Bezos-led consortium buys 38% of Liverpool and holds option to take control within 12 months
A consortium led by Amit Bhatia and including Jeff Bezos bought a 38% stake in Liverpool when the deal was announced on Friday and has paid just over £2bn for that share.
The purchase, first reported in some media as a 30% to one-third investment, was confirmed as a 38% holding by 1892 Holdings and still values Liverpool at about £5.5bn, according to reporting attributed to The Athletic. Fenway Sports Group said the sale was not an exit strategy from the club it bought for £300m in 2010 and that it was not compelled to sell further shares to the consortium at a later date.
Under the agreement, 1892 Holdings has first refusal to become the majority shareholder should Fenway Sports Group decide to sell or reduce its stake within the next 12 months. Fenway has stressed that this is an option available to 1892 over the coming 12 months, one that could lead to further investment, and not a formal commitment by Fenway; Fenway remains in operational control of Liverpool.
The structure of the deal means Bezos, Bhatia and Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who is another billionaire member of the consortium, could replace Fenway as Liverpool’s majority shareholders if the option is exercised. Bezos is described at this stage as a passive investor in the club through his role in the consortium.
Bezos invested in 1892 via the K5 Sports fund, of which he is the lead investor, and Bryan Baum, co-founder and managing partner of K5 Global, will take a seat on an expanded Liverpool board. Amit Bhatia will serve as vice-chair on the board and Elaine Saverin, wife of Eduardo Saverin, will also have a board seat.
Bhatia received financial backing from the Mittal Family Trust to buy into Liverpool; his father-in-law is the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. The Mittal family are worth around $17bn and Saverin an estimated $33bn.
Should Fenway Sports Group decide to sell or reduce its shareholding in the next 12 months, 1892 has an agreement in place that gives it the option to buy a controlling stake.