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

Don
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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
 
Soldato
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they've made some sensible signings but if I was a Liverpool fan I'd welcome extra investment. You need to spend big to cement a place back in the top 4.
 
Caporegime
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I don't think split ownership is ever the way forward. You wouldn't stick 100m in to the transfer kitty unless the other party does the same or proportional on ownership. Just like Arsenal where they pretend to have all this money to spend but no one ever wants to divvy it out. ;)
 
Man of Honour
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Need to be subscribed for the FT link.

Today's Sunday Times:

Liverpool are the target of an £800m takeover bid backed by the Chinese government that has the potential to make them the richest club in the Premier League. China Everbright, a state-backed financial giant, is spearheading the attempt to buy the Anfield club from current owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) but the bulk of the money is expected to come from the China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, whose assets are put at about £620bn.

Should the bid succeed it would give Liverpool backers with a financial clout exceeding even that of Manchester City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, and open the possibility of transfer spending to match City and Manchester United. One well-placed source cautioned, however, that there is still plenty work to be done to finalise any deal.

Involved with the Chinese bid is Amanda Staveley, the leading City dealmaker who helped broker Sheikh Mansour’s £210m purchase of Manchester City in 2008.

It is understood talks with representatives for FSG and the Chinese group are ongoing and that under the current plan Liverpool would be taken over by a new ownership group of which Everbright, potentially Staveley herself, and John Henry, Liverpool’s current principal owner, would be part.

Henry may even retain a majority stake, with the Chinese becoming minority partners. With financial terms being thrashed out, talks could extend into September. It is far from the first time Liverpool have been targeted by Chinese investors.

In July, a flamboyant Chinese trader and art collector, Liu Yiqian, made an unsuccessful approach to FSG. Then, FSG’s stance was that they did not want to sell and that having tied Jurgen Klopp to a new six-year contract and revamped Anfield, increasing the stadium’s capacity to 54,000, they were merely at the start of unlocking Liverpool’s potential.

On Friday, Tom Werner, the Liverpool chairman and second most important shareholder after Henry, said the club was “not for sale” though he admitted that FSG are open to the idea of selling a stake.

Having bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010, FSG have invested significantly in players yet found themselves unable to get near to matching the fees and wages being offered by the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and some of Europe’s giants — and, indeed, they lost out on a main transfer target to China when Jiangsu Suning gazumped them for the Brazilian Alex Teixeira in January.

While Manchester United broke the world transfer record for Paul Pogba this summer and Manchester City exceded even United’s spending with a flurry of transfers worth about £152m, Klopp has been balancing his books.

Liverpool spent £30m on Sadio Mane and £23m on Georginio Wijnaldum but recouped most of the club’s total summer outlay through the transfers of Joe Allen, Jordon Ibe and Christian Benteke. Although Anfield’s expansion will net the club an extra £25m per season, it seems unlikely that would be enough to allow Klopp to be able to compete for players with his main Premier League rivals without his club receiving major fresh investment.
 
Soldato
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Not sure why Werner / Henry would sell their full stake (due to the insane tv deals every 3 years) - nowhere near relegation (which is the main reason to sell to more wealthy backers) . So a further split is most likely I would have thought (whether that means FSG effectively disappears or not is another matter)

Wondering whether a culture clash may cause problems though. Maybe the Chinese come in with a much smaller stake (10 - 20%) with a view of taking a (much) larger stake over time.
 
Soldato
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Not sure i welcome it or not as i have no idea how it would have an effect over all, im sure our club would become richer etc but it wouldn't guarantee team investment / trophies i mean as pointed out above look at Arsenal.

FSG haven't done us any wrong imo in regards to investment on there own anyway.
 
Soldato
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Not sure i welcome it or not as i have no idea how it would have an effect over all, im sure our club would become richer etc but it wouldn't guarantee team investment / trophies i mean as pointed out above look at Arsenal.

FSG haven't done us any wrong imo in regards to investment on there own anyway.
They got the club on the cheap and have invested next to nothing of their own money...
 
Caporegime
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They saved us from administration, helped to resurrect the stadium upgrade and wiped out a huge amount of our debt. Regardless of where the money has come from they deserve a massive amount of respect for what they've done for the club.
 
Soldato
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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 rediculous 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.
 
Soldato
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We dont need to spend those numbers...just a fraction. The tv and commercial deals Liverpool get are unreal yet our actual transfer spend is minimal....take this season, sure it might change but we are currently 3 mil in profit yet we are crying out for a lb and really could do with a midfielder in there aswell.
 
Don
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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 rediculous 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.
 
Soldato
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The money for the stadium is simply a loan to be paid back, like all their dealings with the club. They have a gross spend of around 20mil a season. For a club of Liverpools size that is simply not enough and until it changes we won't compete at the top.
 
Don
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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?
 
Soldato
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They got the club on the cheap and have invested next to nothing of their own money...

Completely disagree and seems baz and pk pointed out the reasons all ready. There are owners out there who do far less and invest next to nothing compared to our current ones. What they paid for club has no baring anyway any one could have bought us cheap thanks to hicks and Gillet nearly destroying us completely
 
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Associate
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This seems like a convenient distraction amidst the complete lack of transfer activity. Let's hope I'm wrong, as these Asian investors do like to spend the money.
 
Permabanned
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they've made some sensible signings but if I was a Liverpool fan I'd welcome extra investment. You need to spend big to cement a place back in the top 4.

I don't recall Arsenal each year spending big, or Leicester last year spending big, Liverpool have wasted hundreds of millions on poor players, 35mill for carroll , 18mill for Downing , Aqualani 17mill, 20mill for Lovern etc, Balotelli 15mill. Rodgers spend 292million on 31 Players and doesn't have much to show for it in my opinion.
 
Soldato
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Completely disagree and seems baz and pk pointed out the reasons all ready. There are owners out there who do far less and invest next to nothing compared to our current ones. What they paid for club has no baring anyway any one could have bought us cheap thanks to hicks and Gillet nearly destroying us completely

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.
 
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