EQT has acquired a majority stake in the Melbourne Storm, one of Australia's top rugby league clubs, in a deal valuing the franchise at A$150m ($106m). The transaction is rare for Australian sport, as most National Rugby League clubs are member-controlled or league-administered. The Storm was previously owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.

The investment follows a record A$5.3bn ($3.7bn) seven-year broadcast deal between the NRL and media partners including Dazn's Foxtel, signaling the league's growing commercial appeal. For EQT, the deal extends a push into sports as an asset class, following its $1.25bn acquisition of IMG Academy in 2023 and a $25m investment in the Baller League six-a-side football competition.

Private equity has increasingly targeted sports franchises globally, with Silver Lake's 2022 investment in the commercial arm behind New Zealand's All Blacks a notable southern hemisphere precedent. The deal arrives as the NRL expands with new clubs in Papua New Guinea and Perth, broadening the league's commercial footprint. EQT's infrastructure arm is separately pursuing a near-A$10bn ($7.1bn) offer for waste-disposal company Cleanaway.