Brentford stake sale to value club at £400m
The owner of Premier League club Brentford could offload up to 25 per cent of his holding in the Bees today in a deal that could value the London club at £400m.
The wealthy businessman who ran Belron, owners of Autoglass, Gary Lubner, and the Kingsman and Kick-Ass Hollywood film-maker Matthew Vaughn are expected to be part of the deal, which could be announced this week.
Brentford owner Matthew Benham has been looking to offload a wedge of his shareholding for a number of months and it appears his hopes have paid off.
Vaughn recently partnered with Cristiano Ronaldo to make action movies. “Cristiano Ronaldo loves movies; Matthew Vaughn loves sport – and they both love a good story,” a Ronaldo statement read.
Benham acquired a controlling stake in the west London club in 2012 and saw them promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2021, where they remain. Under Benham’s tenure the club also left their long-term home Griffin Park for the Gtech Community Stadium in 2020.
Under manager Thomas Frank, the club finished 13th, ninth, 16th and 10th in Brentford’s first four seasons in the top flight.
But the Danish manager this summer left for fellow London club and Europa League champions Tottenham Hotspur, and was replaced by Keith Andrews.
Brentford investment
Investment by Lubner and Vaughn would continue a trend of wealthy investors being keen to involve themselves in English football.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is set to buy John Textor’s over 40 per cent stake in Crystal Palace, while there have been a number of other investment groups finding a home in English football at all levels. A Qatari group, for example, purchased Dagenham and Redbridge before signing Andy Carroll.
It was revealed in February that Benham had hired Rothschild bankers to take a stake to the market, with this potential £100m offloading representing roughly 25 per cent of the club.
Brentford on Tuesday announced the signing of England international Jordan Henderson. The former Liverpool player joins the likes of Antoni Milambo, Caoimhin Kelleher, Romelle Donovan and Michael Kayode in heading to west London in the off season ahead of the return of the Premier League next month.