New Zealand Rugby's marriage to Silver Lake is complete, after the provincial unions and Maori Rugby board said "I do" yesterday.
The last road block to NZR signing a $200 million deal with the US private equity firm has been removed, with the 26 unions and the Maori Board voting in favour of the deal at at special general meeting in Auckland.
The deal will see Silver Lake invest $200 million in a new commercial entity that will control all revenue-generating assets of NZR.
Of that, $37 million has been put aside for a short-term investment in rugby, with provincial unions set to receive $20m; $14m will go the NPC unions and $6m to the Heartland unions.
The provincial unions had wanted any cap on the amount of money they would recieve from future revenue removed, a seat on the CommercialCo board, like the players association and more clarity around how the money would protect the future of the community game.
They didn't get exactly what they wanted, but Manawatu chair and provinicial unions spokesperson, Tim Myers, told rugby reporter Joe Porter the deal was changed enough to get them on board.
