They may not be the most glamorous club in the Premiership, but Portsmouth FC now have a glamorous owner with deep enough pockets to help them achieve their ambitions. Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim is the UAE’s Sir Alan Sugar, starring in an Arab version of The Apprentice television show. He has struck a provisional deal to buy the club for an undisclosed sum from its Franco-Russian owner, Alexandre Gaydamak who acquired Pompey for £30m from Milan Mandaric, now owner of Leicester, in 2006.
They may not be the most glamorous club in the Premiership, but Portsmouth FC now have a glamorous owner with deep enough pockets to help them achieve their ambitions. Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim is the UAE’s Sir Alan Sugar, starring in an Arab version of The Apprentice television show. He has struck a provisional deal to buy the club for an undisclosed sum from its Franco-Russian owner, Alexandre Gaydamak who acquired Pompey for £30m from Milan Mandaric, now owner of Leicester, in 2006. Mr Fahim also brokered the purchase of Manchester City for Abu Dhabi’s royal family, but is no longer involved with the club, clearing the way for his involvement with Portsmouth. The sale price remains unknown. However, Deloitte have estimated that Premier League clubs have typically been sold at an enterprise value of 1.5 to two times annual revenue. On this multiple range, Portsmouth, with a turnover of £70.5m for the year to 2008, would be worth between £105.7m and £141m. But the credit crunch has depressed valuations of Premiership teams and Portsmouth’s
debts, of £57m last May, would also weigh on its equity value. Mr Al-Fahim was reported to have inquired about buying Chelsea from Roman Abramovich in January as part of a consortium to have bid more than £700m. He should be able to wipe out Portsmouth’s debts and proceed with redeveloping Fratton Park now that the plan for a new ground has been mothballed.