Sam Kennedy, a partner of Liverpool owner FSG has revealed that there has been ‘a lot of interest’ from people looking to invest in the Premier League club.
It was confirmed last week that Fenway Sports Group had employed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to prepare a sales deck for the club, sparking rumours that Liverpool was to be put up for sale.
Kennedy has suggested it is more likely that FSG are looking for increased investment in the club rather than selling it completely.
And, according to Kennedy, there has been no shortage of interested parties looking to buy a slice of one of sport’s best known brands.
“There has been a lot of interest from numerous potential partners considering investment into the club,” Kennedy told The Boston Globe.
“It is early days in terms of exploring investment into Liverpool.”
Kennedy is currently CEO and president of the FSG-owned Boston Red Sox and has previously been president of the entire group.
“Great companies grow by adding value to their business. One way to increase that value from time to time is to sell assets or add investors. Does that mean FSG is going to sell Liverpool? I do not know.
“It’s John Henry’s, Tom Werner’s and Mike Gordon’s job to responsibly run Fenway Sports Group and they felt this was an ideal time to explore possible opportunities for investment into the club.”
However, according to reports in The Mail Online, if the right figure is met, a complete sale is not out of the question.
“People close to negotiations claim FSG would be ready to sell for £2.7bn ($3bn),” the paper reported.
“That would still represent a massive profit on the £300m ($355m) they paid in 2010, even taking into account a few hundred million pounds of investment in stadium expansion and training ground development.
“The £4bn ($4.7bn) figure has been encouraged by those close to the sales process hoping that bidders might come in with offers between £3bn ($3.5bn) and £3.5bn ($4bn) and thinking they have a bargain at that price.”
The topic of club ownership has been much-discussed of late.
The Saudi Private Investment Fund’s purchase of Newcastle last year, followed by the peril faced by Chelsea fans after the club was frozen as an asset of former owner Roman Abramovich due to his ties to Vladimir Putin, has raised questions about the sort of people and groups that should be allowed to invest their money into Premier League teams.
Talk of Liverpool being up for sale led to speculation about who could end up buying the club.
One group mentioned was Dubai International Capital, who ‘could be eyeing’ a deal to buy the club, according to reports in the Middle East. DIC failed to buy the club in 2007 after making a £312m bid.
This would create a sticky situation for Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has previously questioned the fairness of clubs being owned by nations with seemingly unlimited resources.
As the speculation continues, the German, along with all football fans, will be following with bated breath.
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