The Americans played enough at Liverpool – Newspaper Kommersant No. 206 (7407) dated 11/08/2022

One of the most famous football clubs in the world, Liverpool, may soon change owners. According to The Athletic, the American company Fenway Sports Group (FSG) has begun accepting applications from potential buyers, and according to the Financial Times, it has even received one. As for the possible sale price, it could exceed £3 billion.

The American company FSG, which owns Liverpool (12 years ago, the team, which was in a severe crisis and was on the verge of bankruptcy, cost the Americans £ 300 million), since 2010 has been looking for a buyer for its asset. This publication reports The Athletic. It is noted that FSG attracted investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to support the transaction, and applications are currently being collected from potential buyers.

The seriousness of FSG’s intentions can be evidenced by the fact that full-fledged presentations of the asset offered for purchase have been prepared for applicants.

And according to information Financial Timesone application for the acquisition of Liverpool has already been received.

In the FSG itself, the messages about the upcoming sale of Liverpool were commented in a very streamlined way. The company noted that they had previously regularly received offers from individuals and companies interested in joining the capital of Liverpool, and recalled that they had always adhered to the position according to which the sale could happen if the proposed conditions satisfied the FSG and were in the interests of Liverpool. .

As for the price at which Liverpool can be sold, for example, according to the assessment Forbes, Liverpool are worth around £3.5bn. However, the final price could be higher or lower, and significantly. The example of Chelsea, a club in the same weight category as Liverpool, which most recently changed ownership in May, will probably be used as a kind of benchmark. So Chelsea cost Todd Boehley (the former owner of the Londoners, Roman Abramovich, was forced to sell the club after he fell under British sanctions) for £4.25 billion. But of this amount, only £2.5 billion went directly to the purchase of Chelsea shares. The remaining £1 .75 billion is a guaranteed investment in the development of the club by Todd Beuley. And yes, they are very time-consuming. It is obvious that FSG, if it comes to substantive negotiations, will insist on the upper limit of the price, and potential buyers (there will be many of them: teams like Liverpool rarely enter the market) – on the lower one.

We add that during the time that FSG owns Liverpool, the club won at least once every tournament in which it participated. The most high-profile victories came in 2019, when the Liverpool team excelled in the Champions League, and 2020, when they won the English championship after a 30-year break.

Alexander Petrov