ARK Invest Acquires $49.7 Million Stake in Brera Holdings as Company Pivots to Solana-Based Digital Assets

ARK Invest, the investment firm led by Cathie Wood, acquired 6,500,001 shares of Brera Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: BREA) valued at approximately $49.72 million on September 18 through its ARKK, ARKW and ARKF funds. This significant investment comes as Brera Holdings is undergoing a strategic rebranding to Solmate and pivoting its business model toward Solana-based digital asset treasury and crypto infrastructure services.

The investment follows Brera's $300 million oversubscribed private placement that received backing from Pulsar Group, RockawayX and ARK Invest. The substantial capital infusion signals strong institutional confidence in Brera's transition from its previous focus on social impact football businesses to the rapidly growing cryptocurrency infrastructure sector. BREA stock has responded positively to these developments, rising more than 200% year to date.

Concurrently with the Brera investment, ARK executed several portfolio adjustments, selling 47,474 Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) shares for roughly $4.67 million and trimming 43,157 Tempus AI (TEM) shares for $3.73 million. The firm also added new positions in Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ARCT), ATAI Life Sciences (NASDAQ: ATAI), AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV), Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) and Pony.ai (NASDAQ: PONY), demonstrating a broader strategic reallocation of capital across emerging technology sectors.

Brera Holdings' pivot represents a significant shift from its previous operations, which included developing a global portfolio of emerging football and sports clubs. The company had established several football clubs internationally, including Brera FC in Milan, Brera Tchumene FC in Mozambique, Brera Strumica FC in North Macedonia, and Brera Ilch FC in Mongolia. The company also made strategic investments in Manchester United PLC, realizing a 74% gain, and acquired a majority stake in Italian Serie B football club Juve Stabia.

The move into Solana-based digital asset infrastructure comes at a time when institutional adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency services is accelerating. Solana has emerged as a leading blockchain platform known for its high throughput and low transaction costs, making it particularly attractive for treasury management and infrastructure applications. For more information about the company's previous operations, visit https://www.breraholdings.com.

This investment by ARK Invest, known for its focus on disruptive innovation and emerging technologies, validates the growing importance of cryptocurrency infrastructure in institutional portfolios. The substantial capital deployment into Brera's new direction suggests confidence in the company's ability to execute its pivot successfully and capture value in the expanding digital asset ecosystem. The transaction highlights the continued institutional interest in blockchain infrastructure projects and the evolving landscape of digital asset management solutions.