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Northridge acts for Michele Kang on ground-breaking women’s football multi-club ownership model

Northridge, acting alongside co-counsel Hogan Lovells in the US and Paris, represented Michele Kang on the creation of the world’s first women’s football multi-club ownership structure.

The new entity will be majority owned by Kang, through YMK Holdings, and will own Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (the most successful team in European women’s football) and a majority stake in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit (2021 NWSL Champions), with the stated intention of adding more teams globally.

Kang commented: “This deal represents a major step forward in the history of women’s professional football. It brings together the unparalleled tradition of the 8-time Champions League winning OL Féminin and the dynamism of the 2021 NWSL Champion Spirit to usher our sport into a new era… It is a great honor to take stewardship of OL Féminin and lead this unprecedented effort on behalf of the fans, players and staff of both teams.

This significant deal for women’s football builds on Northridge’s expertise in, and support for, the growth of women’s sport, such as the firm’s work for The FA in relation to the Women’s Super League and our advice to The FA on the introduction of enhanced maternity terms into the women’s game.

The Northridge team on the deal, led by partner Mike Herbert, comprised Ian Lynam, Kingsley Boateng, Scott Treleaven, Emily Soilleux, Oliver Platts-Levett and Lara Curtis, and worked as an integrated team alongside co-counsel Hogan Lovells in New York and Paris.