Liverpool FC takeover nets Deal of the Month
THE dramatic and controversial sale of Liverpool Football Club to New England Sports Ventures, scored with judges in our Deal of the Month competition.
Five out of our 10-strong panel, made up of some of the region’s leading corporate financiers, ranked the £300m deal which fimally completed in October, as their top choice for the month.
The Liverpool deal, which saw the famous football club sold reluctantly – after court cases in the UK and US – by Texan businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks to the owners of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, saw off competition from the secondary buyout of Preston-based pubs firm Amber Taverns, NCC Group’s £14m acquisition of US firm iSEC Parrtners and EA Sports’ swoop for Macclesfield’s Chillingo.
Colin Gillespie, corporate finance partner at PwC set out his reasons for voting for it: “I think that given how long it took, the challenges of selling a football club, and having sold it myself in the past, my nomination would have to be selling Kop Football to NESV with the legal challenges adding an extra dimension.”
Jodi Birkett of Deloitte, said three factors had persuaded her: “It faced more hurdles in the run up to completion than the average deal; it was conducted in the full glare of the media; and it was a deal that needed to be done with the level of unrest and lack of stakeholder support for the club.”
Nigel Barratt, partner at Hurst added: “I would go for Liverpool FC given the immense pressure all sides were under and the aggressive tactics deployed by the vendors.”
Roddy Kilpatrick of Yorkshire Bank’s Corporate & Structured Finance team and Keith Melling of Lancashire law firm Napthens also supported the Liverpool deal.
Chris Barry, editor of TheBusinessDesk.com in the North West said: “Each of the deals examined by the judges had their own merits, with NCC and Amber Taverns both receiving two votes each, but the Liverpool deal clearly stood out.
“It is clear that after a very difficult last 18 months deal volumes and sizes are increasing, which is great news.”
Click here to see our North West Deals table.
