Liverpool FC could experience a takeover very soon after owners of the club Fenway Sports Group reportedly announced their choice to put the club up for sale.
According to reports, the American company, FSG headed by John W Henry is demanding an enormous four billion pounds for the sale of Liverpool which could potentially usher in new owners.
Meanwhile, FSG initially insisted that selling the club was never on their agenda and claimed they had long-term plans for Liverpool.
Their statement read: “FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch.”
They revealed there was myriads interest from prospective buyers pressuring the owners to sale the club but they declined and maintained that the club was not for sale.
In addition: “we frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders” in the club.
“Under the right terms and conditions,” the statement added, “we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club.”
However, it appears the Reds would experience a complete change of ownership just like how Todd Boehly took over from former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Henry’s FSG bought Liverpool from previous joint owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks at the sum of £300m ($344m) in October 2010, but following the Reds’ lengthy era of success across all competitions, and substantial revenue growth, the club’s current value is estimated earlier this year by Forbes to worth a staggering excess of £3.6bn ($4.45bn).
This means that John W Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (FSG) will be pocketing more than 10 times the amount they bought Liverpool in 2010 if they eventually sell the club.
As it stands, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), has summoned two of the world’s biggest financial institutions, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to bargain with interested and potential buyers of the club.
Despite the enormous price placed on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team, it’s believed that there would be fierce competition among potential buyers to complete the takeover.
Meanwhile, FSG initially revealed that a good number of billionaire consortiums had previously shown interest in buying the club.
However, Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have announced that only prospective buyers whose offers are in the best interest of the club and in line with their selling price would be considered.
An FSG statement said: “offers will be considered if they are in the best interests of Liverpool”.
Hence, one of the following billionaires could be the next owner of the six-times European champions, Liverpool following their credible interest and purchasing power to buy the club.
Gerry Cardinale.
Gerry Cardinale is a popular American businessman. He is the founder and owner of Redbird Capital Partners and the President of AC Milan, which he acquired for the amount of EUR 1.3 billion.
The American billionaire also bought an 11 percent stake in FSG for £538million last year.
It was revealed that the 61-year-old philanthropist and businessman, Gerry cardinal first showed interest in buying Liverpool but his offer was rejected by Henry.
Gerry said he would not hesitate to acquire Liverpool but he felt the club was in good hands after his offer was denied.
Gerry said: “I definitely would not exclude it (owning Liverpool) as it would be a privilege but I think Liverpool is in fantastic hands with the current group.”
Gerry is a successful businessman and one of the potential buyers of Liverpool with a net worth of around USD 200 million.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly Britain’s richest man, with his net worth estimated at around £15 billion.
The British billionaire is the founder and president of chemical giant Ineos. He is the owner of the French club Nice, Swiss side FC Lausanne-Sport, and cycling team Ineos Grenadiers.
The 70-year-old billionaire has a big share in the Mercedes Formula One team.
Jim has formerly expressed his desire to buy Manchester United but the Glazers reportedly turned him down.
Before Todd Boehly took over the ownership of Chelsea, Ratcliffe put in a bid to buy the Blues but failed.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is believed to be one of the potential buyers to take over the ownership of Liverpool.
Billy Beane
Billy Beane is a former American professional baseball player and current front-office executive.
The 60-year-old billionaire is the executive vice president of baseball operations and co-owner of the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB); Barnsley FC of the EFL League One in England and AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie in the Netherlands.
Earlier this year, Beane allied with US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners to buy Chelsea but failed.
Though his £3 billion net worth may not be enough to buy Liverpool, he could pin the purchase of the club as he already has an 11 percent share with Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group.
Elon Musk
One of the early bidders is new Twitter owner Elon Musk.
The 51-year-old billionaire is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, founder of the Boring Company; co-owner of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the Musk Foundation.
Musk previously declared his interest in buying Manchester United earlier this year.
With his current net worth of a staggering 208.3 billion USD, Musk could be set to add the Merseyside club to his name.
Muhsin Bayrak
Muhsin Bayrak is a Turkish tycoon famously known as the billionaire of Turkey.
He made his £8bn empire as chairman of his own company AB Group Holding – which has invested in tourism, cryptocurrency, and construction.
Earlier this year, the 47-year-old Turkish billionaire was reportedly part of the bidders for Chelsea’s takeover with the former Blues owner Abramovich flying to Turkey to discuss with him.
