The American owners of Liverpool F.C., one of soccer’s most storied teams, have hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of the club, a six-time European champion, according to two people with direct knowledge of the team’s plans.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the potential sale.
Word that Liverpool’s owners are mulling a potential sale comes only months after a group led by the California-based investment fund Clearlake paid a record $3 billion for Liverpool’s Premier League rival Chelsea. That deal was forced after Britain’s government slapped Chelsea’s former Russian billionaire owner with sanctions.
Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox, the anchor of its portfolio of sports holdings, resurrected Liverpool into a dominant force after acquiring the team following a forced sale in 2010 by its lenders as Liverpool teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.
That £300 million price tag was described by its previous owners as an “epic swindle” that year; now looks like a steal in the other direction, with the club’s valuation soaring on the back of significant increases in broadcast and sponsorship income as Liverpool returned to the summit of domestic and international soccer.
In 2019, under the guidance of its inspirational German coach, Juergen Klopp, Liverpool added their sixth European Cup, before adding their first Premier League title a year later. That was a trophy the fans craved more than any other, as it came 30 years after the last of their previous 18 English league championships.
Last season Liverpool fell just short of winning both when they lost the Premier League to Manchester City by one point and was defeated by Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League.
F.S.G., led by the financier John Henry, has been exploring selling strategic stakes in Liverpool for much of the past half-decade. Last year RedBird, a private equity company with stakes in several other sports teams, secured an 11 per cent share of F.S.G. for $735 million. At the time, the owners talked about looking to secure further growth opportunities without putting its most valuable asset up for sale.
News of the potential sale was first reported by The Athletic, a New York Times company. Liverpool’s response later on Monday only fueled more speculation about the ownership’s intentions.
“There have been a number of recent changes of ownership and rumours of changes in ownership at EPL clubs and inevitably we are asked regularly about Fenway Sports Group’s ownership in Liverpool,” the club said in a statement.
“FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool.” “FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club. FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch.”
In hiring Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Liverpool’s owners have hired two banking giants, known for extracting significant fees for mergers and acquisition transactions. F.S.G. had by contrast used the same boutique firm it had used when it purchased Liverpool to sell the minority stake to RedBird last March. The sale is being handled out of London, where Liverpool also has an office. Both banks declined to comment.
The price paid for Chelsea was at the time more than had been spent on any franchise in any sport, and has only been bettered by the price secured by the outgoing owners of the National Football League’s Denver Broncos. Liverpool is more popular than both those teams, and most other clubs anywhere.
Forbes values Liverpool at $4.45 billion, about ten times what F.S.G. paid.
The Boston-based group has also invested in the team’s infrastructure, revamping its historic Anfield stadium with two new stands and also built a new practice facility.
But there has been growing concern privately among the ownership about whether the team can continue competing at the top of the league and in European competition against teams owned by Gulf states. Manchester City is owned by the brother of the ruler of the United Arab Emirates, and recently Newcastlewas purchased by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. While Qatar has powered Paris St.-Germain’s rise to superiority in France.
Since hiring Klopp, the team has managed to compete with City by improving its roster largely through money raised by selling other players.
The success has also been marked by moments of missteps, including an effort to raise ticket prices that was reversed following a fan revolt. But the biggest backlash came in 2021 when Liverpool joined11 other top clubs in attempting to break away and create a new European Super League.
“I want to apologise to all the fans and supporters of Liverpool Football Club for the disruption I caused over the past 48 hours,” Henry said at the time, making a rare public statement. Those same fans now face new uncertainty.
New York Times News Service
