Liverpool supporters celebrate a 1-0 victory after the English Premier League match against Manchester City in Liverpool, Britain, 16 October 2022. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Peter Powell) 
Best known in the US as the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, Fenway Sports took over Liverpool for about £300 million ($344 million) in 2010 in what was a forced sale by the American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks. That raises the prospect of one of the biggest ever returns on an investment in a sports asset, with GlobalData analyst Conrad Wiacek estimating that Liverpool could fetch more than $5 billion.
“This would be mission accomplished as far as Fenway Group is concerned,” said Christina Philippou, principal lecturer in accounting, finance and economics at the University of Portsmouth. “The capital growth on this deal will be massive.”
News of the potential sale of Liverpool was reported earlier Monday by The Athletic.
Premier Deals
Liverpool is one of the biggest teams in world football and, along with northwest rivals Manchester United FC, one of England’s most successful. The club has 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 Liverpool given their strong appetite for exposure to the world’s richest football league. The last 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.
“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.
Representatives for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Liverpool didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last year, the investment firm RedBird Capital Partners LLC acquired a stake in Fenway Sports.