Liverpool Football Club might soon have one of the most famous ownership groups in sports. A strong investment group, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin, is reportedly close to buying about a third of the Premier League team.
This group is led by British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia, who used to own part of Queens Park Rangers and is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s son-in-law. They are in serious talks with the current owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG). An announcement might come this week.
The numbers show how much Liverpool’s commercial value has grown since FSG bought the club for £300 million in 2010.
If this deal goes through, Liverpool would get a huge amount of money without losing control. FSG has always focused on growing the club sustainably. Getting £1.35 billion for a minority stake gives the club a lot of financial freedom without changing FSG’s leadership. With Jeff Bezos involved, people will be thinking about possible partnerships with Amazon for media, streaming, and content. After recent changes to the team and staff, this new money will help Liverpool compete in the transfer market, which is increasingly dominated by state-backed clubs.
Deloitte has reportedly advised on this deal. It values the club very highly, making it one of the biggest valuations for a sports club ever. Everyone is watching Anfield and Boston as the final paperwork is sorted out.
