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The board of Southampton Leisure, owner of Southampton Football Club, has accepted a bid from a UK investment company valued at about £40m for a majority stake in the business. The Saints lost their parachute payments this year after relegation from the Premiership two years ago. Sisu Capital becomes the first hedge fund to own a British football club. The offer for the Saints is Sisu's third attempt to buy a football club after it expressed an interest in Derby County and was outbid by Thaksin Shinawatra. It also follows a string of other attempts by hedge funds to buy football clubs. These include Polygon, the US hedge fund that pulled out of takeover talks with Newcastle United last year and Lansdowne Partners which began building its stake in Arsenal in 2005 but is thought to have sold its stake last month.
Southampton told investors this week that the bidder would commit funds to the club by a placing of new shares and the purchase of shares from existing shareholders. Southampton has a market value of about £14m but debts on its St.Mary's Stadium are estimated to be more than £28m. The bid is for 55 per cent of the club. Southampton Leisure is being advised by Keith Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce, who has brokered a number of recent deals in English football, including the sale of Manchester City and Aston Villa. At the Championship level, they have been trying to find a buyer or investor for Charlton Athletic, but its location in the crowded London market makes it a less attractive prospect than a 'stand alone' club like Southampton which is in a prosperous part of the country. Roy Ranson, a former professional footballer, who failed to buy Manchester City this year is understood to be advising the bidder, along with Altium Capital. At one time Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsft, was interested in the Saints. One attraction was said to be that he could moor his super yacht in sight of the ground. Southampton Leisure owns land alongside the club's stadium at the harbourside, but the board has been hit by a number of splits in recent years.
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