Liverpool's valuation has risen by as much as £535m over the past two years according to analysts from US sports business website Sportico.
Reds owners Fenway Sports Group are currently in the process of sourcing fresh investment into the club through a partial sale, although they would be willing to listen to offers of a full sale. The latter is understood to not be principal owner John W. Henry's preference at this time.
The valuation of the club is something that has been a hot topic, with the Reds, acquired in 2010 by FSG for just over £300m, in play with a valuation north of $4bn. Sources with knowledge of the deal in the US told the ECHO last month that only offers above and beyond $4bn would spark any kind of high level talks.
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No formal talks have been held as yet, while there has been no bid received for the football club or concrete interest that has warranted serious discussions. That could change in the coming weeks, however, with interest likely to be put to FSG through Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the investment banks facilitating the search, with US private equity and institutional investors likely to show their hand in some form. Interest from the MENA region could also be presented, although nothing has materialised as yet.
FSG know the value of Liverpool as an asset and if a partial sale is to be their preferred option when the final decision is taken, a higher price would mean a far greater influx of capital, some of which will be redeployed to aid the regeneration of the team to ensure a competitive future that allows for the continued growth of the club.
Sportico spoke to a number of industry insiders and financiers with intimate knowledge of Premier League takeovers for their research, with their 2023 valuation pegging Liverpool at $4.7bn (£3.8bn), a figure that marks a 14 per cent rise since 2021, or an increase of around £535m.
That valuation places Liverpool second on the Premier League list behind Manchester United, whose owners the Glazer family are looking to exit Old Trafford and expedite a sale by engaging Raine Group, the company that led the Chelsea sale to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital last year on a tight timeframe. United are valued at $5.95bn (£4.84bn) according to Sportico's analysis, with the Glazers having reportedly been looking for between £5bn and £6bn to agree to a full sale.
Of the so-called 'big six', every one saw a rise in valuation, with United's leap at 26 per cent the biggest leap over the two-year period. Manchester City were third on the list with a valuation of $4.43bn (an 11 per cent rise), Arsenal fourth at $3.6bn (an 18 per cent two-year increase) and Chelsea fifth at $3.47bn (four per cent increase).
Speaking to Sportico, Steve Horowitz of Inner Circle Sports, a firm that played a key role in FSG's takeover of Liverpool as well as in deals for the likes of Inter Milan and the acquisition of Wrexham by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020, said: "With an EPL club, you own a team in the best and most watched football league in the world’s favourite sport.
"It is the attraction for American investors and those from every corner of the globe."
It is the continued rise in valuations of teams that will play a role in the thinking of Henry and FSG when deciding their next move. Valuations, while they may slow in the coming seasons from their rapid rise over the past decade or so, to leave now would undoubtedly leave plenty of money on the table. Investors have seen the resilience of the Premier League through the challenges of the pandemic and European football has emerged as its own viable asset class where billions of dollars have been placed, the expectation being that strong returns will follow.
The growth will be driven by the future media deals, the chance of clubs having a greater say on some of their live content and broadcast rights and increasing globalisation and digitalisation that will allow for clubs to greater monetise the relationship that exists between them and their global fan base, with Liverpool's running well into the hundreds of millions worldwide.
Professor Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport and Geopolitical Economy at the SKEMA Business School in Paris, told the ECHO last week: "The US are in football for the financial hit and the considerable amount of potential moving forward.
"The next TV deal will be huge and there is a the view that there is latent value to be released from the Premier League. That opportunity is one that won't be sniffed at."
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