The Michael Dell investment complex 

The entity formerly known as MSD Capital has undergone a decisive transformation from a proprietary single-family office (SFO) into a globally significant, institutionalised merchant bank, BDT & MSD Partners. This strategic change, formalised in January 2023 through the merger of MSD Partners and BDT & Company, combines the massive, flexible capital base of Michael Dell and his family with the specialised merchant banking expertise of Byron Trott. The combined firm reported Assets Under Management (AUM) of US$50 billion in 2023, becoming a not insignificant force in global financial services.

Overview of Corporate Restructuring and Mandate Shift

The transition involved the internal segregation of the Dell family’s core wealth management from the external investment business. MSD Capital, originally founded in 1998 to manage Michael Dell’s wealth, formally restructured in December 2022 to become DFO Management, LLC. DFO Management continues as one of the world’s largest single-family offices, managing assets exceeding $31 billion.

Simultaneously, the investment arm, MSD Partners, merged with BDT & Company to create BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank with a dual mandate encompassing strategic advisory services and investment capital deployment across private capital, real estate, and private credit strategies.

Key Findings on the Private Credit Platform

The private credit division is central to the firm’s strategy, overseeing a Global Credit platform valued at over $15 billion. This platform is characterised by a high-yield, secured lending model, demonstrated by its affiliated public vehicle, MSD Investment Corp., which reports that 96.9% of its portfolio consists of senior secured first lien loans. 

This structure prioritises collateral and seniority in its lending decisions. Within the sports sector, the firm, often acting through its subsidiary MSD UK Holdings, has become a principal provider of opportunistic, high-interest, asset-backed debt to European football clubs, stepping in where traditional bank financing is unavailable.

The Robert Platek Nexus and Conflict Risk

The convergence of the firm’s lending activities and the private interests of its leadership presents a unique governance challenge. Robert Platek serves as a Partner and the Global Head of Credit at BDT & MSD Partners, where he oversees credit investments and sits on key investment committees. 

Concurrently, Mr. Platek privately manages a Multi-Club Ownership (MCO) portfolio, which currently includes Casa Pia (Portugal) and MLS Real Salt Lake, and previously included Spezia Calcio (Italy). This dual engagement, overseeing a primary creditor to English football rivals (Burnley, Southampton, WBA) while privately owning a competing club, has been identified as a significant conflict-of-interest concern, most notably impacting his attempted acquisition of Reading FC.

Corporate Architecture, Ownership, and Key Personnel

Ownership and Governance: Differentiating DFO and BDT & MSD

DFO Management, LLC (The Single-Family Office)

DFO Management is the non-institutionalised investment vehicle dedicated solely to managing the proprietary capital of Michael Dell and his family.

 Founded in 1998, the organisation initially operated as MSD Capital, managed by co-managing partners John C. Phelan and Glenn R. Fuhrman. In 2021, Gregg Lemkau joined as CEO, leading the firm into its restructuring in December 2022, when it officially became DFO Management. 

The firm’s proprietary capital, estimated to exceed $31 billion in AUM, allows it to utilise a “flexible and longer term nature” in its capital deployment, granting it the capacity to pursue opportunistic investments often unavailable to time-constrained competitors.

BDT & MSD Partners (The Merchant Bank and Investment Platform)

BDT & MSD Partners was established in January 2023 through the combination of BDT & Company, Byron Trott’s merchant bank, and MSD Partners. The firm is co-headquartered in Chicago and New York City and maintains both an advisory platform and a diverse investment platform. The investment platform focuses on three main areas: private capital, private credit, and real estate, serving the specialised needs of founder-led and closely held businesses.

The structural integration of Dell’s foundational capital into a large-scale merchant bank represents a calculated strategic expansion. This structure provides the external institutional platform with access to patient, long-term capital, differentiating it from traditional private equity funds. 

This ability to absorb and manage illiquidity risk over a multi-year horizon allows BDT & MSD to successfully source and execute complex, bespoke deals, such as those prevalent in the distressed sports financing market. The firm’s international arm, BDT & MSD Partners International, LLP, is regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), acknowledging the firm’s substantial activities in the UK market.

Key Leadership and Governance

The firm’s leadership is defined by a combination of advisory expertise and investment banking lineage. 

Byron Trott is the Chairman and Co-CEO, leading the firm’s strategic advisory and private capital initiatives. Gregg Lemkau, formerly of Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division, serves as the other Co-CEO. Robert Platek, as Partner and Global Head of Credit, oversees the firm’s credit investments, including real estate credit, and is a member of the investment committee for funds like the MSD Real Estate Credit Opportunity Fund II. Signaling a clear intent for growth in this sector, Greg Olafson, a veteran from Goldman Sachs, joined in January 2025 as President, Co-Head of Global Credit, and Co-Chief Investment Officer.

Financial Profile and Private Credit Business Analysis

Overview of Group Investment Strategy and Mandate

BDT & MSD operates with a broad and flexible investment mandate, seeking out “mispriced opportunities” by developing a deep understanding of future cash flows and acquiring assets at valuations below intrinsic value. The firm’s capacity to invest across the capital structure, regardless of geography or transaction type (public or privately negotiated), stems from the flexible nature of its capital base, which is anchored by the Dell family’s wealth.

The firm’s non-football activities demonstrate its considerable scale and focus on strategic, founder-centric investment. In May 2023, BDT Capital Partners, an affiliate, invested in Under Armour by purchasing approximately 16 million Class C shares from Executive Chair Kevin Plank, underscoring the firm’s commitment to long-term partnerships. Other recent transactions include investments in Qualtrics, IMA Group, and National Amusements, as well as providing minority investment and debt refinancing solutions for companies like DBG.

The Private Credit Platform: Structure and Scale

The Global Credit platform, operating at over $15 billion, is the operational foundation for its specialised lending business.

 Due to the private nature of BDT & MSD Partners, MSD Investment Corp., a public Business Development Company (BDC), provides a crucial window into the firm’s core credit strategy and financial performance.

As of the first quarter of 2025, MSD Investment Corp. managed a $4.9 billion investment portfolio, diversified across 86 portfolio companies in 23 sectors. The portfolio’s focus on minimizing loss severity is evident in its composition: 96.9% of investments are senior secured first lien loans. The portfolio reflects sound credit quality, with only one company on non-accrual status, representing 0.2% of total investments at cost. Recent financial disclosures for the second quarter of 2025 show robust performance, with Total Investment Income reaching $134.87 million and Net Investment Income totaling $63.47 million.

Analysis of High-Yield Mandate

A detailed comparison of the firm’s own financing costs against its lending rates reveals the highly profitable nature of the football credit deals. 

MSD Investment Corp. issued senior unsecured notes in August 2024 with fixed coupon rates ranging from 7.00% to 7.11%. This establishes a clear benchmark for the firm’s cost of capital. In contrast, the firm charged Southampton FC a steep 9.14% interest rate on its loan. The significant spread above its own financing costs suggests that these football deals are priced specifically to compensate for the perceived risk, bespoke structuring needs, and extreme illiquidity associated with the distressed sports asset class, making them highly attractive to the Private Credit platform.

MSD Investment Corp. Financial Indicators (Credit Platform Proxy)

Specialised Lending: BDT & MSD’s Exposure in European Football

Premier League and English Football League (EFL) Portfolio

BDT & MSD Partners, primarily through its subsidiary MSD UK Holdings, has established itself as a critical non-bank liquidity provider in English football. These transactions are characterised by high interest rates and rigorous security arrangements, fitting the opportunistic mandate of the Private Credit platform.

• Southampton FC: The most transparent transaction involved a substantial £78.8 million asset-backed loan secured during the pandemic. The loan was set at a high-interest rate of 9.14%.
• Security Arrangements: The security for the Southampton loan was comprehensive, backed by a mortgage on the St Mary’s stadium and the club’s training ground. This mechanism is not merely symbolic; it transforms the debt from a highly volatile sporting risk into a more manageable real estate and asset risk, providing the lender with significant leverage and potential step-in rights over the club’s core physical infrastructure. This strategy aligns precisely with the BDT & MSD credit platform’s overarching objective of prioritising senior secured debt
• Burnley FC: The firm provided substantial funding, estimated between £60 million and £80 million, which facilitated the leveraged buyout of the club.
• West Bromwich Albion (WBA): MSD UK Holdings provided an initial £20 million loan in December 2022, subsequently increased, intended to support the football club’s general business operations and provide working capital while its chairman pursued a sale.
• Derby County FC: MSD provided a distressed loan to the historic club during its major financial difficulties.

European and Global Football Lending and Equity Stakes

While the primary institutional lending activity is concentrated in the UK, the scope of the firm’s influence extends globally through its executives. Robert Platek’s former MCO holdings included Spezia Calcio (Italian Serie A) and SønderjyskE (Danish Super Liga), illustrating a personal equity focus across various European leagues and feeder markets.

 His current equity interests include Casa Pia in Portugal and MLS Real Salt Lake. The institutional lending platform, BDT & MSD, does not appear to have publicised similar large-scale credit deals in other major European leagues like La Liga, Serie A, or Ligue 1, suggesting the firm’s specific credit strategy remains focused on the UK football market structure.

BDT & MSD Partners Major Football Lending Engagements

 Robert Platek: Associates, Multi-Club Ownership, and Conflict Analysis

Robert Platek’s Profile and MCO Portfolio

Robert Platek is both a high-level corporate executive and a private football club owner. At BDT & MSD Partners, he is the Partner and Global Head of Credit, responsible for overseeing the firm’s credit investment strategies.

Concurrently, Platek’s private MCO portfolio includes equity ownership in Casa Pia (Liga Portugal 2) and MLS Real Salt Lake. Previously, he owned Spezia Calcio (Italian Serie A) and SønderjyskE (Danish Super Liga). This strategy of maintaining multiple equity interests in clubs across different jurisdictions, particularly in leagues that serve as talent development pipelines, is typical of the modern MCO financial model.

The Regulatory and Commercial Conflict of Interest

The overlap between Platek’s executive function at BDT & MSD and his private MCO portfolio has created significant, documented conflict-of-interest concerns. This issue became particularly acute during his attempt to purchase Reading FC in the EFL.

The fundamental conflict stems from BDT & MSD’s role as a major, high-yield creditor to several EFL competitor clubs, including West Bromwich Albion, Burnley, and Derby County. For Platek to transition from overseeing institutional debt deployment for rival clubs to becoming the owner of a competing club introduces severe issues of competitive fairness and information control.

As the senior credit executive, Mr. Platek would inherently possess proprietary, non-public intelligence regarding the specific financial vulnerability, debt covenant structures, and liquidity pressures affecting the competing clubs that owe large sums to BDT & MSD. This detailed financial understanding of rivals could theoretically be leveraged by his MCO operations (such as Casa Pia or a potential Reading FC) to gain a competitive advantage in areas like player transfers (identifying clubs forced into fire sales) or strategic market positioning. 

This concentration of private ownership and institutional credit influence within the same ecosystem necessitates the establishment and strict policing of regulatory firewalls to prevent potential market distortion and satisfy the governance requirements of leagues like the EFL. The fact that these conflict concerns contributed to the failure of the Reading bid highlights the real-world governance challenges facing BDT & MSD in the sports investment arena.

Conclusion and Outlook

BDT & MSD Partners represents a powerful model for leveraging large-scale, flexible proprietary capital into highly profitable, niche credit markets. The firm’s successful transition from a family office investment vehicle to a $50 billion merchant bank allows it to pursue complex, secured debt opportunities that yield significant premiums, as evidenced by the high interest rates charged to English football clubs.

This analysis confirms that the firm’s financial engagement in European football, primarily focused on the UK, is characterised by a sophisticated, de-risked lending model. By securing substantial loans against critical hard assets like stadiums and training grounds, BDT & MSD mitigates the typical volatility of sports financing, aligning the debt with its core strategy of holding senior secured assets. This approach positions the firm as a crucial, yet demanding, source of liquidity for European football.

The most critical governance challenge facing BDT & MSD Partners remains the management of the structural conflict created by Robert Platek’s dual role as Global Head of Credit and an active Multi-Club Owner. 

As the firm continues its strategic expansion of the $15+ billion Global Credit platform, a move reinforced by the appointment of senior leadership like Greg Olafson, its institutional influence in the football sector is expected to grow.  However, failure to maintain rigorous separation and transparency between institutional lending decisions and the proprietary interests of its senior executives risks potential reputational damage and potential regulatory impediments, particularly if the firm seeks to participate in further ownership or lending transactions that require regulatory approval from bodies like the EFL.