Saudi-US brothers' £150m offer may be critical as Daniel Levy seeks Tottenham investment bidding war
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Daniel Levy, who is seeking fresh investment in Tottenham, has remarkably thick skin. But even he will have been strained by the criticism aimed at him by a swelling bloc of fans in recent weeks.
The chairman and co-owner, who is the longest-serving and best-paid executive in the Premier League, has absorbed most of the fans’ frustrations in recent weeks throughout Spurs’ desolate run of form.
Ange Postecoglou’s side – whose tactical philosophy is undeniably bonkers but also perhaps Tottenham’s ‘to dare is to do’ mantra in macrocosm – have won just one in eight and are 12th in the table.
In previous eras, this kind of negative momentum has been too much for the head coach of the time. Antonio Conte was 4th in the league when was sacked, Nuno Espirito Santo 8th and Jose Mourinho 7th.
Granted, there are certainly factions of Spurs’ fanbase that want to see Postecoglou gone, but the pressure has certainly not reached critical mass.
Why? Maybe because there appears to be more awareness among fans of the common denominator throughout the club’s near 17-year silverware drought – Daniel Levy and ENIC.
In one sense, Spurs’ League Cup semi-final against Liverpool tomorrow night is the most important match for the Levy-ENIC regime in some time, such would be the healing power of a trophy in N17.
Speaking exclusively to TBR Football earlier this year, Liverpool University football finance lecturer and industry insider Kieran Maguire said Levy is unlikely to leave Tottenham until they win something.
A League Cup, the most junior of English football’s major trophies, is unlikely to tip the scales in terms of the 62-year-old’s future at the club – but it would be a start.
It could also smoke out more potential buyers for a minority equity stake in Spurs, which Levy revealed he is trying to flog in April last year.
TBR understands that there is tentative interest in the North London club as a business prospect from private individuals in the US and Middle East, as well as from the private equity sphere.
However, the mood music is that any deal is a long, long way for completion.
Via her PCP Capital Partners vehicle, former Newcastle United supremo Amanda Staveley remains the only potential Spurs investor whose interest is serious at this stage.
But the major players in the world of sports finance are whisper-quiet when it comes to conducting mergers and acquisitions talks, especially exploratory ones.
In the coming months or perhaps even years, more will make themselves known when it suits them.
In recent weeks, one new name has emerged as a possible new equity partner for Levy and co.
And an investment bid for a Premier League rival could – in theory, at least – start a domino effect that tempts this titan of sports finance into a formal offer for an equity stake in Spurs.
Crystal Palace investment talks could be key as David Blitzer linked with Spurs bid
The Premier League investment market is a little saturated at present.
While The Friedkin Group’s takeover of Everton is now done and dusted, Spurs, West Ham, Brentford, Wolves and Crystal Palace are all looking to sell minority stakes too.
Of those clubs, Palace are at the most advanced stage.
John Textor, the eccentric American billionaire who owns Copa Libertadores champions Botafogo and Ligue 1 side Lyon, is exploring selling the 45 per cent stake in Palace owned by his Eagle Football group.
Today, The Athletic reported that a consortium led by US-American investors and brothers Mansoor and Haider Syed have entered exclusive talks with Eagle after having an offer in principle accepted.
The impact one Spurs? Bear with us.
Another potential investor in the multi-club Eagle group itself as opposed to Palace as a standalone club is Sportsbank, a consortium led by former Everton board member Keith Harris.
In The Athletic piece, it is said that investment in Eagle from Sportsbank is still the preferred option for Textor, who would then use the funds to attempt to buy a controlling stake in Palace.
Enter, David Blitzer.
Blitzer, another American sports investor who holds equity in NFL side Washington Commanders and NBA franchise Philadelphia 76ers, owns 38 per cent of Palace alongside business partner Josh Harris.
With chairman Steve Parish overwhelmingly unlikely to relinquish his minority stake, the only route for a Sportsbank-backed full takeover of Palace for Eagle Football would be to buy out Harris and Blitzer.
Neither Textor nor Blitzer would be allowed to invest in another Premier League club until a deal is done, but neither see Selhurst Park as their ultimate destination in English football.
In mid-December, The Sun’s Alan Nixon (via football.london) reported that Blitzer wants to take over another Premier League and could be tempted into a deal to buy into Spurs.
If the Mansoor brothers fail in their bid to buy Textor’s stake and he then pivots back to Sportsbank who then buy out Blitzer, the runway would be clear for him to land at Tottenham.
Until then, the Premier League’s conflict of interest rules would stand in Blitzer’s way.
Tottenham’s enterprise value: Will Daniel Levy get his £3.75bn asking price?
With all that said, any investment would need to measure up to Levy’s £3.75bn valuation of Spurs.
With the chairman’s infamous negotiation style (Sir Alex Ferguson said bartering with Levy was ‘more painful than [his] hip replacement’), investors may even be called to pay a premium on top of that rate.
The £500m that Amanda Staveley has reportedly raised for a new football investment project would, at a £3.75bn enterprise value, get her and her consortium partners a 12.5 per cent stake.
Whether the level of boardroom influence that kind of stake would entitle her to would be enough to tempt Staveley into investing is unclear.
The 51-year-old financier wants another hands-on role following her exit from Newcastle. Minority investment, meanwhile, is sometimes called the most expensive season ticket in football.
However, Levy’s asking price is, according to most experts consulted by TBR, a realistic starting point for negotiations.
While fans are justifiably sick of gimmicky sponsor tie-ins and the general commercial orientation of the club, Spurs arguably have the best fundamental business metrics in the Premier League.
They have the lowest squad cost to revenue ratio in the division and their income streams are more diversified than anyone else too.
Spurs don’t yet have the global brand appeal of Manchester United or Liverpool, but they are working on it. Their marketing operation is one of the slickest in European football.
To bedrock fans, these are just buzzwords of course.
However, if the club is ever to change hands entirely – and Staveley has said that she wants any minority investment to be a platform to one day buy a controlling stake – these factors will be critical.
