Liverpool owners FSG and Todd Boehly join forces in 'unprecedented' deal as £450m development emerges

Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) and Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly have had battles in the transfer market.

But now the Premier League owners are set to join forces in a merger deal that will see investors inject up to $40 million.

FSG boast an impressive portfolio that contains three iconic teams in Liverpool, MLB side the Boston Red Sox and NHL outfit the Pittsburgh Penguins. But the Boston-based firm also have their interests away from sport.

In 2021, they became a minority investor in The SpringHill Company - a consumer and entertainment business founded by basketball legend LeBron James, who is also a lifetime partner in FSG, and Maverick Carter.

SpringHill, which has produced films such as Space Jam: A New Legacy and Hustle, have now merged with Fulwell 73, a UK film, television and music production company that is co-owned by actor James Corden while Boehly is an investor. The firm produced the popular Netflix documentary series Sunderland ‘Til I Die.

And according to Fulwell 73’s Leo Pearlman, the strength of the financial partners that have fused together makes the deal unprecedented. US sportswear giants Nike and tennis legend Serena Williams are also part of the deal via SpringHill.

“I don’t think there’s an independent production company anywhere in the world that can boast a group of financial partners quite as strong as this merger is going to have,” Pearlman told the Financial Times. “It’s a hell of a line-up of people who are coming into this new business.”

A name for the new company has yet to be given. It is reported that a £450 million film and TV studio complex in Sunderland in being developed against the backdrop of the deal. SpringHill chief executive Carter added: “Like everyone, we see the ways audience behaviour is shifting.”

FSG and Boehly will become partners despite their respective teams being Premier League rivals. Liverpool earned a 2-1 victory over Chelsea last month and currently top the table by eight points. The Reds also got the better of the London outfit when delivering a 1-0 victory in last season’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.