FRU proposes 70-30 ownership deal with landowners for stadium project

The Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) has proposed a 70-30 equity ownership arrangement with landowners for its planned stadium development project in Saweni, following what chairman John Sanday described as a fruitful meeting with the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB).

Mr Sanday said the meeting focused on finalising outstanding matters before TLTB issued a formal letter of offer for the land.

“It was a very fruitful meeting. In a nutshell, the TLTB wanted to just sit with us to finalise some fine points before they gave us the letter of offer of the land,” he said.

Under the proposed arrangement, FRU would initially hold 70 per cent ownership in the development, while landowners would own the remaining 30 per cent.

Mr Sanday said the arrangement was intended to establish a partnership between the rugby union and the landowners.

“So 70 per cent is owned by Fiji Rugby Union, and 30 per cent is owned by the landowners for this development. So it’s a partnership between us and them.”

He said discussions also focused on determining the most appropriate ownership structure for the proposed investment.

Following deliberations, both parties agreed that a straightforward equity ownership model would be the preferred approach.

“I think at the end we resolved that it’s best that we just have a simple or plain equity ownership,” Mr Sanday said.

He explained that a company or special purpose vehicle established for the project would initially allocate 30 per cent of its shares to landowners and 70 per cent to FRU.

However, Mr Sanday acknowledged that the ownership structure could change as the project progressed towards capital raising and financing.

He said additional investors would likely be brought into the development, resulting in some dilution of the initial shareholdings.

“As we move forward and as we get into the capital raising and the financing side of things, obviously there will be some changes.”

Despite the potential changes, Mr Sanday said FRU and the landowners would remain the key shareholders underpinning the project.

“We, the two of us, will be the critical major shareholders that will anchor this whole structure.”

Mr Sanday reiterated that the discussions with TLTB had been productive as the rugby union moved closer to securing the land for its proposed development.