Fenway Sports Group has agreed to sell roughly a third of Liverpool to a new investment consortium fronted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, ONE reported on Friday, in a deal that values the reigning Premier League champions at just over $7 billion.
The buyer is 1892 Holdings, named for Liverpool's founding year, a consortium led and managed by the British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia. Bhatia, who spent five years as chairman of Queens Park Rangers before stepping down from that club this week, is married to Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, daughter of steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, whose family trusts are also part of the group.
Bezos is not investing directly but is the lead backer of K5 Sports, one of the funds inside the consortium. The other major partner is EE Capital, the family office of Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and his wife Elaine. It is Bezos' first move into ownership of a professional sports franchise.
According to the reporting, the stake being sold is close to 30 percent of the club, in a transaction valuing Liverpool at just over $7 billion, or roughly £5.5 billion. The consortium has also secured an option to buy its way up to majority control within the next 12 months, at a valuation of around $8 billion.
Fenway Sports Group, which has owned Liverpool since 2010, will keep majority ownership and day-to-day operational control of the club for now. In a statement, FSG confirmed it had entered a definitive agreement for the minority sale.
Bhatia is set to become Liverpool's new vice-chairman and will join an expanded club board, alongside fellow consortium figures Elaine Saverin and Bryan Baum of K5 Sports. Bezos himself will not take a board seat, the reports said.
The sale comes after years of speculation about outside investment in Liverpool, including previous reported interest from other high-profile figures that FSG had previously played down. Completion of the deal remains subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.
For Liverpool, the investment lands just weeks into the new Premier League season and hands the club fresh financial firepower from one of the world's richest men, even as FSG insists its long-term control of the Anfield operation is not changing for now.
