deal team led by New York partners Frank Saviano, Stelios Saffos, and Peter Sluka, with associates Adam Rosenthal, Omeed Anvar, Rachel Klein, Kaitlin Ray, and Sam Shropshire. Advice was also provided on tax matters by New York partner Jocelyn Noll, with associate Claire Park;* on benefits and employment matters by Washington, D.C. partner David Della Rocca, Chicago partner Nineveh Alkhas, Washington, D.C. counsel Laura Szarmach, and associate Bryce Williamson; on real estate matters by Century City partner Meghan Cocci and associate Tim Wilt; on intellectual property matters by Los Angeles partner Ghaith Mahmood and associate Nicole Nour; on data privacy matters by Houston counsel Robert Blamires and associate Kathryn Parsons-Reponte; on insurance matters by Los Angeles partner Drew Levin and San Diego/Los Angeles counsel Hannah Cary; and on regulatory matters by Washington, D.C. partner Erin Brown Jones, with associate Faiza Hasan.

*Admitted to practice in Massachusetts only.