>>> Liverpool FC owners received GBP 2bn takeover bid from Sheik Khaled Bin Zaye

Liverpool FC owners received GBP 2bn takeover bid from Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan earlier this year - report
24 AUG 2018
Liverpool FC’s (LFC) owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) received a GBP 2bn (EUR 2.21bn) takeover bid from Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan earlier this year, The Daily Mail reported. The newspaper's sports section cited documents relating to the proposed offer, which would have seen an unnamed Chinese party take a minority stake in the English Premier League club.
Liverpool said on Thursday evening, 23 August that discussions with Sheik Khaled’s bid team eventually collapsed. The club said that although chairman Tom Werner held a meeting with Midhat Kidwai, managing director of Sheik Khaled’s Bin Zayed Internationalinvestment vehicle in New York, the negotiations never got as far as a meeting with LFC’s major shareholders Michael Gordon or John W Henry.
Kidwai did not reply when asked for comment, the report said.
Sheikh Khaled had sought GBP 750m of external investment for his potential offer from the Switzerland-based hedge fund Alternative Advisors, the item said, citing a document seen by the newspaper.
The document said Bin Zayed International had confirmed to Alternative Advisors that the owners of a “British football club” had agreed to sell at a valuation of GBP 2bn.
LFC categorically denied agreeing any deal, the article said. However, emails cited by the report indicate that FSG’s managing director Stephen D Greenberg, who had conducted the talks with Bin Zayed, had repeatedlly requested proof of financing for the bid. No proof was forthcoming and a GBP 25m downpayment, scheduled for late December 2017, was not made, the item said.
LFC says all discussions were terminated at the end of January, according to the newspaper.
Separately, the report said FSG has mandated the investment bank Allan & Co to seek investment.
The report cited a statement from LFC, which said FSG has consistently maintained that they are not looking to sell the club. However, LFC added that its owners have also previously stated that they would consider selling a minority stake if doing so could help the club’s commercial interests.
Background:
A Liverpool Echo report on 26 October said Werner had dismissed speculation that FSG had rejected a GBP 1.5bn bid for LFC. Werner said reports that FSG had been in discussions for a year with a consortium headed by Amanda Staveley were untrue.
Reports in August and September 2016 said Staveley's investment firm PCP Capital Partners and China Everbright Limited were seriously interested in jointly pursuing a takeover offer for Liverpool FC.