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Articles on football club takeovers and related issues
Sunderland are engaged in takeover talks with a German consortium that has a longstanding interest in English football. The £110 million price tag on the club asked for by owner Ellis Short does not appear to have deterred them.
Sunderland are being advised by Dr Keith Harris who has advised on the purchase of many clubs including Chelsea, Manchester City and Everton.
The pressure on Katrien Liebherr to sell Southampton could increase as a result of an investigation by the German tax authorities. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating the tax liability of her late father, Markus Liebherr.
The takeover of Portsmouth Football Club by former Walt Disney chief executive Michael Eisner has been approved. 80.3 per cent of the members of Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust who own 48.5 per cent of the shares voted in favour of the deal. Of the club’s ‘presidents’, who hold the remainder of the shares, 75 per cent voted in favour.
‘Silent Stan’ Kroenke may face a hostile reception from some Arsenal fans if he attends the FA Cup final on Saturday as anticipated. Some supporters want him to step aside after minority shareholder Alisher Usmanov made a £1 billion offer for his 67 per cent stake.
After Kroenke Sports & Entertainment said that it was a ‘committed long-term investor in Arsenal’, the Arsenal Supporters Trust said that the use of the word ‘investor’ showed that Kroenke was only interested in making money.
Leicester City’s owners, King Power, have reached agreement to buy OH Leuven, a Belgian second division team.
What the relationship will be with Leicester City is unclear, but it could serve as a feeder club given the number of high quality players Belgium has produced in recent years. It could also be used to give experience to Leicester players.
Regardless of the results of today’s games Greek shipping magnate and former Olympiacos owner Evangelos Mariankis is set to complete his takeover of Nottingham Forest. This will end the controversial five year reign of Kuwaiti businessman Fawaz al-Hawasi who has managed to get through eight managers. Let’s hope it’s not a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.
A correspondent sent me some interesting questions about investors who get involved in non-league football and I thought it would be worth reproducing them and my answers here.
Talks for a takeover of Charlton Athletic by an Australian football consortium have stalled, but may yet be revived. Unpopular Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet is willing to consider offers.
The consortium were prepared to pay £25m, a substantial sum for a League One club, but had difficulty in raising the money. They are now looking at alternative ways of securing the required funds.
A takeover offer for relegated Port Vale has been made by the owners of Burslem-based IT company Synectics Solutions. The company has an annual turnover of £13m and its headquarters are near Vale Park.
The offer is for £1.25m which is the amount owner Norman Smurthwaite paid with his then business partner when taking the club out of administration in 2012. However, he claims to have ploughed in £3.7m since then.
Leeds United co-owner Andrea Radrizzani is negotiating to buy out the 50 per cent share of the club held by Massimo Cellino. He had an option to buy the shares at the end of the season.
Cellino has been a controversial figure at Elland Road and has been the subject of various bans by the football authorities. His replacement would give the club some much needed stability.