Quantum Pacific Group has completed the acquisition of the Los Gallos SailGP Team, with SailGP confirming the deal as the largest single investment ever made in a Spanish sailing team. Behind the purchase is Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer, the driving force of Quantum Pacific, whom Forbes assessed at a net worth of US$17.7 billion earlier this year.
The maritime thread running through this story is hard to miss. Ofer's father established a shipping company in the 1950s, and Idan spent the better part of 15 years building the business across Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States until it had grown into a genuinely global operation. Quantum Pacific Shipping today manages a fleet of around 300 vessels, based out of Singapore. For a man whose professional identity has been formed by the sea, acquiring a sailing team is less a departure than a continuation.
Sport has long been part of Ofer's investment thinking. He placed €50 million into Atlético de Madrid in 2018, holds an 85 percent stake in Portuguese club Famalicão, and has more recently lent his backing to the Movistar cycling team. Los Gallos now join that portfolio. The team arrived as Season 4 champions, led by Olympic gold medallists Diego Botín and Florian Trittel, with Nicole van der Velden running the tactics.
SailGP Managing Director Andrew Thompson framed the acquisition as a marker of the championship's direction. "Quantum Pacific brings a deep understanding of sport performance, commercial success and the maritime world. Spain is a cornerstone market for us, defined by its rich sporting culture, incredibly passionate fanbase and a winning SailGP team."
The two men stepping onto the Los Gallos board offer a useful window into how Quantum Pacific thinks about sport. Amit Singh arrives with more than 15 years of venture capital experience spread across six countries and heads the group's sports investment portfolio. Harry Odling studied Marine and Composite Technology at the University of Plymouth, has spent time working at Eastern Pacific Shipping, and competes as a sailor, runner and cyclist. These are not ceremonial appointments.
Quantum Pacific CEO Antoine Bonnier was direct about the team's ambitions: "We are here to win, and we are here to build something that lasts."
Los Gallos CEO Antonio Alquézar said the new ownership structure gives the team the platform it needs to pursue the Season 6 title, which Great Britain claimed in Abu Dhabi last November.
The sale carries significance beyond the Spanish team alone. Los Gallos become the 12th of SailGP's 13 competing teams to pass into private ownership since the championship began in 2019, leaving just one squad yet to make that transition. New Zealand readers will note that exception directly: the New Zealand SailGP Team, skippered by Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, remains the sole team still owned by the league itself.
Spain holds its place on the SailGP calendar regardless of who now owns the team. After four seasons hosted in Cádiz, the championship makes its first appearance in Valencia on 5 and 6 September 2026. Before that event arrives, the fleet travels to South America for the first time, with the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix taking place in Rio de Janeiro on 11 and 12 April. Los Gallos will be on the water for both, racing under familiar colours with a new ownership group watching from the stands.
