This season, the Yanks are coming to English football in full force with big hitting investors bearing billions, according to the New York investment bank that brought us the Ryan Reynolds Hollywood goes to Wrexham deal.
Many more US takeovers this season
Half of the English Premier League is owned by United States investors and there are likely to be many more in takeover talks before the season kicks off in August – right down to the depths of lower league football in small towns.
“There could be a few, there is continuous interest.I think all groups want to get in before the transfer window . It is a tight time frame, but I think generally you will continue to see Americans putting capital into the UK and European football in general, ” says Erich Mosley, a mergers and acquisition specialist who raises capital and structures transactions for New York investment bank Inner Circle Sports.
“We have seen a general trend of institutional capital and private equity firms coming in,” Erich Mosley, Inner Circle Sports.
The capital required to buy and compete in the EPL is massive.”
“I think there is a pretty high level of interest. I think the EPL now is going to have a significant number of US-based investors next year. I think almost half the league is owned by Americans, but there is still a lot of interest in clubs in the Championship and below. Obviously, the capital required to buy and compete in the EPL is massive.”
The Hollywood goes to Wrexham deal.
Inner Circle Sports is also massive in its own way. From its New York offices it has done deals with : Liverpool; Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, the Ryan Reynolds Hollywood deal with Wrexham, right down to Dagenham and Redbridge of the National League.- now owned by former USA and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Tim Howard, USA and Everton goalkeeper.
Inner Circle Sports has also overseen the majority of Major League Soccer deals in the United States over the last few years.
Mosley believes the takeover game will change this season as a new crop of powerful investors line up.
“I think historically it has been mostly family trusts and high net worth individuals . We have seen a general trend of institutional capital and private equity firms coming in. I think it is a lot more developed than it was five or ten years ago,” says Mosley.
Institutional investors taking interest in British football is worth taking note of.
Institutional investors – the big hitters
These are the big hitters of the financial markets: pension funds; hedge funds; fund managers and insurance companies; the kind of investors who only look at big deals. Private equity is seen as a vehicle for leveraged takeovers.
With so much US money about to slosh around in British football, Mosley believes investor groups will be looking to buy bigger.
“But I think groups are seeing the general fandom of UK football and then there is multi-club ownership where you can buy up a bunch of teams in different divisions in Europe and the US where you can move players around on loan and do kind of do transactions that way.
.A significant amount of capital is required to do this. There are some interesting things you can do with coupled branding, cross selling sponsorships, shared back-office costs;there are long term synergies.
In the expected buying frenzy, even lower division clubs won’t be safe from US acquisition.
Clubs in the doldrums like relegated Rochdale and Accrington Stanley are seen as under-valued assets that could increase their net worth swiftly with a fraction of the money needed to acquire a Premier League club. Mosley says his company is looking further down the leagues, near the bottom of the pyramid.
“I think it is one of the top football systems globally, they have a lot of eyeballs on it. If you can get promoted one or two rungs in the pyramid you can really there is a lot of cash to be made,” he says.
People at the bottom of the football pyramid are concerned that the flood of cash flowing into the game is dividing it and pricing the working man out of the game.
One of them is Simon Lancaster, who has just acquired a 9th tier team in the Hellenic League in the Midlands by the name of Worcester City.
“The gulf is getting wider…The change in the last decade is obscene. The transfer fees. What did Chelsea spend last season £600 million? – it is just mental !” he says.
How much does he fear for the game and its grassroots supporters?
“I do because that gulf is getting so wide and you wonder how it is going to end . Stretch anything like that and it is going to snap at some point – it is just crazy”
You have got the Saudis putting money in, right now, you have got the Americans. As long as there is money coming in at the top level, I just don’t see how it is going to end really.
I think it is a shame because it is the people’s game and they are being priced out of it. It is just a shame that families are finding it too expensive to support these teams really.”
Fans as assets or enemies ?
Ironically, the Americans see the grassroots fans as an asset in their investments.
“I think people love the story and how ingrained clubs are in the communities…People are seeing it as a very special asset, it is not just about financials or anything like that,” says Mosley.
What about if the same fans turn on the owners from across the Atlantic if the club falls on hard times, I venture, in days of protest and hatred.
“That’s the risk for the glory! I guess,” says Mosley with a smile.
.
“That’s the risk for the glory!” Why the Yanks are coming to the EPL waving billions.
This season, the Yanks are coming to English football in full force with big hitting investors bearing billions, according to the New York investment bank that brought us the Ryan Reynolds Hollywood goes to Wrexham deal.
Many more US takeovers this season
Half of the English Premier League is owned by United States investors and there are likely to be many more in takeover talks before the season kicks off in August – right down to the depths of lower league football in small towns.
“There could be a few, there is continuous interest.I think all groups want to get in before the transfer window . It is a tight time frame, but I think generally you will continue to see Americans putting capital into the UK and European football in general, ” says Erich Mosley, a mergers and acquisition specialist who raises capital and structures transactions for New York investment bank Inner Circle Sports.
“We have seen a general trend of institutional capital and private equity firms coming in,” Erich Mosley, Inner Circle Sports.
The capital required to buy and compete in the EPL is massive.”
“I think there is a pretty high level of interest. I think the EPL now is going to have a significant number of US-based investors next year. I think almost half the league is owned by Americans, but there is still a lot of interest in clubs in the Championship and below. Obviously, the capital required to buy and compete in the EPL is massive.”
The Hollywood goes to Wrexham deal.
Inner Circle Sports is also massive in its own way. From its New York offices it has done deals with : Liverpool; Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, the Ryan Reynolds Hollywood deal with Wrexham, right down to Dagenham and Redbridge of the National League.- now owned by former USA and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Tim Howard, USA and Everton goalkeeper.
Inner Circle Sports has also overseen the majority of Major League Soccer deals in the United States over the last few years.
Mosley believes the takeover game will change this season as a new crop of powerful investors line up.
“I think historically it has been mostly family trusts and high net worth individuals . We have seen a general trend of institutional capital and private equity firms coming in. I think it is a lot more developed than it was five or ten years ago,” says Mosley.
Institutional investors taking interest in British football is worth taking note of.
Institutional investors – the big hitters
These are the big hitters of the financial markets: pension funds; hedge funds; fund managers and insurance companies; the kind of investors who only look at big deals. Private equity is seen as a vehicle for leveraged takeovers.
With so much US money about to slosh around in British football, Mosley believes investor groups will be looking to buy bigger.
“But I think groups are seeing the general fandom of UK football and then there is multi-club ownership where you can buy up a bunch of teams in different divisions in Europe and the US where you can move players around on loan and do kind of do transactions that way.
.A significant amount of capital is required to do this. There are some interesting things you can do with coupled branding, cross selling sponsorships, shared back-office costs;there are long term synergies.
In the expected buying frenzy, even lower division clubs won’t be safe from US acquisition.
Clubs in the doldrums like relegated Rochdale and Accrington Stanley are seen as under-valued assets that could increase their net worth swiftly with a fraction of the money needed to acquire a Premier League club. Mosley says his company is looking further down the leagues, near the bottom of the pyramid.
“I think it is one of the top football systems globally, they have a lot of eyeballs on it. If you can get promoted one or two rungs in the pyramid you can really there is a lot of cash to be made,” he says.
People at the bottom of the football pyramid are concerned that the flood of cash flowing into the game is dividing it and pricing the working man out of the game.
One of them is Simon Lancaster, who has just acquired a 9th tier team in the Hellenic League in the Midlands by the name of Worcester City.
“The gulf is getting wider…The change in the last decade is obscene. The transfer fees. What did Chelsea spend last season £600 million? – it is just mental !” he says.
How much does he fear for the game and its grassroots supporters?
“I do because that gulf is getting so wide and you wonder how it is going to end . Stretch anything like that and it is going to snap at some point – it is just crazy”
You have got the Saudis putting money in, right now, you have got the Americans. As long as there is money coming in at the top level, I just don’t see how it is going to end really.
I think it is a shame because it is the people’s game and they are being priced out of it. It is just a shame that families are finding it too expensive to support these teams really.”
Fans as assets or enemies ?
Ironically, the Americans see the grassroots fans as an asset in their investments.
“I think people love the story and how ingrained clubs are in the communities…People are seeing it as a very special asset, it is not just about financials or anything like that,” says Mosley.
What about if the same fans turn on the owners from across the Atlantic if the club falls on hard times, I venture, in days of protest and hatred.
“That’s the risk for the glory! I guess,” says Mosley with a smile.
.
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