FSG, the owners of Liverpool say they “would consider new shareholders” after hearing that the club is for sale.
The Athletic said that Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the company that bought Liverpool in 2010, is “open to offers.”
FSG said it “remains fully committed to Liverpool’s success on and off the field.”
Liverpool finished runner-up in the Premier League last year. Right now, they are in eighth place.
They’ve made it to the 16th round of the Champions League and will play Real Madrid in a rematch of last year’s final.
A group of Liverpool fans called “The Spirit of Shankly” said they hoped fans would be included in any talks about the club’s new owners.
Under its old name, New England Sports Ventures, FSG paid £300 million to buy Liverpool.
Since 2011, when he paid £4.7 million for a 2% stake, LeBron James has been a part-owner of Liverpool.
He is now a partner in the company FSG, which owns the baseball team Boston Red Sox.
In March 2021, a private investment firm called RedBird Capital Partners paid about $735 million (£533 million) for a piece of FSG.
After Liverpool left a proposed European Super League in April 2021, the club’s principal owner, John W. Henry, apologized to the fans.
This summer, Liverpool paid £64 million for striker Darwin Nunez, £5 million for midfielder Fabio Carvalho, and £4.2 million for defender Calvin Ramsay.
Sadio Mane left to go to Bayern Munich for at least £27.4 million, and Takumi Minamino left to go to Monaco for an initial £13 million. Neco Williams moved to Nottingham Forest in a deal worth about £17 million, and defender Ben Davies joined Rangers for an initial fee of £3 million.
Will FSG get a buyer for Liverpool?
Fenway Sports Group knows that Chelsea was sold for a reasonable price of £4.25bn and that Newcastle United is now another rival. Six to four in the Champions League doesn’t work, and seven to four is even worse.
The club’s owners paid £300 million, the same amount that FSG paid for Liverpool. If FSG is willing to listen to offers, they could quickly sell for ten times that amount or even more. So investors and rich people can still make money from the Premier League.
Since the pound is weak, investors outside the UK think this deal is even better.
Arsenal hasn’t been in the Champions League for five years, and Liverpool’s owners have seen how much money Arsenal has lost in that time. They have been careful about spending more money so they won’t want it for their own business. So they probably think now is a great time to sell or at least see what other options the club has.
Liverpool will be attractive to most American investors. The Chinese government has tried to stop its businesses from investing in football, so that field has gone away. I don’t think many people in the UK with close to £4bn could buy Liverpool.
Why do they need to sell now?
It means that some of their uncertain interest over the past two or three years has led them to test the market. Is someone ready to take over?
Chelsea had problems, so more than 200 people tried to buy it. But FSG knew that the Liverpool name was a big one. So, they would want a significant investment return on their initial £300 million.
Read Also: Is Liverpool Football Club for sale?
FSG has done a fantastic job building Liverpool’s brand and using the “Moneyball” idea to get and keep players. The last seven or eight years have been good for Liverpool because of this. Even though they spent $500 million less than Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea.
Supporters will worry about whether any new owners can keep up the FSG model.
The club works with big and significant banks.
