The Jacksonville Jaguars’ value rose 22% in the last year to $5.6 billion, according to an annual analysis of NFL franchises by Forbes magazine.
The Jaguars rank 28th in value among the 32 NFL teams, with every team valued at more than $5 billion in a league where shared revenue makes everyone profitable.
“One clear perk of NFL ownership is that it has become nearly impossible to lose money in the league, with the 32 teams averaging $127 million in operating income last season and no team falling below $21 million, according to Forbes estimates,” the magazine said in a story posted on its website Aug. 28.
“That kind of profitability isn’t guaranteed in other sports, such as MLB, where Forbes estimates that 11 teams were in the red last season,” it said.
Forbes estimated the Jaguars’ operating income at $106 million last year on revenue of $522 million.
Every NFL team received $440 million in revenue from national media, sponsorship and merchandise rights plus a pooled portion of league-wide ticket revenue, it said.
According to the Forbes ranking, the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable team, worth $13 billion. The Cowboys had estimated revenue of $1.2 billion and operating income of $629 million.
The Cincinnati Bengals ranked 32nd with a valuation of $5.25 billion.
As Clearlake Capital Group L.P. completed its acquisition of Jacksonville-based Dun & Bradstreet Holdings Inc. on Aug. 26, Cannae Holdings Inc. was able to clear up its plans for the rest of this year.
Cannae, the investment company spun off from Jacksonville-based Fidelity National Financial Inc., was Dun & Bradstreet’s largest shareholder with 13.5% of the stock.
Cannae received $630 million from the sale of its Dun & Bradstreet stock and said it intends to use $300 million of the proceeds to repurchase shares of its stock.
It will also retain $60 million to pay future quarterly dividends on the stock and use other proceeds to retire debt.
“The successful transaction provides significant capital to Cannae to further execute on our strategic plan by strengthening our balance sheet, allowing for significant capital returns to our shareholders and creating flexibility as a permanent capital vehicle,” CEO Ryan Caswell said in a news release.
Cannae said it needed to complete the transaction and lay out its strategic plan before scheduling its annual shareholders meeting, which is now set for Dec. 12.
Activist investment firm Carronade Capital Management LP has been calling for changes at Cannae and has been pressing the company to set the annual meeting date.
Carronade, which owns about 5.2% of Cannae’s stock, filed a proxy statement in April to nominate four candidates for seats on the company’s 10-member board.
Carronade did not make any public statements after Cannae announced the date of the shareholders meeting.
In an Aug. 11 news release, Carronade said it “remains committed in its efforts to effect meaningful change to drive shareholder value at Cannae and will continue to seek shareholder representation on the Board at the 2025 Annual Meeting.”
Despite opposition from Jacksonville-based investment firm Water Street Capital Inc., REC Silicon ASA said Aug. 29 Hanwha Solutions Corp. has acquired a majority of the Norwegian company’s stock.
Hanwha, which was REC Silicon’s largest shareholders with about a third of the stock, made an offer in April to buy the remaining shares for 2.20 Norwegian kroner each.
Water Street, which controls 8.26% of the stock, opposed the offer, saying it is too low, and the normally low-profile firm took an activist stance against the deal.
Water Street won three of the five seats on REC Silicon’s board in June but has been unable to stop the Hanwha offer from proceeding.
REC Silicon said when the offer expired Aug. 29, Hanwha was able to buy an additional 62 million shares, bringing its total stake to 58.76%.
Water Street expressed disappointment in an Aug. 29 news release.
“Water Street Capital set out with a sole mission: to maximize shareholder value for all holders of REC Silicon stock,” it said.
“However, what the newly elected REC Board could not have known, as well as any other minority shareholder, is the extent to which Hanwha restricted the REC’s ability to seek outside financing or to identify and fully explore alternative offers,” the firm said.
Water Street did not say what its next step will be.
Although REC Silicon is headquartered in Norway, its manufacturing facilities are in the U.S.
The company operates one facility in Butte, Montana, but closed its other plant in Moses Lake, Washington, in December 2024.