KAM Melbourne has reached an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in A-League club Western United and its parent company Western Melbourne Group (WMG), with the deal set to accelerate plans for the team’s new stadium.
KAM Melbourne, a subsidiary of KAM Sports, will work with WMG partners and stakeholders to support the ownership group’s vision for a wide-ranging, 62.5-acre precinct that would be anchored by a 15,000-capacity football stadium.
WMG and its consortium of investors first detailed plans for the precinct back in 2019. The complex will be located in Tarneit, 25 kilometres west of Melbourne’s central business district, and will be delivered through a public-private partnership with Wyndham City Council.
KAM Melbourne is led by chairman and co-founder Maciek Kaminski, alongside chief executive and co-founder Mikhail Kaminski. The group has experience in portfolio asset management, including large residential and commercial real estate developments in the US and Europe.
At the start of last year, WMG claimed a breakthrough in its efforts to deliver the stadium precinct by agreeing partnerships with YourLand Developments and Johnson Controls.
At the time, the A$2bn (£966m/€1.14bn/$1.29bn) project was scheduled for phased completion over a 10-year period. The development is set to be the first major sports stadium owned by a professional football club in Australia.
Financial terms of KAM Melbourne’s investment have not been disclosed, but ESPN has reported that the deal is worth close to A$100m.
Maciek Kaminski said: “This represents our first investment Down Under, and the combination of integrating sport and real estate to make a meaningful impact in the local community in the west attracted us to this opportunity. The scale and scope of the WMG vision aligns very well to our own skill sets where we can add real value.
“Having met with Wyndham Council and other project partners over the last 12 months and the local community, it’s clear there’s a strong desire to get on with the next phase of the exciting project and get it done. The community knows that this is a project that will deliver lifetime benefits and produce our future Socceroos and Matildas from Melbourne’s western suburbs, and we are fully committed to doing just that.”
Western United is set to form part of a wider, multi-club ownership strategy for KAM Melbourne moving forward. The transaction is subject to successful completion of the necessary approval processes by Wyndham City and the Australian Professional Leagues and regulatory processes by Football Australia.
