The new investor in Liverpool, 1892 Holdings, has first refusal to become the majority shareholder in the next 12 months should Fenway Sports Group decide to sell.
The consortium, led by Amit Bhatia and including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was believed to have bought 30-33 per cent of the club when the deal was announced on Friday. However, the agreement is for 38 per cent of the Anfield club, meaning 1892 has paid FSG just over €2.3 billion (£2 billion) to become a minority shareholder. The increased stake, first reported by the Athletic, still values Liverpool at about €6.4 billion (£5.5 billion).
FSG also insisted the deal with 1892 was not part of an exit strategy from a club it bought for €351 million (£300 million) in 2010, adding it was not compelled to sell more of Liverpool to the consortium at a future date. That remains the case, however, should FSG decide to sell or reduce its shareholding in the next 12 months, then 1892 has an agreement in place that gives it the option to buy a controlling stake.
Liverpool’s majority owner has stressed it is an option for 1892 over the next 12 months, one that could lead to further investment, and is not a formal commitment on its part. FSG remains in operational control of Liverpool. But it does raise the possibility of Bezos, Bhatia and the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, another billionaire member of the consortium, replacing FSG as Liverpool’s majority shareholders in the near future.
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Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, is deemed a passive investor in Liverpool at this stage, having bought into 1892 through the K5 Sports fund, of which he is the lead investor. Bryan Baum, the co-founder and managing partner of K5 Global, will have a seat on an expanded Liverpool board alongside Bhatia as vice-chair and Elaine Saverin, wife of Eduardo.
Bhatia has received financial backing from the Mittal Family Trust to buy into Liverpool. His father-in-law is Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, another billionaire. The Mittal family are worth around €14.7 billion ($17 billion) and Saverin an estimated €28.5 billion ($33 billion).
