Liverpool FC stake targeted by China Everbright, PCP Capital Partners
China Everbright, the Chinese state-owned financial-services group, and the investment firm PCP Capital Partners are working together on a plan to acquire a significant stake in the UK’s Liverpool Football Club, Sky News reported.
Sources cited in the report said any deal is less likely to be a full takeover than a partnership or joint venture.
The deal under consideration gives Liverpool FC a value in excess of GBP 700m (USD 915m), the report said. One insider said the Everbright group has already tabled a preliminary offer, the item reported.
An article in The Sunday Times said the China Everbright proposal values Liverpool at approximately GBP 800m and the majority of the deal finance is likely to come from the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC), according to sources in the City and senior football-sector sources.
According to inside sources cited in the piece, the bidding consortium has yet to finalise its proposal but could involve other Chinese government-controlled parties. The investment firm Silk Road Finance is believed also to be participating in the consortium’s talks, the Sky News report said.
The Sunday Times reported the CIC-backed proposal is being brokered by the dealmaker Amanda Staveley, founder of PCP, who may also inject some of her own cash. The two sides are still negotiating financial terms and it is expected that a new investment entity backed by Everbright and PCP would take the club over, the report said.
Liverpool FC is majority owned by Boston-based Fenway Sports Group, which has repeatedly stated it has no plans to give up control of the club, although chairman Tom Werner this week said it might consider a minority stake sale, the items reported.
According to a person with close links to Fenway, the US group has hired advisers for any serious talks which might take place regarding an equity stake sale for a partnership or joint venture.
A Sunday Times report last month stated that Liverpool had attracted an unsolicited approach from Chinese businessman Liu Yiqian but his offer was turned down as the owners believed it to undervalue the team, the item noted.
Sky News, Sunday Times, previously reported intelligence