Tottenham’s immediate priority is to navigate the final days of the transfer window, but the club’s efforts to sell an equity stake remain ongoing.
It has been an open secret within the world of sports investment that ENIC, headed up by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, are looking for fresh capital.
Spurs value themselves at £3.75bn and have enlisted the Rothschild bank to seek out high worth individuals or groups who may be interested in taking a minority stake.
So far, a handful of parties have been linked with a potential deal, but there have been no formalities between Tottenham and a would-be buyer.
That perhaps is not a surprise given that the immediate concern has been preparing Ange Postecoglou‘s side for a new season in the Premier League.
What’s more, it is a saturated acquisitions market at present.
As well as Spurs, West Ham, Brentford, Crystal Palace and Wolves are all seeking minority investment, while Everton’s protracted takeover saga has still not reached its crescendo.
However, the latest financial news from the United States represents a boost for the North London club as they look to find a buyer.
In recent years, Middle East sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms from the US have dominated discourse around the Premier League takeover market.
But despite interest in Spurs, private equity’s interest in football is declining as a result of broader market factors, disruptors like Chelsea’s Todd Boehly, and the Premier League’s resistance to the franchise model.
One of those broader market factors has been stubbornly high interest rates.
Private equity firms flourish in periods of lower interest rates as it makes borrowing for takeovers (known as a ‘leveraged buyout’) cheaper and increases their potential returns.
After raising rates 11 times in a row, the United States Federal Reserve is expected to announce a rate cut on September 18, according to Forbes and others.
That will likely broaden the pool of investors for whom buying into Spurs is feasible and attractive.
There has also been a further development this week in that PCP Capital Partners are believed to be ramping up efforts to buy a stake in Tottenham.
The group, which is led by former Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley, is said to be backed by capital from the Middle East and could be eyeing up to a 25 per cent stake.
However, the original report erroneously suggested that Staveley could simultaneously invest in Spurs and Newcastle as her stake in the North East club was less than 9.9 per cent is wrong on two fronts.
Firstly, the Premier League’s rules on dual ownership have been tightened to prevent owners or directors from holding any material influence in more than one club, irrespective of how small their stake may be.
Secondly, Staveley has already sold her 9.9 per cent stake in Newcastle to co-investors the Saudi Public Investment and the Reuben Brothers.
Who else could buy Tottenham?
Qatar Sports Investment have been linked with a Spurs takeover, although that is unlikely to happen for one of several reasons.
For one, the Premier League is under increasing pressure ahead of the implementation of an independent football regulator to prevent nation states or their proxy institutions from owning clubs.
Furthermore, QSI’s ownership of Paris Saint-Germain would mean the two clubs could not compete in the same UEFA competition under the same control.
And QSI would almost certainly want full strategic direction over Spurs, which Daniel Levy is unlikely to grant.
Elsewhere, MSP Sports Capital – the group who tried to buy Everton earlier this year – have previously been linked, but there has been no update on their interest in the past year.
The same is true of Liberty Media, the most valuable sports empire in the world who over see F1 as well as billions of dollars of other sports and media assets.