Wealthy entrepreneur Harold Mitchell emerges as owner of new Melbourne Rugby team

Veteran media buyer Harold Mitchell has emerged as the owner of Melbourne’s new Super 14 Rugby Union team, which will start playing in the Super 15 competition in 2011.

Mitchell, whose stake in listed media and communications company Mitchell Communications is worth about $73 million, was yesterday announced as the owner of the Melbourne Rebels by the Australian Rugby Union.

His consortium also includes Woolworths director Leon L’Hullier and company director and entrepreneur Lindsey Cattermole.

The financial details of the deal have not been released, but ARU chief executive John O’Neill confirmed the league had loaned the consortium seed money to help meet the costs of establishing the team.

Mitchell’s bid narrowly beat out a consortium lead by mining services entrepreneur Kevin Maloney, who owns around $190 million worth of shares in the company he founded, The MAC Services Group.

However, Mitchell has said he has remained in contact with Maloney during the bidding process.

O’Neill is confident there is a strong market for Rugby in Melbourne, and points to the fact that 13 Rugby tests held in Melbourne since 1997 have attracted average crowds of 49,966.

“The business acumen of Harold Mitchell and his consortium members provides the ARU with great confidence about the potential of the Melbourne team to achieve early success in the new competition and importantly, to grow Rugby in the high profile Melbourne market,” he said in a statement.