The US owners of Liverpool FC have put England’s most successful football club up for sale, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fenway Sports Group Holdings LLC is working with Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley as it gauges buyer interest in the English Premier League team, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
“FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club,” the group said in a statement.
Liverpool are the most successful club in England
Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Liverpool didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Liverpool is one of the biggest teams in world football having won 19 top-flight league titles and numerous trophies in European competitions. It’s recently been enjoying a return to its glory days under German coach Jürgen Klopp, who in 2020 led the club to its first league title of the EPL era.
Investors from America and the Middle East are likely to be among those interested in buying the team given their strong appetite for exposure to the world’s richest football league.
Last year it was reported that the club’s FSG owners rejected a £3bn offer for the highly successful team from investors in the Middle East.
Any future sale is sure to attract interest from the region.
The past two years have already seen the high-profile takeovers of EPL clubs Newcastle United FC by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Chelsea FC by US investor Todd Boehly and the private equity firm Clearlake Capital.
Chelsea was sold in May in a $4.9bn deal and some analysts said Monday that Liverpool would fetch a higher price.
“The sale of Liverpool could reach in excess of $5bn, with the club generating over $160 million from its sponsorship deals for the 2022-23 season alone,” said Conrad Wiacek, head of sport analysis at GlobalData.
Fenway Sports also owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team. It took over of Liverpool from American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks in 2010. Last year, investment firm RedBird Capital Partners LLC acquired a stake in Fenway Sports.
The team’s Mohammed Salah was one of the world’s top 10 best paid players this year.
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