‘With a view’ - Liverpool takeover news as finance expert gives FSG possible outcome

Liverpool takeover latest news after Fenway Sports Group put the club up for sale more than a month ago.
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Fenway Sports Group's (FSG) decision to put Liverpool up for sale could be down to the fact they want to venture into buying another football club overseas, according to finance expert Kieran Maguire.

The Reds have been on the market for more than a month and a host of parties have been linked.

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They include the likes of a Dubai-Suadi consortium, a German group and unnamed investors in America.

Certainly, it came as a shock that FSG have made the decision to sell Liverpool, having been in charge since 2010. The Boston Globe has reported that FSG are leaning towards a partial rather than a complete sale.

The John Henry-led group paid just £300 million to purchase the club from much-maligned pair Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jnr some 12 years ago. With an estimated price tag of £3-4 billion slapped on the Reds, FSG are set to net what they paid for the club.

And Magurie, a lecturer at the University of Liverpool and author of The Price of Football, believes the funds could be invested to start either a multi-club network or to used for their other franchises - MLB team Boston Red Sox and NHL team Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Speaking to Football Insider, Maguire said: “A partial sale perhaps in the region of 10-15% is, according to sources in the US, increasingly likely.

“From FSG’s point of view, they could sell that amount of equity and recoup more than the £300m they originally paid for the club while still retaining control.

“This gives FSG the benefit of future cash and income streams from the club. They would still have control over operations and decision-making, but from a cash flow perspective, it generates money in the short term.

“That could either be reinvested in the club in the short term or used by FSG to invest in other franchises. That could be with a view to making FSG more of a multi-club network like we have seen at Man City. Or, they could use it to put more money into US franchise sports where they believe there is a lot of profit to be had.”

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