RENTON, Wash. — OL Groupe, the Seattle Reign FC's French parent company, has completed the sale of the NWSL team to a financial partnership between the owners of the Seattle Sounders FC and New York-based global investment firm Carlyle Group.

Carlyle and the Sounders owners acquired 100% of the Reign for $58 million, according to OL Groupe, which itself was purchased by U.S. businessman John Textor's Eagle Football Holdings in December 2022. Eagle Football Group officially announced the sale late Sunday night.

The transaction was initially announced in March and was permitted the approximate four-month timeline to complete. As part of the process, the sale had to be approved by both the NWSL and MLS Board of Governors.

Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer will serve as governor of the Reign on the NWSL board, and the club is the managing partner of the Reign. Carlyle's head of private credit, Alex Popov, will serve as the Reign's alternate governor. Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, who most recently served as Sounders chief operating officer, was appointed the Reign's chief business officer as part of the restructuring of the women's front office.

"Our owners are super excited about trying to grow the game, grow the sport overall, lean into women's sports and impact the community in a massive way," Hanauer said Friday in an interview with The Seattle Times. "It brings energy to the building, and it will help the enterprise, the business of both."

The Reign were established in 2012 by entrepreneurial couple Bill and Teresa Predmore. The club was part of the eight-team NWSL's inaugural season in 2013.

The Predmores sold a majority stake in the Reign to OL Groupe in 2019 for approximately $3.5 million. The couple no longer has a financial stake in the team.

OL — an abbreviation for Olympique Lyonnais — stripped the Reign of their branding and relocated the team from Memorial Stadium to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. They did broker deals for the team to join the NFL's Seahawks and Sounders in playing home games at Lumen Field, and moved the team's training site to Starfire Sports in Tukwila, Wash., completely renovating the locker room space.

But OL Groupe underwent financial trouble and sold its top-flight women's teams in the Reign and OL Feminin. The latter was purchased by Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang in 2023, creating a conflict of interest.

Carlyle was immediately interested when the sale became known in April 2023, according to Hanauer. The connection was made through Raine Group, an investment bank that helped Eagle Football Holdings broker the deal.

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