Saudi sports investor Surj goes extra mile for $20m triathlon stake

The sports investment arm of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is buying a stake in the body which organises professional triathlons around the world.

Sky News has learnt that Surj Sports Investment is in advanced talks about a deal to inject roughly $20m into the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO). A deal could be unveiled as part of a wider PTO funding round imminently, a source in the Middle East said on Wednesday.

Money latest: Greggs shares plunge 14% It will be the latest investment from Surj, which also owns stakes in the Professional Fighters League and the sports streaming platform DAZN. Previously known as SRJ, Surj is a subsidiary of Saudi's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which owns a controlling stake in Newcastle United Football Club.

Surj's investment will come in addition to previously announced funding from Cordillera Investment Partners, which took a $10m stake earlier this year. Other investors in the PTO include the media behemoth Warner Brothers Discovery and Sir Michael Moritz, the technology industry veteran.

Sky News reported on the triathlon body's plans to raise capital in the spring of last year. It has been working with Oakvale Capital, a London-based advisory firm, on the fundraising since then.

This year's T100 Triathlon World Tour consists of nine races, with the next due to be staged in London next month. The World Championship Final will take place in Qatar in December.

The PTO, which is partly owned by athletes, has embarked on a significant commercial overhaul in a bid to capitalise on growing sponsor and broadcast interest from around the world. In December 2022, it announced a fundraising - said to have brought in more than $30m - led by Divergent Investments, a private equity firm.

As part of its efforts to accelerate the commercialisation of the sport, the PTO recruited Chris Kermode, the former Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) boss, as its chairman. "This is an exciting opportunity to modernise a sport and give these ultimate endurance athletes the opportunity to showcase their extraordinary talents, while being rewarded appropriately," Mr Kermode said at the time of the previous fundraising.

Most frequently watched in Britain during the summer Olympic Games, professional triathlons consist of a 2km swim, 80km bike-ride and 18km run. The PTO is run by Sam Renouf, a former British international athlete, who was appointed as chief executive in 2019.

Since then, it has secured substantial sponsorship deals with companies including Canyon and Garmin, the luxury watchmaker. The PTO declined to comment on Wednesday, while Surj did not respond to an enquiry from Sky News..