A Turkish media mogul has become the majority shareholder in Shelbourne Football Club.
Acun Ilıcalı, the owner of Hull City and global media company ACUNMEDYA, has become the majority shareholder in the Dublin club.
The businessman has been linked with investing in a League of Ireland club for some time, holding talks with both Dundalk and St Patrick’s Athletic before focussing on Shels.
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The club said in a statement on Friday morning: "Shelbourne Football Club has announced that Acun Ilıcalı has become the majority shareholder of the club. Acun Ilıcalı has founded one of the biggest independent media and entertainment companies, empowered with the vision to deliver inspiring and creative content worldwide.
"This investment will be used to support the growth and development of the club by investing in the men’s and women’s first teams, the academy, and its facilities with an ambition to make Shelbourne FC Ireland’s most successful football club. The deal is expected to bring additional benefit as it will create material synergy between Shelbourne FC and Hull City FC, which is fully owned by Acun Ilıcalı.
"After the investment, existing shareholders will continue to be investors in the Club and the parties will collaborate closely for the future success of the club."
Ilıcalı commented: “I am deeply impressed by the passion and motivation of the Shelbourne FC family and we believe that the club offers great potential to succeed in European football.
"Our vision for Shelbourne FC is to become the leader of the League of Ireland and demonstrate consistent success in European competitions. We believe that our investment and commitment will shape the future of the football in our academy, which will become the most modern academy structure in Ireland.
"We want to scout, recruit and train talented prospects from all over Ireland and Europe to be part of our family. With our global expertise and vision in football, media and entertainment verticals, we aim to bring new energy to Irish football and Shelbourne FC, one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, by further strengthening the deep-rooted bond between the fans and the club, like we did in Hull City."
Welcoming the deal, Andrew Doyle, who takes up the role of vice-chairman Shelbourne FC, added: “This is a transformational deal for Shelbourne Football Club and a huge boost to our ambitions to make Shelbourne Ireland’s most successful football club both domestically and in Europe.
"The investment will give us the resources to make significant investment in club facilities, the men’s and women’s senior teams and the academy. This partnership will help us finalise ongoing projects and seize many other opportunities that will benefit our senior teams, academy and facilities.
"There will be huge opportunities to leverage the synergies with the management expertise and resources of ACUNMEDYA ,Shelbourne and Hull City in ways that can be very significant for everyone involved.”
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