Fenway Sports Group are assessing their options when it comes to Liverpool.
At the Anfield helm since 2010, the Liverpool owners have pushed the door ajar for a potential exit from the club, willing to welcome expressions of interest from anyone with pockets deep enough to wish to talk around a full takeover.
As things stand it is, as Reds chairman Tom Werner told the Boston Globe last week, a case of "business as usual" for FSG when it comes to the most valuable asset in their £10bn portfolio, with the stance being that while interest would be considered, FSG are also unsure of what direction it will take, with the scenario of sticking around and welcoming fresh capital through an equity sale a possibility, something that could end up being the pre-cursor to a full takeover on a piecemeal basis.
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The ECHO was told last week by well-placed US sources that the move by John Henry was an explorative one aimed at "testing the waters" when it came to the true market value of the club, a decision that was arrived at on the back of the sale of Chelsea in the summer and the £2.5bn sale price that it attracted, as well as the further £1.75bn committed for infrastructure development.
FSG remain the custodians at Liverpool and little has materially changed since their openness to a full sale was revealed, the main move from the club's point of view being the transition of responsibility from Mike Gordon, FSG's third in command, to Reds CEO Billy Hogan, the latter now serving as the link between the club and the FSG hierarchy as Gordon leads the project on seeking either investment or fielding interest in a full sale, something that major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been tasked with looking into.
Much has been assumed about FSG's motivation behind a possible Liverpool sale, ranging from a lack of appetite to spend what would be required in the transfer market to keep pace with Manchester City, to wanting to buy an NFL team.
It is important to state that FSG, while a potential sale of the Reds might suggest otherwise, are in growth mode. A term that has been doing the rounds for the best part of 18 months around Boston is that of 'FSG 3.0', something that relates to what third decade of the business will look like and the kind of trajectory that it will head in, focused on adding new teams, growing their real estate portfolio and closing on new investments.
FSG wants more teams. At the very top of their wish list is an NBA franchise.
The ECHO understands that the Liverpool owners assessed options at both the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns but there is a desire in-house for them to hold their nerve and try and land one of the two expansion franchises that are set to come online within the next couple of years, with Las Vegas and Seattle the expected locations.
FSG want Vegas, something that their business partner, basketball icon, billionaire entrepreneur and current Los Angeles Laker star LeBron James made no bones about last month when he stated, on a pre-season trip to Vegas ahead of the current NBA season, that "I want the team here." The idea has always been that, ideally, James would be the person to helm that project in Vegas for FSG, in a marketplace that is booming when it comes to sport thanks to the arrival in recent years of an NFL and NHL team. All that is missing is an NBA team, and with plans for a £3bn sports and entertainment complex that would have an 'NBA ready', 20,000-seater arena, it is something of a no brainer.
There is, however, no fixed date on the horizon for an expansion franchise and it could be 2024 or beyond before an NBA team takes to the hardwood in Vegas, and there have been no guarantees that will be one of the locations, just assumptions.
The price tag for an expansion franchise is said to be around the £2.5bn mark, a figure that will be spread around the existing 30 NBA teams as a way of softening the addition of another team to be getting a slice of the media rights. Raising that kind of capital for FSG wouldn't be a major issue and isn't likely to have to see them sell their most valuable asset to acquire one half the price, although freeing up some cash from the sale of a minority stake may form part of some future funding package for it.
There is also no mad scramble to get funds in place for a move on an NBA team, especially given that NBA commissioner Adam Silver hasn't yet even given the green light on it even taking place given the conversations that would need to happen with the existing 30 teams over the arrival of another two to the league.
Another reason given has been that there is interest claimed in FSG adding an NFL team to their portfolio.
As things stand it is impossible for FSG to own an NFL team. NFL rules, as they stand currently, forbid any team ownership that includes private equity stakes, and given that FSG have private equity investment from the likes of RedBird Capital Partners, Arctos Sports Partners and CAZ Investments, that means they cannot make any play for acquiring an NFL team.
Henry, as a sole investor, would be allowed to enter into ownership, albeit he would likely have to join as part of a wider ownership group to do so given the expense required to enter into the NFL, with average values in excess of $2.5bn and some teams, notably the Dallas Cowboys, being valued at around $8bn. Chelsea co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano, who run private equity firm Clearlake Capital, had been in the running to invest in the Denver Broncos when they hit the market earlier this year, with Eghbali and Feliciano operating as individual investors on that occasion.
FSG do have long term plans to get involved in the NFL, but until such time that the NFL changes its rules around private equity in ownership then they are likely to stay away. The NFL are in continued discussion around the topic, however, with their stance an outlier among the major American sports leagues, with the NHL, NBA, MLS and MLB all allowing private equity investment in their team ownership groups.
It seems doubtful that Henry would simply press ahead on his own, as was suggested by the recent 'for sale' sign that was placed on the Washington Commanders, especially if the plan was to sell to cash in and fund his own private venture. FSG is made up of 30 partners, all of whom have equity stakes in the business, with Henry the majority shareholder, followed by Werner and then RedBird Capital.
It is understood that there is no grand plan that would be financed from a Liverpool sale, more a case of FSG weighing up just where the club sits in the current market and assessing how much further growth, and at what kind of pace, may still be to come further down the tracks. For them to check out now they would likely be leaving money on the table, with valuations still on the incline despite the macro-economic pressures that exist, with sports proving to be one of the most resilient of asset classes over the past three years.
The ECHO understands that while there are interested parties, there are no serious talks with any party at present and that FSG remain relaxed over the situation, with no urgency to part company with the Reds, whose Forbes valuation comes in at around £3.74bn.
The lack of urgency likely stems from the fact that they don't have an immediate need to find capital to fund their growth in other areas, with the NFL off limits for them as a group for now and the NBA still yet to make a decision on when, or indeed if, it will add two more teams.
For now, there is little need to expedite an exit from Anfield.
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