Liverpool: Chinese Investment? [Update - Not China related]

[BaZ87]

There's been a lot of talk in the past few months that various state back Chinese investment firms have been in talks to buy part or maybe even all of the club. Just yesterday our chairman, Tom Werner, gave an interview where he ruled out the possibility of selling the club but also said that in the right circumstances they would consider selling a minority stake in the club.

Prior to tonight the reports have been a bit unreliable and as Werner said yesterday, probably more a case of certain people seeking publicity than genuine interest. Tonight however things seem to have got a bit more serious with the FT reporting that FSG have hired an investment bank to advise them on talks with Chinese investment firm Everbright and PCP Capital Partners.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3a4a580a-6701-11e6-ae5b-a7cc5dd5a28c.html

 

[BaZ87]

Nobody knows whether any investment will even materialise let alone the implications of it.

 

[BaZ87]

This is the first season since they've taken over that we've not spent in real terms and as you say that might change. All the noises are that money is there but it's Klopp who is refusing to buy somebody for the sake of it. Even when the club was losing £m's we were still spending £20-30m per season thanks to FSG putting cash into the club.

Lol saved us from admin? They only did that because of they managed to swindle it on the cheap. They got the stadium expansion to appease the fans, they didnt put there own hands in their pocket and when it was finally nearing completion they tried to rip everyone off. They continue to plow on with a ridiculous membership scheme, one im a part of, where you are put in a lottery to buu a ticket...costs £50 a year for the privilege.

We are in a net spend so far this summer, any loss in previous windows has been minimal and offset against the club.

This is complete nonsense. Even prior to the money that FSG have stumped up for the stadium work they already put £m's into the club. Take a look at the clubs' accounts if you don't believe me.

With the exception of Chelsea and City, I'm struggling to think of another PL side who's owners have put as much money into their club as FSG have with us.

 

[BaZ87]

I assume you mean net spend. And whether it is or isn't enough, without them it would have been far less. As I said, with the exception of City and Chelsea, how many other clubs' owners have loaned their clubs £150-200m interest free in 5-6 years?

 

[BaZ87]

There's been some reported denials of a deal but the story rumbles on. Bloomberg are reporting that the Chinese group are willing to up their valuation following talks with FSG's advisors:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...itors-said-prepared-to-weigh-higher-valuation

But thats it...what have FSG (NESV) actually invested ? They are doing the absolute bare minimum that is needed to run the club. The stadium was largely paid for by the council and whatever else has been loaned against the club...

It seems this Chinese investment talk is genuine, i don't believe it will be investment for a part share though, i think it will be for a takeover and honestly i think NESV will accept. If NESV don't accept then do we think there is a likelihood this consortium will look elsewhere in the league ? That could damage us further.

Late reply - what on earth? The council have not paid a penny towards the Stadium work!

FSG have put more money into the club than any other owner other than City and Chelsea's.

 

[BaZ87]

Anfield project = regeneration of the area, not the stadium. And yes FSG have loaned the club the money, interest free just like the other 10s of millions they've loaned to the club to allow them to spend when the club was losing money.

What on earth were you expecting or hoping for? Look at all these other clubs that have built/expanded their stadium and are having to borrow the money from banks and pay interest or haven't been able to secure the finance to start. Again, aside from Chelsea and City, can you come up with another club that have received the financial support we have from FSG? You can't. David Moores once loaned the club some money, he charged interest on his loan.

Why is it down to FSG if we haven't spent a great deal this window? All previous summers we've spent, even when the club was losing money. This summer has been an exception simply because we've had a number of valuable players that were surplus to requirements but I'm certain if Klopp wanted to spend another £40m, the money would be there for him - it seems as if it's Klopp that doesn't want to spend it though.

 

[BaZ87]

With PPV games and Project Big Picture this news has flown under the radar but it appears that Liverpool, well FSG, are in the process of starting their own City Football Group.

Sometime ago it was reported that Richard Scudamore (long time PL CEO) had been recruited by an investment vehicle which included Billy Beane to help them with their plans to purchase a European football side and now in the last few days it's come out that a deal with FSG is on the cards. This new company has raised or has access to around $1.5bn and the plan is for them to invest that into FSG (so not just Liverpool but the Red Sox and other businesses) in return for sub 20% of a newly merged company. They then intend to float on the stockmarket to raise more funds to buy up more sports sides around the world.

There's no obvious or massive benefit to Liverpool in all of this. They might have a few friendly clubs around Europe that they can loan players to in the future but nothing earth-shattering. The key benefits will be in the other direction with FSG looking to grow these smaller sides, using everything they've learned from Liverpool, taking advantage of all the scouting & analytics Liverpool have already in place that these smaller sides couldn't afford themselves.

I can't see and don't believe that there's a clear link between this news and Project Big Picture before woppy pops up.

 

[BaZ87]

I think there's a clear link tbh. FSG probably know Project Big Picture will be rejected so their next offer will be to buy the EFL, rather than purchase a European club, and turn them in to feeder leagues for Liverpool. Obviously owning the EFL would mean FSG could just move players to and from Liverpool without a fee.

I really hope this is sarcasm.

 

[BaZ87]

Why? Liverpool seem intent on securing their place at the top of the pyramid through any means necessary

Oh wow I'm pretty sure Pigeon was joking but you're serious

Because buying the EFL would mean buying the TV (and commercial) revenue from the League, you wouldn't actually own any of the clubs. And of course the clubs wouldn't sell off the entirity of their tv rights for the rest of time because they'll then have no revenue moving forwards. This is quite possibly the maddest question ever asked on here. It's like me offering to buy your oxygen supply - I don't think there's a price you'd sell that for woppy.

And btw, this is why the selling off 20% of the League to a private equity firm wasn't a good deal for the EFL.