Who are Northampton Town's new owners?

After almost a month of negotiations and legal formalities, the takeover of Northampton Town was completed on Wednesday.

Sports Alpha Capital (SAC) will take a 70% shareholding in Northampton Town Ventures Limited (NTVL) - the company that owns the majority of shares in the League Two club.

SAC's João Xavier and Tim Chamberlain will become co-chairmen, with former footballer Alexandre Pato due to join the board as a director.

The takeover will see current owner Kelvin Thomas step down as chairman after more than a decade in the role, though he - along with co-owners David Bower and Nigel Le Quesne - will remain as shareholders and directors.

Northampton Town confirmed the deal would leave them debt-free after announcing a pre-tax loss of just under £3m in April 2026.

The founders of SAC are:

• João Xavier, a Brazilian lawyer and investment professional with experience in international transactions, venture capital and private equity
• Tim Chamberlain, who spent his career in fundraising and business development across Asia, North America and Latin America
• Pedro Piquet, an economist with a speciality in football finance

SAC had been in discussions about taking over Colchester United earlier this year, but decided to pull out of a potential deal following initial talks.

In April, Northampton Town first revealed it was in talks with a "well-funded investment group".

It was later revealed to be SAC and at the start of September, the company's "proposed shareholding acquisition" of Town was approved by the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) and English Football League (EFL).

The 37-year-old retired from playing last year and is best known for his five-and-a-half-year spell at Italian giant AC Milan where he scored 63 goals in 150 matches and won the Serie A title in 2010-11.

The former forward also had brief spells at Chelsea and Spanish club Villarreal, as well as winning 27 caps for Brazil, scoring 10 goals.

He is now an investor and board member at SAC, bringing an "international profile that supports the firm's sporting, commercial and strategic ambitions".

Pato first visited Sixfields on 5 September, where he met manager Chris Hogg and the squad before watching Northampton secure a 1-0 victory over Newport County.

SAC has other investors including Gemcorp Capital, which is a London-based independent investment management firm.

In a joint statement, Xavier and Chamberlain said they had "ambitious plans for Northampton Town, but ambition must go hand in hand with sustainability and an understanding of what the club means to the people of Northampton and Northamptonshire".

"We want the club to continue to be a source of pride within its community and will work closely with the Community Trust, supporters, staff, partners and local stakeholders to ensure that relationship continues to grow," they said.

Bristol-born Chamberlain had previously hinted at his ambition to "become a chairman of a football club" in England, having spent relatively little time working and living in his home country since the 2008 financial crash.

He also said he was impressed by the "data and technological aspect of football at all levels these days".

Speaking on BBC Radio Northampton, Kieran Maguire, a professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool, said he believed the new owners had "insights and ideas" that could make Northampton Town "more attractive" to commercial partners, maximise the use of Sixfields as a multi-functional hub for the town, and improve results on the pitch to generate greater revenue.

Xavier and Chamberlain said that further details of their vision for the club would follow.

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