Cousin of Man City owner sees astonishing £2bn Liverpool bid fail

The cousin of Manchester City’s owner Sheik Mansour has seen his proposed £2billion takeover bid for Liverpool fall short, according to a report.

The Daily Mail claims that Sheik Khaled Bin Zayed Al Nehayan approached representatives of Liverpool’s owners over the course of several months between late 2017 and into early 2018.

The deal – had it gone through – would have constituted the most expensive football takeover in the history of the game.

Manchester United, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, are valued at £3.1bn and Stan Kroenke’s buyout of Arsenal recently took the club’s overall estimated valuation to around £1.8bn.

Sheik Khaled, an Emirati member of the family who govern Abu Dhabi, does not quite have the same vast wealth of his more famous cousin, but his takeover would still have given Liverpool some serious financial clout and made them one of the world’s major spenders in the process. The Sheik is known as one of the Gulf state’s most successful entrepreneurs.

That said, the club – currently owned by American company Fenway Sports Group – backed the club to the tune of around £200m in this summer’s transfer market thanks to the signings of Naby Keita, Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Alisson Becker.

It’s claimed that Sheikh Khaled met with Liverpool chairman Tom Werner on a number of occasions in New York, with a third party – a smaller Chinese investor – also part of the discussions.

But it’s claimed the proposed takeover never reached the stage of talking through a sale with FSG’s major shareholders John W Henry and Michael Gordon, with the Sheik’s reported offer not enough to tempt the current owners to sell.

The Mail, however, does claim the Reds are seeking investors in the club to to help raise £750m and Bin Zayed International – the Sheik’s firm – and Alternative Advisors, a Swiss hedge fund, who are reported to have reached an agreement in which to become that party.

The agreement was signed on January 22, 2018 and an email was reported to have said: “The client wishes a financial partner for the acquisition of a British football club.

“Client has confirmed to AA that the current shareholder of the club agreed to sell 100% of the share of the club on the basis of a £2bn valuation.”

But amidst takeover claims Liverpool insist all talks closed down in late January. A club statement said at the time: “FSG have been clear and consistent: the club is not for sale.

“But what the ownership has said, again clearly and consistently, is that under the right terms and conditions we would consider taking on a minority investor, if such a partnership was to further our commercial interests in specific market places and in line with the continued development and growth of the club and the team.”

 

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