The revelations at the beginning of November that Fenway Sports Group would listen to offers from those wanting to acquire their full shareholding in Liverpool jolted others into action.
In the days and weeks that followed the Glazer family placed Manchester United up for sale with a valuation of around £6bn, while Paris Saint-Germain owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) signalled their intentions to raise capital through selling a 15 per cent stake in the Ligue 1 club, one where a €4bn (£3.55bn) value was placed upon it.
While FSG are open to listening to offers for Liverpool the stance, according to well-placed sources in the US who the ECHO have spoken to, is that a full sale isn't the preferred option for FSG principal John W. Henry and that a "strategic partner" to help them find new avenues of growth is the direction that they would like to head. That said, if an individual, private equity fund or Middle Eastern consortium wanted to show their hand with a bid well in excess of $4bn (£3.3bn) then serious conversations would be had, with the investment search being led by FSG partner and Jurgen Klopp ally Mike Gordon, and facilitated by major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
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The ECHO understands that little has materially changed since the beginning of November and there there is no "real" interest that has been shown to force discussions further down the line. The early months of January are expected to see the search for a longer-term partner become more focused, with the potential existing for any new minority partner to possibly accrete their interest over time and become a majority shareholder, allowing FSG to create some liquidity to support growth plans and plans for investment into Liverpool, while ensuring that they don't leave money on the table with a sale too early.
While the Glazers are looking to expedite the sale of the club and achieve the goal in the first quarter of 2023, something that is evidenced by them engaging the US investment bank Raine Group, who handled the Chelsea sale and have recent experience of a swift sale at an inflated price and a clutch of names they can turn to when drumming up buyer interest, the situation is markedly different for both FSG and PSG. The former would prefer a partial sale but would be open to a total exit, while the latter has no desire whatsoever to sell and needs a capital raise to aid their future growth.
The €4bn valuation is something that CBS Sports report has been arrived at by three willing investors who have submitted proposals, with two of them US based. A full sale of the club would likely have been concluded at a lesser price but a partial sale, using the cachet of having Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe as ultra-marketable stars, and the increasingly lucrative global brand pursuit that has been aided by their link-up with Nike's sister company Air Jordan, Makes them a hugely attractive prospect, especially with near guaranteed Champions League qualification year after year.
PSG want a new stadium, their long-time home of the Parc des Princes owned by the Council of Paris. In order to maximise the potential that QSI believe PSG possess then a new, world-class stadium that they can monetise around their needs is central to their plans.
QSI reportedly want a partner that they can work with longer term, something that FSG have in mind with Liverpool. The difference between the two is that FSG will have some kind of exit plan on the horizon, especially with the potential of adding North American sports franchises in the NBA and, when private equity is permitted, the NFL in the years to come. Having some kind of orderly transition to a partner would keep their hand in at a time when football is still finding avenues of growth with the US starting to become a major market, while freeing up capital and providing them with a route to a departure in the coming seasons, one that would offer a better rate of return for some of their minority partners who may not have been on the journey for as long.
The interest in PSG for a partial stake points to continued confidence of investors, particularly in the US, that the market has not yet reached maturity and where there is still a ceiling that has yet to be reached.
The beginning of 2023, and the renewed focus on an investment search, will likely see serious high level talks with interested parties take place at Liverpool, something that has not happened as yet. FSG will be keeping an eye on the kind of deal that QSI are able to engineer for PSG and where investors see the value proposition in the French club, with a PSG deal likely to be more akin to what FSG are trying to achieve and where the eventual value of the deal could provide Liverpool's owners with the chance to strike a better deal than maybe they had anticipated.
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