Liverpool owner John W Henry is fishing for their true value – COMMENT
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COMMENT: John W Henry is fishing for the true value of Liverpool by looking to sell a small stake in the club. It was a tactic used by Man City in 2019 and will help the Anfield owner raise more money to compete with rivals.
- Fenway Sports Group announced last year that they were seeking investment
- It was believed that they would also consider direct offers for Liverpool
- John W. Henry dismissed claims they will sell, but are looking for investors
John W. Henry’s comments to a Boston newspaper about talking to investors but not wanting to sell Liverpool have left many fans scratching their heads.
What exactly is the American billionaire up to?
‘Are we going to sell Liverpool Football Club? No. Are we talking to investors about Liverpool Football Club? Yes. Will something happen there? I think so, but it won’t be a sale,” he told the Boston Sports Journal.
The most likely scenario, according to the investment bankers, is that Henry wants to know how much Liverpool is worth.
The easiest way to do this is by selling a small stake in the club. By unloading, say, a five percent that Henry owns, you can calculate how much the entire club is worth.
This is an old trick and Manchester City last pulled it in 2019 when 10 per cent of the club was sold to US tech private equity giant Silver Lake for $500m (£415m), valuing the entire group at nearly $5 billion.
John W. Henry (right) is likely to seek a clear valuation of Liverpool with his search for investors.
Henry’s Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010 and is now looking for minority investors
Liverpool have had great success in the years since the purchase of the club by the FSG.
Cue a lot of puzzled faces as City didn’t need the money and Silver Lake had never invested in the sport before.
But City executives wanted a valuation more than 10 years after they bought the club in September 2008 for £210m.
Similarly, Henry needs to know how much Liverpool is worth since Fenway Sports Group bought the club for £300m in 2010.
Knowing the value of the club, Henry can refinance loans, find additional sources of investment; essentially, the Liverpool owner can get more money.
This is vital if Liverpool want to continue to rebuild Anfield or compete with Chelsea and Manchester City on the transfer market.
However, Henry will no doubt also have been keeping an eye on the sales process at arch-rival Manchester United, which has received blockbuster bids from British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, chairman of the Islamic Bank of Qatar.
Are Henry’s latest comments laced with a hint of jealousy that the same level of interest hasn’t been shown that the Reds failed to attract interest from the Middle East?
