Patron Capital Partners, the London-based private equity and property fund, has completed the takeover of five-a-side football centre operator, Powerleague, in a deal worth £42.5m.

The purchase has been funded entirely using equity capital from Patron Fund III, with third party debt used only to refinance existing debt facilities. Further equity has also been made available to expand the business within five years. Powerleague currently operates 44 five-a-side centres across the UK, including the 22-pitch Old Trafford Soccerdome in Manchester, but is now set to increase its portfolio with an "aggressive" roll-out of new sites.

Sean Tracey, Powerleague chief executive, said: "Patron has significant equity resources and a wide network of global relationships within the leisure and property industries throughout the UK and Europe that will be entirely available for Powerleague to benefit from. "The company's focus continues to be the growth of its site portfolio, with the UK as its core market alongside expansion into Europe. In the late two months, the company opened two centres - one in the West Midlands, and a second site in the heart of London's West End, close to Regents Park."

Keith Breslauer, Patron Capital managing director, added: "The company has strong growth potential and has proved to be resilient in the challenging economic climate." Meanwhile, Patron has also confirmed that former Esporta commercial director Jonathan First and Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys have been appointed to the board of Powerleague.

Image: Richard Keys, recently appointed to the board of Powerleague