ALEX BRUMMER: Football changes the guard as top clubs go up for sale

All eyes may be on Qatar, but Premier League football is also on the eve of major changes.

Chelsea is now controlled by an American West Coast sports franchise. Fenway Sports Group has put up a for sale sign over Liverpool FC.

And the Glazer family, after 17 years of ownership, appear ready to say goodbye to Manchester United.

The big difference for the sales process for United is that it is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange, so the inner workings of the club’s finances and prospects and the bidding will be in full view of the public.

The club’s current market value is a relatively modest £2.3 billion, but that’s just a starting point.

Applying the same sort of profit-price multiple that Chelsea’s transfer of ownership from HM Treasury (where it was seized) to Todd Boehly was applied, you’d end up with a United price of £3.4bn.

For the Glazer family, who initially paid £790 million in a highly leveraged structure, it has proven to be a good investment, albeit unpopular with fans. Still, it fit the zeitgeist.

Of course, given the moment we live in, the most obvious new owners could be from the Gulf.

After all, Manchester City, Newcastle United and French champions PSG all give kudos to their respective potentate owners in what’s known as sports washing.

Wealthy entrepreneurs such as taxpayer Jim Ratcliffe are among the possible buyers of Manchester United.

But private equity certainly sees opportunities. RedBird already has a stake in Liverpool. CVC is active with Barcelona and Six Nations Rugby.

Private equity has the vision for financial transformation, as seen dramatically in Formula 1 where tremendous value was created through sponsorship, marketing and digital innovation.

The crowd may not be happy. But without ‘protection’ provided by the Glazers’ relatively benign ownership at United and Abramovich formerly at Chelsea, a European Super League could be back on the agenda.

Swiss exit

Swiss banking is all about security and discretion. When a CD containing data on dubious customers escaped from HSBC’s Geneva branch in 2015, there was great embarrassment, but no doubt about its stability.

Credit Suisse has the opposite problem. The investment bank’s mistakes — from the implosion of the Archegos Capital hedge fund to executives spying on each other — are well-rehearsed and required a Saudi-backed £3.5 billion in cash.

Once the rebuilding of capital was completed, a more fundamental problem loomed. Chief executive Ulrich Koerner has embraced a new strategy targeting wealthy people.

Even though the safety of the completely separate asset management activities is not in question, the bank’s reputation has gone through the wringer.

There is no shortage of alternatives for wealthy customers, so while shareholders put in new money, wealthy savers were busy cashing in their holdings.

An alarming 10 per cent of assets, estimated at £55 billion, escaped through the back door between early October and November 11.

It is not possible to blame all this on the market turbulence, which was largely confined to the UK gilts market. Despite the outflow, Credit Suisse appears to have a decent liquidity buffer.

Even though new capital has arrived, the difficulty will be convincing wealthy clients – and potential clients – that after the bank’s shaky behavior in recent times, it’s a good place to raise money.

Until that happens, fee income and prospects for recovery will fade into the distance.

Wealth management is all about confidence and performance, as British investors regretted when Neil Woodford’s investment empire went bankrupt. Credit Suisse has a large boulder to lift up the Alps.

Salad days

When it comes to overseas acquisitions, in most cases, executives are only too happy to turn around and let the buyers’ guts tickle.

In the case of Schneider’s failed attempt to buy out the minority in British industrial software pioneer Aveva, the deal, if completed, would make executives wealthy without having to worry about over-mortgaging the mansion.

Incentive shares vest, accrued shares are bought for cash and sold at a higher price, and service agreements are honored.

At Aveva, the directors are about to collect £5.6 million from their declared assets. Nice work if you can get it.