Jeff Bezos closes in on Liverpool FC stake as FSG sale deal nears
Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos is set to buy shares in Liverpool FC as Fenway Sports Group plans a significant minority sale.
A consortium featuring Bezos, as well as Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, is led by the son-in-law of steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal and former Queens Park Rangers shareholder Amit Bhatia and is nearing a deal with the American firm that has owned the Merseyside Premier League club since 2010. A deal could be announced this week, according to Sky News’ Mark Kleinman.
Fenway Sports Group purchased the club for £300m over 15 years ago but Liverpool could now fetch over £4.5bn as valuations in England’s top flight have soared.
Liverpool on the market
The Mittal family’s sporting portfolio is currently headed up by the Rajasthan Royals Indian Premier League franchise.
Fenway Sports Group completed its acquisition of Liverpool in 2010 and had recently been looking to build a multi-club empire – much like Manchester United’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester City’s City Football Group – before abandoning plans earlier this year.
“Sure, someone sends an email to Jeff Bezos and says: ‘Would you be interested in doing this consortium?’ That doesn’t mean Bezos [will accept],” former Liverpool chief Peter Moore told the Liverpool Echo last week.
“Jeff has never shown any interest and even if he did, if he put in one percent of his net worth that he is going to throw in here and he can bring his wife, Lauren Sanchez, to Anfield, where she can come to Anfield and the cameras will be on her and she can have a right great time.”
And the owners confirmed the interest from Bhatia, telling the Financial Times: “An investment consortium led, managed, and represented by Amit Bhatia has expressed interest in making a strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club.”
FSG itself counts the likes of RedBird Capital Partners, LeBron James and Maverick Carter among its investors, while US sports investment firm Dynasty Equity reportedly paid up to $200m for a stake in the club that equated to smaller than four per cent.
Earlier this month Fenway Sports Group’s chief of football Michael Edwards quit the organisation.