We have been focusing a great deal in the last month or two on the state-led long march of Chinese investors into English football. This has been confirmed by the interest of China Everbright, a state-backed investment company, in making a bid for Liverpool.
We have been focusing a great deal in the last month or two on the state-led long march of Chinese investors into English football. This has been confirmed by the interest of China Everbright, a state-backed investment company, in making a bid for Liverpool.
Owners Fenway Sports Group have said that the club is not for sale, despite a rumoured offer of £800m, which would give them a £500m profit on the £300m they paid in 2010. Liverpool forms part of a more general sports business strategy which would be weakened by its sale. However, they might consider a minority stake, particularly if it opened up access to the lucrative Chinese market. A minority stake could become a majority stake in due course.
This particular bid would be made with Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners. This is a private equity firm which brokered the sale of Manchester City to Sheikh Mansour, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, in 2008. She also advised Dubai investors on a failed attempt to buy Liverpool FC last year.
The club has also attracted interest from Fosun and Dalian Wanda, Chinese conglomerates with a known taste for western consumer brands. It may be odd to think of Liverpool FC in those terms, but that is how they are perceived in China.
China has a lot of money available for investment abroad, albeit that domestic finances have an element of a house of cards in them, but one underpinned by the all powerful Communist Party. The Premier League is seen as offering a sound financial investment and, perhaps more importantly, a chance to boost China’s external profile.
Ultimately this is all about President Xi Jinping’s objective of making China a world football superpower, alongside its growing military and commercial might. This is really about geopolitics rather than football, but the two are increasingly inextricably intertwined.