Portuguese soccer club Os Belenenses may not be top of mind for global soccer fans. But for those from the Iberian country, like Apex CEO António Caçorino, the team has significance.

The Lisbon-based squad has been around for more than 100 years, and it’s just one of five clubs to ever win the Primiera Liga, Portugal’s top soccer league. Factor in other domestic competitions, and Belenenses has seven trophies in total, which is tied for the fifth-most in the nation.

“If you’re Portuguese and you like football, everyone knows the club,” Caçorino said. “So, this is a historic club. I grew up with my grandfather talking about the club.”

Yet that history hasn’t shielded the member-owned soccer club from turmoil. In 2012, financial troubles effectively forced Belenenses to sell a controlling stake to an investment fund, and subsequent disputes between the club’s new owners and existing members led to a split. The institutional owners formed a new team in the Primiera Liga, which later folded. Meanwhile, the fan-led entity took the club’s intellectual property and started from scratch in Lisbon’s bottom regional tier.

Since retaking the pitch in 2018-19, Belenenses has clawed its way back to relevance, winning five consecutive promotions. Now in Portugal’s third division, after one relegation setback, the club has its eyes on returning to the Primiera Liga. But considering the constant financial pressures to not just survive but thrive in global soccer, it’s hard to take that next step alone.

For Apex, that’s an opportunity. The Lisbon-based firm, which is on pace to cross $300 million in assets under management after launching a sports growth fund in December, has agreed to invest $7.6 million (€6.8 million) over a multi-stage process that could see the firm acquire as much as 49%. This ensures that majority control remains with the club’s members; Apex will get two of five board seats. The first three phases of the deal will be transacted at a $14 million (€12.5 million) valuation, with that figure rising to $22.5 million (€20 million) for the fourth and final tranche if Belenenses can reach Portugal’s top division.

Both Apex and Belenenses can each put in an additional $6.4 million (€5.7 million) as preferred equity to fund any budget deficits along the way, as the club attempts to complete its comeback story.

“The end goal is bringing Belenenses back to first division and having stability in first division,” Caçorino said.

But the investment deal isn’t quite done yet. Apex has an agreement with club president Patrick Morais de Carvalho, who is up for reelection in a vote that will take place on Saturday. If he wins, the transaction would then be subject to the approval of at least 75% of the members. A general assembly to conduct such a poll would be expected to happen within 30 to 45 days. And if he loses, which is unlikely, or the proposal is denied by the fans, the deal would not proceed as planned.

Quest for capital

Morais de Carvalho, who moved to Lisbon to study after his professional soccer career ended in 1991, has been a member of Belenenses for more than 30 years. He became president in 2014, inheriting a club saddled with “serious financial problems, unpaid wages, assets under threat and a deeply acrimonious relationship with the company running professional football,” he wrote in an email.

In 2018, Morais de Carvalho oversaw the team’s breakup with Codecity Sports Management, the investment fund that previously bought control of the club, which he said, “repeatedly disregarded the club’s interests, accumulated debts and ignored the wishes of supporters.” (B-SAD, the club that Codecity controlled after the split, dissolved in 2024. Its former president, Rui Pedro Soares, did not reply to a request for comment via LinkedIn.)

Amid the rising financial pressures in Portuguese soccer, Belenenses has been fielding calls from dozens of prospective investors over the past few years. Apex came into the fold after being encouraged to do so by a retired and “influential” Portuguese player, who Caçorino declined to name. The sides held discussions for about two years and landed on an arrangement this summer.

While Belenenses had been burned by institutional money in the past, Morais de Carvalho said partnering with Apex makes sense. The firm respects the club’s identity, is based in Portugal and run by Portuguese executives, works with more than 100 professional athletes as backers, and has investments across the sports landscape, including the Alpine Formula 1 Team, the NFL Flag Football League and a roughly 5% stake in Serie A club Venezia FC.

“We do not want to go back to living beyond our means,” Morais de Carvalho wrote. “We want to grow with a partner that brings resources and expertise without taking control away from the members.”

If Morais de Carvalho is reelected and the deal is then approved at the general assembly, Caçorino expects Apex’s resources to help Belenenses with the winter transfer window, professionalizing its football operations, integrating new technology, expanding commercial revenue streams and improving the club’s home venue, Estádio do Restelo.

Financial future

Of course, unlocking the club’s financial potential is largely contingent on getting promoted. Caçorino declined to disclose specific projections, but he said generally that revenues can grow three or four times when going up from the third division to the second. Reaching Portugal’s top-flight league could mean doubling again from there. As far as valuations at that level, a consortium that included global soccer star Thomas Müller recently bought a 90% stake in Estrela for a reported $47 million (€40 million), according to ESPN.

Caçorino isn’t focused on an exit quite yet. He sees this as a long-term partnership, which is why Apex set up a special purpose vehicle for the transaction, as opposed to investing out of its sports growth fund. If the club reaches its goals of returning to the first division and becoming profitable, he added that the ambition would be to eventually sell the minority stake back to the fans of the club.

In the meantime, there’s still some risk in getting the transaction over the line. Apex has had minimal involvement with Morais de Carvalho’s campaign, merely participating in the selection of a public relations firm and having Caçorino appear alongside him, like at the Portugal Football Summit in September. Morais de Carvalho also published an FAQ on his campaign website laying out the details of the proposed partnership with Apex.

Ultimately, Caçorino has made peace with whatever happens.

“We really want to do this, and we’re super excited, but we really want to feel welcome,” he said. “We don’t want to push it and force it, because the fans are the heart of the club and will always be that.”