Reports of Liverpool Selling a “Minority Stake” Grow Louder

The Liverpool ECHO is now reporting that Liverpool FC owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) may seek a “strategic partner” in their search for new investment, instead of an outright sale.

This follows similar reporting from last week. The Boston Globe, a newspaper that is owned by FSG boss and Liverpool FC’s principal owner John W. Henry, reported that the Reds owners, while still open to the possibility of a sale if they received a major bid (north of $4bn/£3.3bn), were now prefering a sale of a partial stake in the club to a minority investor instead.

The ECHO says that according to their American sources, a sale to a ‘strategic’ partner would be a preferable outcome, with Mr Henry keen to remain as owner and in no hurry to sell. Their piece also states that RedBird Capital Partners, the investment fund that owns 11 per cent of FSG, are keen to maintain a stake in the club and that both FSG and Redbird’s ideal scenario would see a minority stake sold to a major player in the media and entertainment space, who can then provide expertise, platform and the ability to scale the club’s business in those spaces further. FSG is also reportedly reluctant to partner with a passive private equity fund to free up capital.

This should be good news to fans who were worried about the stability of operations behind the scenes at the club, but to be fair, there’s also a report of a Qatari/Saudi consortium making a bid, so who really knows? Stay tuned.