Who owns Leeds United now the club has been relegated?
It’s still Andrea Radrizzani. Nothing has changed in that regard beyond the valuation of the club. The Italian remains the majority shareholder with a 56 per cent portion of the club, while 49ers Enterprises are still sitting on the 44 per cent they reached in November 2021.
The club’s relegation to the Championship has not triggered anything automatically in the boardroom. Despite Radrizzani’s current attention on Sampdoria and absence from yesterday’s demise, he remains the ultimate decision-maker at Elland Road.
Weren’t 49ers Enterprises supposed to be stepping in?
Yes, but only survival would have allowed the American consortium to push through on their agreed deal with Radrizzani. In December 2021, The Athletic first reported a deal was in place between the two parties for 100 per cent of control to pass to 49ers Enterprises.
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It would need to be triggered before January 2024, but ultimately everything had been agreed between Radrizzani and the San Francisco outfit. There remain question marks on the official sum, but the reports valued the club, in the top flight, between £400m and £475m.
However, Paraag Marathe, United’s vice-chairman and face of the 49ers vehicle, et al declined to trigger the takeover until this summer. Unfortunately for them, that timeline coincided with relegation.
Now, there is effectively no agreement in place which forces Radrizzani to sell in the Championship. The two shareholders must now negotiate afresh with a redrawn canvas defined by the second tier.
How long is that going to take?
How long is a piece of string? Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has told LeedsLive the Whites could now be worth around £150m after relegation. That’s a major drop and a lot of money Radrizzani has to swallow if he sells imminently.
Radrizzani has not spoken publicly on the matter so nobody can know where his appetite for another second-tier campaign with Leeds stands. He may well be keen to prove his doubters wrong, return United to the top flight and then sell again at a higher price.
Or, as the reception at Elland Road yesterday suggested, he could sense this really is the right time to step away and allow someone else a go at pushing the club forward. These are the factors which will determine his bargaining position with Marathe et al.
The 49ers group will also play their own part, of course. If they are desperate to finally end their five years in the shadows and get their sleeves rolled up they may pay over the odds to usher Radrizzani out of the door.
If there is less appetite for going to 100 per cent in the second tier it will, naturally, drive their offer to Radrizzani down. All parties have to understand, however, time is absolutely critical in all of this.
The entire club needs to be reset from top to bottom and the new season starts in a little over nine weeks’ time. If they let this rumble on into mid or late June it is going to severely harm whoever is left with their feet under the table come August 5.
So, Radrizzani could feasibly be at the helm when the new season starts?
That’s a possibility, most definitely. The Sampdoria narrative adds an interesting strand to matters. As he said in a statement on Monday, time is of the essence with that takeover too.
Given the sums involved and the similarities between the ventures, the Leeds sale and Sampdoria takeover are surely connected for Radrizzani. There is no guarantee he strikes a deal with 49ers though and he may, again, be the man cashing the cheques behind a promotion push.
Will the 49ers group stick around then?
Given the group of investors is already up to 44 per cent in shares and five years deep into its commitment to the club, it would be staggering to see them sell those shares in short order. With Marathe and Peter Lowy on the board and a lot of synergies already between the NFL franchise’s offices and Elland Road’s, this would not be a simple divorce.
Without wanting to guess their next steps, the assumption would be, if an agreement cannot be reached this summer, they could look to extend their Premier League agreement with Radrizzani and look to push the button next summer if the club has been promoted.
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