Iranian-American billionaire Jahm Najafi is reportedly preparing a £3.1billion takeover bid for Tottenham.
The Financial Times say Najafi is working with a consortium of investors to structure an offer and is weeks away from formally approaching Spurs owner Joe Lewis and chairman Daniel Levy.
Najafi is the chair of MSP Sports Capital, a New York-based sports investment firm whose portfolio includes German club FC Augsburg, Portuguese team Estoril Praia,
Spanish side Alcorcon and Belgian side SK Beveren. MSP also has a 33 per cent stake in F1 team McLaren Racing..
According to the Financial Times, the MSP-led bid would value Tottenham at approximately £2.5bn before adding around £620million of debt onto the club.
The report this morning says MSP will put forward 70 per cent of the purchase price, and backing from the Gulf, mainly from Abu Dhabi, will contribute the remaining 30 per cent. Manchester United and Liverpool are both for sale, but MSP has identified Spurs as the Premier League club it wants to acquire.
Last month, Qatar signalled potential interest in taking a stake in Spurs after Paris St-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi met Levy in London.
A takeover of Spurs, who last week announced an increase in revenue by 22.7 per cent to £444m for the year ending June 2022, could help the club spend more to challenge for trophies.
Owner ENIC injected £150m into the club over the summer but Spurs are facing an ongoing challenge to satisfy Antonio Conte’s demands and compete in the transfer market.
Fans have become frustrated by the lack of trophies and there have been protests against Levy and the club’s ownership.
Najafi is the latest US billionaire to seek to become an owner of a Premier League club. Chelsea were bought in a £4.15bn takeover by Todd Boehly and private equity group Clearlake Capital last year, while businessman Bill Foley recently acquired Bournemouth for £120m.
Najafi was until recently a minority shareholder in the NBA basketball team Phoenix Suns, which was acquired in a £3.3bn deal in December last year.
Tottenham declined to comment when contacted this morning.
