Tottenham Takeover Talk

[Trent Crimm]

On this matter, yes.
If this was any other business/retailer THFC would've gone bust a long time ago....but they've got the fans by the bollocks, they continue to take the piss because they know we can't 'shop' elsewhere.

Modem day Ratners.

 

[SpursSince1980]

What happens if the Lewis side of things want to sell their share?

Is that possible? Levy surely has no say over what Joe decides. And they hold the majority interest, yes?

 

[spursfan77]

So it seems we have been here before in 2014 and nothing happened.

Qatar makes Tottenham Hotspur its goal

Gulf state sets sights on buying Premier League club

www.ft.com

Spoiler

Qatar makes Tottenham Hotspur its goal
Qatar’s UK trophy cabinet boasts Harrods, a stake in Barclays Bank and Chelsea Barracks, but has one omission: no Premier League football club.

Could that be about to change? Qatar, owners of French club Paris St Germain, shirt sponsors of Barcelona and hosts of the 2022 World Cup, appears to be interested in the Premier League — and one club catching its eye is Tottenham Hotspur in north London.
The Qataris’ interest in Spurs has been stimulated by London mayor Boris Johnson. Keen on attracting foreign investment to the capital, and in particular cash for the regeneration of Tottenham, the mayor along with the UK government has been courting Qatar.

That suits Qatar, which is feeling the heat of British media attention on the contentious decision to award it the 2022 World Cup and the treatment of migrant workers employed on stadium projects.
“They are looking at all sorts of ways of currying favour with the British government,” said one person with knowledge of Qatar’s interest in Spurs.

On a UK visit in October, the emir of Qatar held talks with prime minister David Cameron about investing in infrastructure projects, such as the HS2 high-speed rail line.

Mr Johnson is keen to secure some of this investment for London, especially deprived areas. High on that list is Tottenham, where social unrest sparked riots across London and other English cities in 2011.

Spurs is one of the most prominent businesses in Tottenham, and its plan for a new 56,000-seat stadium is seen as a stimulus for regeneration. The stadium project — which will replace the 36,000-seater White Hart Lane — has already spawned a new Sainsbury’s superstore and a technical college nearby.

Income from a bigger stadium would also help the club compete with the big four of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

But progress on the stadium project has stalled, and a number of people who know the mayor’s views say the delay is making him wonder whether it would be better for the area’s regeneration if the club was in different hands — such as the Qataris.

Spurs said: “The current owners have not been looking to sell the club.”

But Spurs’ owner, currency trader Joe Lewis, faces a crucial decision in the next few months: whether he is prepared to underwrite the stadium cost, which could be up to £400m, and nurse the project through to its completion in 2018.

Rothschilds is seeking financing for the stadium on Spurs’ behalf, and that process may flush out bidders for the club. One US investment group went public in September about weighing up a cash offer for Spurs but later pulled out.

There have been no talks with Qatar, said Spurs, although the Gulf state’s most senior sports executive did pay a visit to the club around the time of the emir’s UK trip.

Nasser Ghanim Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, the entity that owns PSG, met Spurs officials at the club’s training facility. According to some people who know about the visit, it was requested by QSI because PSG wants to build a similar training ground.

QSI told the FT it was not interested in investing in Spurs or any other European club. “We are 100 per cent focused on Paris St Germain.”

That does not rule out interest from other Qatari entities, however. In an Associated Press interview published this week, Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali, Qatar’s sports minister, said the Gulf state “definitely” wanted to be a Premier League owner.

There are hurdles to overcome. Owning more than one European club is banned under Uefa rules governing its competitions. Uefa would need to be convinced there was no connection between the ultimate owners of PSG and a Qatari entity buying another European club.

Another hurdle is the mayor’s frosty relations with Spurs. This stems from when Mr Johnson’s Greater London Authority persuaded the club to bid to become the anchor tenant of the Olympic stadium, only for them to lose out to rivals West Ham United.

Spurs feels the GLA should be helping to raise funds to advance its stadium plans, but in the mayor’s view, any significant public subsidy towards the redevelopment is wishful thinking.

Then there are local sensibilities to consider. Haringey Council, the local authority covering Tottenham, has plans for 10,000 new homes and knows private investment will be needed.

But council leader Claire Kober said: “Any involvement from external investors would have to be aligned across a range of stakeholders and interests to ensure that we get the best for Tottenham.”

Ultimately, the size of the cheque from a cash-rich buyer may make such hurdles look rather small.

 

[Guernman]

The information that Levy desperately wants to stay on as chairman is not bad news for those hoping that the Qatari deal happens. It's a big incentive for him not to screw up negotiations which would take Spurs to the next level and enable him to stay on. He won't have many chances like this.

The big hope is that the Qataris, once holding a key stake in the club, will be the first to tell Levy to stay the hell away from the football side of things

 

[legion]

The information that Levy desperately wants to stay on as chairman is not bad news for those hoping that the Qatari deal happens. It's a big incentive for him not to screw up negotiations which would take Spurs to the next level and enable him to stay on. He won't have many chances like this.

The big hope is that the Qataris, once holding a key stake in the club, will be the first to tell Levy to stay the hell away from the football side of things

Qataris have been quite happy to let Leonardo (awful DoF) and Al Khelaifi make poor decisions constantly at PSG. I don't think they'd be any better here, especially given that Levy and Al-Khelaifi are friends.

Granted, PSG have been more competent once they bought in Luis Campos, probably on of the best DoFs/Scouts on earth. Hopefully we get someone on that level once Paratici is inevitably fired (Edwards, maybe even Rangnick, a bit of a stretch though) immediately instead of giving the businessmen free reign

 

[phil]

I'm pretty sure that any investment will be in Tottenham Hotpur rather than QSI taking an interest in ENIC. It would be a normal placing where new shares are issued in exchange for the investment.

The interesting point will be the valuation put on the club. Last May ENIC invested (up to) 150m in return for a convertible share. When converted to ordinary shares, ENIC's stake in the club will increase from 85.6% to 87.5% This put a value on the club of £7.5 billion. This may be nonsense to us but there was ITK that Levy thought that we were worth more than Chelsea (£4.5b ?).

 

[worcestersauce]

I thought this has been about an investment all along and not a full takeover, what changed?

 

[For the love of Spurs]

Qataris have been quite happy to let Leonardo (awful DoF) and Al Khelaifi make poor decisions constantly at PSG. I don't think they'd be any better here, especially given that Levy and Al-Khelaifi are friends.

Granted, PSG have been more competent once they bought in Luis Campos, probably on of the best DoFs/Scouts on earth. Hopefully we get someone on that level once Paratici is inevitably fired (Edwards, maybe even Rangnick, a bit of a stretch though) immediately instead of giving the businessmen free reign

I’d rather competence but cash goes along way. We can be incompetent but buy Gvardiol, Leao, Barella, De Jong and the like and do well which is kind of how the likes of Chelsea and PSG operate anyway.

 

[For the love of Spurs]

I thought this has been about an investment all along and not a full takeover, what changed?

no idea might be Qatar want to buy a minority and eventually buy all of it after selling PSG.

 

[thecook]

Guys don't forget tonights episode of the Tottenham Hotspur Comedy Club, it airs around 8pm.

Stand up if you hate Arsenal

 

[spursfan77]

I thought this has been about an investment all along and not a full takeover, what changed?

Maybe Lewis wants a full takeover and levy wants a part investment? Could be any permutations. I just thought it interesting that they bid for us before 9 years ago but Lewis turned it down as it wasn’t enough money (£1bn). He probably made the right call then, from his perspective, to be fair if we are valued at £4 billion now.

 

[phil]

I thought this has been about an investment all along and not a full takeover, what changed?

Agreed, but the valuation of the club would determine the shareholding QSI would get for their investment.

 

[Mark8828]

Trying to find a slight positive in Levy staying on and what about the theory of he stays on but is now part of the “QSI Team” and rather than focusing on us they use his skills to manage to PSG building of the new stadium which had been heavily reported recently and knowing how he developed ours and maybe even take the NFL to Paris as well, they want him to back that project. Just a hopeful thought

 

[Dakes]

Trying to find a slight positive in Levy staying on and what about the theory of he stays on but is now part of the “QSI Team” and rather than focusing on us they use his skills to manage to PSG building of the new stadium which had been heavily reported recently and knowing how he developed ours and maybe even take the NFL to Paris as well, they want him to back that project. Just a hopeful thought

That would be a dream. He can go play Chairman elsewhere. He would actually be a great appointment for them if he were to focus on the above only, but before long he'll be haggling with Chairmen from Ligue 3 teams for Neymar backups. But that'll be QSI's problem to deal with, not ours.

This would be most welcome indeed.

 

[Yiddo100]

A bit from the athletic
“
In the first week of January, Al-Khelaifi met in London with the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for exploratory conversations, as first reported by CBS. On the agenda was a possible minority investment into Tottenham by Qatar, with percentages of up to 15 per cent initially on the table.

This would not give QSI a two-thirds stake, nor would Al-Khelaifi become a director, which would mean no conflict with UEFA regulations. These conversations are continuing and Al-Khelaifi spent two weeks in London overall.

Tottenham chairman Levy believes Tottenham are worth at least the same as Chelsea, considering the club’s state-of-the-art stadium, training ground, London location and frequent qualification for the Champions League in recent years, meaning that a valuation of around £2.5bn ($3.1bn) — as Chelsea sold for — has been mooted.’

 

[Ghost Hardware]

A bit from the athletic
“
In the first week of January, Al-Khelaifi met in London with the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for exploratory conversations, as first reported by CBS. On the agenda was a possible minority investment into Tottenham by Qatar, with percentages of up to 15 per cent initially on the table.

This would not give QSI a two-thirds stake, nor would Al-Khelaifi become a director, which would mean no conflict with UEFA regulations. These conversations are continuing and Al-Khelaifi spent two weeks in London overall.

Tottenham chairman Levy believes Tottenham are worth at least the same as Chelsea, considering the club’s state-of-the-art stadium, training ground, London location and frequent qualification for the Champions League in recent years, meaning that a valuation of around £2.5bn ($3.1bn) — as Chelsea sold for — has been mooted.’

15% is a lot less then I was expecting. It doesn’t seem like a lot. I thought it would be closer to 25%.

 

[legion]

A bit from the athletic
“
In the first week of January, Al-Khelaifi met in London with the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for exploratory conversations, as first reported by CBS. On the agenda was a possible minority investment into Tottenham by Qatar, with percentages of up to 15 per cent initially on the table.

This would not give QSI a two-thirds stake, nor would Al-Khelaifi become a director, which would mean no conflict with UEFA regulations. These conversations are continuing and Al-Khelaifi spent two weeks in London overall.

Tottenham chairman Levy believes Tottenham are worth at least the same as Chelsea, considering the club’s state-of-the-art stadium, training ground, London location and frequent qualification for the Champions League in recent years, meaning that a valuation of around £2.5bn ($3.1bn) — as Chelsea sold for — has been mooted.’

Explained: Qatar and the truth about Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool

After the World Cup, Qatar want to deepen their investment in football. And that means the Premier League

theathletic.com

Non-paywall link:

Qatar and the truth about Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool …

archived 24 Jan 2023 07:17:18 UTC

archive.is

In the first week of January, Al-Khelaifi met in London with the Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for exploratory conversations, as first reported by CBS. On the agenda was a possible minority investment into Tottenham by Qatar, with percentages of up to 15 per cent initially on the table. >This would not give QSI a two-thirds stake, nor would Al-Khelaifi become a director, which would mean no conflict with UEFA regulations. These conversations are continuing and Al-Khelaifi spent two weeks in London overall.

Tottenham chairman Levy believes Tottenham are worth at least the same as Chelsea, considering the club’s state-of-the-art stadium, training ground, London location and frequent qualification for the Champions League in recent years, meaning that a valuation of around £2.5bn ($3.1bn) — as Chelsea sold for — has been mooted.

Quite how Al-Khelaifi would enjoy being a minority stakeholder in the biggest playground in English football is anyone’s guess but we do know he has often placed himself front and centre of the PSG project. He led negotiations to sign Neymar, Messi and Mbappe, paraded Mbappe on the pitch after securing renewals and has hobnobbed with his peers across the continent in UEFA and ECA circles.

It would require some compromise from Levy and Al-Khelaifi for this relationship to co-exist harmoniously. QSI insists it is committed to PSG in the short-to-medium term but it does seem realistic to speculate that, at some point down the line, the Qataris may seek to dial up a minority investment in a Premier League club and dial down their stake in France, if it is right for both clubs.

___

That is not to say Qatar’s eyes are fixed only on one objective. Sources close to QSI, who asked not to be named when relaying private conversations, have confirmed to The Athletic that there is interest in Manchester United. >To buy United outright early this year — the preference of the Raine Group, which is overseeing a possible sale — would require QSI to cash in extremely quickly on PSG. That scenario seems improbable while QSI insists it is committed to PSG.

The alternative is that QIA (the sovereign wealth fund) dreams up a creative structure that is deemed sufficiently separate from PSG, but this would be subject to all manner of scrutiny. QSI has had exploratory internal conversations about United, as well as with third-party advisors, but for now, it insists Al-Khelaifi has not met with Raine or the United owners, the Glazer family.

---

For now, therefore, Qatar has a watching brief on United, but it was described to The Athletic as an “evolving situation”. They expect a consortium to emerge from Saudi Arabia, despite the Saudi Public Investment Fund already owning Newcastle United. The British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who recently recruited Jean-Claude Blanc from PSG to lead his INEOS Group, is seen as a credible rival, with further bids expected from the world of private equity and tech.

Social media speculation about Liverpool and Qatar is, for now, simply that — speculation. QSI is not pursuing the club. That leaves Tottenham as the likeliest outcome — but if the past decade has taught us anything, it is not to underestimate what might happen when Qatar decides it really wants something.

 

[Yantino]

I would still be keen even at an initial 15%. It shows their intentions and that Spurs are the club they would look to takeover, perhaps in the future. It’s a good start.

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

15% is a lot less then I was expecting. It doesn’t seem like a lot. I thought it would be closer to 25%.

I’m not sure their plan is to take over completely in that case, certainly not for a good few years.

But it would still put us in a place where they would likely take over one day and at Levy’s £2.5b minimum valuation would provide a cash injection of £375m.

Even if they only become a minority investor it doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in winning and that they won’t have certain stipulations as part of their deal.

A cash injection of the amount I said and opening doors for sponsorships in Qatar for example would still provide a massive boost in funds and also a big potential boost to revenue.

The issue fans are going to have is this would clearly mean Levy stays on as chairman. So would you take the QSI investment knowing Levy will stay on?

 

[cider spurs]

I’m not sure their plan is to take over completely in that case, certainly not for a good few years.

But it would still put us in a place where they would likely take over one day and at Levy’s £2.5b minimum valuation would provide a cash injection of £375m.

Even if they become only a minority investor it doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in winning and that they won’t have certain stipulations as part of their deal.

A cash injection of the amount I said and opening doors for sponsorships in Qatar for example would still provide a massive boost in funds and also a big potential boost to revenue.

The issue fans are going to have is this would clearly mean Levy stays on as chairman. So would you take the QSI investment knowing Levy will stay on?

Yes, i'd take the investment if Levy stays on.

No investment in the pipeline from anywhere else at present it seems, so he'll stay on without investment.

Of course, many know the best case scenario.