Goldfinch Targets Bangladesh Super League and Indonesia Film Deals

Goldfinch International has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) this month to explore a proposed Bangladesh Super League, the company announced, as the London-based entertainment financier pushes into two of the world's youngest and largest markets.

The Bangladesh venture is not a solo play. Goldfinch International, the emerging-markets division of Goldfinch, has joined 1CS Holdings Limited — headed by Nazir Alam — together with Gulf advisory Fablemill and Germany's Akani Group to form the Bangladesh Strategic Partnership (BSP). The consortium exists to pull foreign investment, institutional ties and skills training into the country's sports and creative sectors.

What would the Bangladesh Super League actually look like?

According to the source material, the competition would mix existing clubs with regional franchises and introduce professional governance alongside international commercial know-how and investment. BSP plans to pitch British and European clubs, family offices, specialist investors and members of the Bangladeshi diaspora. Beyond the league, it is weighing soccer facilities, academies, athlete rehab, creative skills training and sports employment.

Alam, executive chairman of BSP, framed the ambition in generational terms: "Bangladesh has extraordinary potential in sport, technology and the creative economy, particularly through the talent and aspirations of Generation Z." He added: "The MoU with the Bangladesh Football Federation is an important first step toward building a wider ecosystem of investment, skills, employment and international collaboration."

Note what the MoU does not do: it commits the parties to studying a league, not building one. No investment figures, timelines or franchise structures appear anywhere in the announcement.

BSP has also opened conversations with the Bangladesh Olympic Association, the ICT Division, Startup Bangladesh and the Ministry of Youth and Sports about possible sports infrastructure and institutional cooperation. Separately, the group is weighing a National Creative Economy Partnership covering international production, creative infrastructure, IP and technology.

How does Indonesia fit the pattern?

In Indonesia, Goldfinch has entered a joint venture opportunity partnership with Jakarta creative company Rangkai. The deal follows an MoU that Goldfinch signed with Rangkai and the Jakarta Film Commission at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The pairing matches Rangkai's local distribution track record, filmmaking-community standing and government connections with Goldfinch's global sales network, production financing and deal-structuring expertise. The venture will work across community building, distribution, global sales, production and advisory, aiming to place Indonesian talent and stories in front of overseas buyers, partners and investors.

Rangkai CEO Redemptus Rangga Raditya said the company has spent five years building ties with Indonesian filmmakers, government and audiences. "In Goldfinch we have a partner that brings the international reach and financing experience to take Indonesian stories to the world, and we are proud to be building this together as equals," he said.

Is there capital behind the platform?

The template comes from the Gulf: a strategic tie-up with Fablemill, the creative industries advisory led by Eman Alsabah, launched at Cannes this year. Also backing the platform are a production debt fund for emerging markets that launched in 2025 and will start deploying capital in early 2027, and Vault 47, a Singapore branded entertainment studio formed in late 2025 with Virtue, guided by Justin Deimen, David Webster and Lesley John.

Phil McKenzie, co-founder and COO of Goldfinch, said: "Bangladesh and Indonesia are two of the youngest and largest markets in the world, and in 1CS Holdings and Rangkai we have partners who sit inside government and inside the creative community at the same time." He added: "Our role is to bring the capital, structure and international relationships that turn that access into leagues, studios and skilled jobs."

McKenzie also cited the Commonwealth Creative Industries Alliance, which Goldfinch launched this year with the Commonwealth Foundation and the Commonwealth Businesswomen's Network and which now reaches 56 nations.

What does this change for the markets involved? For now, MoUs and partnerships — but with the debt fund set to deploy in early 2027, the test of Goldfinch's Global South platform is still two years away. In November, the team travels to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, where it will unveil further development programs.