London (CNN Business) US private equity giant Silver Lake is investing $500 million in the owner of Manchester City, a deal that values the soccer group at nearly $5 billion and signals a concerted move by the veteran tech investors into sports.

Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Silver Lake will buy just over 10% of City Football Group, which is controlled by United Arab Emirates royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In addition to the English Premier League champions Manchester City, the soccer group owns teams in the United States, Australia, China, Japan, Spain and Uruguay.

"Silver Lake is a global leader in technology investing, and we are delighted by both the validation that their investment in CFG represents, and the opportunities for further growth that their partnership brings," Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of City Football Group, said in a statement.

CFG said it was worth $4.8 billion as a consequence of the deal, a record valuation for a soccer franchise, according to the consultancy Brand Finance.

"Within world football, this is almost certainly the largest ever sports enterprise valuation," said Bryn Anderson, director of sports services at Brand Finance. "When we look at major league baseball and the eye watering deals in the NFL and even e-sports now, this news will no doubt cause ripples across the sporting and private equity worlds."

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