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‘Always five billionaires lined up’ if FSG decide to sell Liverpool as John Henry ally speaks on £4bn valuation

Adam Williams

Mon 14 April 2025 17:45, UK

Since their takeover in 2010, Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group have witnessed the Premier League marketplace go from dealing in millions to billions.

FSG paid £300m to buy Liverpool. Fast forward to 2025 and that sum would barely get you a provincial mid-table club, let alone a commercial powerhouse with a global pulse.

The Premier League’s most recent takeover saw Dan Friedkin acquire Everton in a deal that valued them at almost twice what FSG paid to Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

At the very top end of the pyramid, Sir Jim Ratcliffe paid £1.25bn for a 27 per cent stake in Man United, while Chelsea’s takeover to Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital was worth £2.5bn.

The Merseysiders are galloping towards a second Premier League title of the FSG era and, in contrast to United and Chelsea, have zero concerns about Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), debt or cost control.

As such, Liverpool are variously appraised at between £4bn and £5bn, making them one of the top five most valuable assets in football finance.

That’s a quite remarkable markup for FSG, whose portfolio – which includes Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins – is worth around £15bn in total.

It’s a familiar story across the FSG network. Take, the Penguins, for example. FSG bought them for around £650m in 2021. In 2025, the owners are looking to sell a minority stake that values the franchise at £1.4bn.

In 2023, after deciding against selling Liverpool outright, FSG sold a minority stake in Liverpool to Dynasty Equity, who paid just shy of £130m for a tiny, three per cent stake.

But the Premier League is not a particularly profitable industry even for FSG, who have been far more measured than most in the transfer market.

Instead, rather than taking money out of the club via dividends, the owners’ model is one of capital appreciation, which is all about increasing its value as an asset.

In short, the capital appreciation model means FSG need to demonstrate the long-term viability of the business to would-be buyers. But where, at the end of the day, is that value coming from?

Some experts think that the likes of Liverpool are simply overvalued. If that is the case, it could be a problem when the Boston-based ownership comes to sell the club.

• READ MORE: What Liverpool sources are now saying about Alexander Isak after Mohamed Salah signs new contract

FSG investor thinks Premier League clubs overvalued

John Henry is the foremost investor in FSG, having co-founded the group with Tom Werner in 2001.

Since then, the company’s corporate structure has become more and more complex and, in a lot of ways, resembles a private equity firm.

Two big names from that space – Arctos Partners and RedBird Capital – are now major investors in FSG, making them co-owners once removed of Liverpool themselves.

RedBird’s most senior figure is Gerry Cardinale, a close ally of John Henry’s who manages around £10bn worth of assets from the company.

In an interview with the Financial Times about how Donald Trump’s programme of tariffs will affect the sports industry, Cardinale said he thinks team valuations are “massively inflated.”

“Guys who jump in because everything keeps going up — they’re going to be the first to leave,” he added, predicting a

Arctos Partners – who, remember, are also owners once removed from Liverpool – also happened to give information to the Financial Times, though their outlook on sports team values is more optimistic.

“With long-term contracts, domestic supply chains and a uniquely loyal customer base, the business of sport continues to offer something that is in short supply elsewhere: predictability, resiliency and a lack of correlation [with fluctuations in the global economy],” the private equity firm wrote.

A third investor, Vasu Kulkarni from Courtside Ventures, said: “We believe there’s always five billionaires who are in line to purchase the next sports team that comes up.”

The takeaway from the article was really that sports investments are low-risk and, unlike other buying into other industries, are basically recession-proof.

There are plenty who disagree, but if that is the case then it means FSG won’t be short of would-be buyers when they do eventually put Liverpool up for sale.

• READ MORE: Major boost for FSG as Liverpool set for £95m bonanza that covers Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk deals

Liverpool pre-season plans show football’s multi-cub ownership bonds

This summer, Liverpool will travel to Asia for their customary pre-season summer tour of a lucrative commercial market.

On Saturday 26 July, Arne Slot’s side will face AC Milan in Hong Kong, China in the Standard Chartered Trophy.

Milan are owned by RedBird Capital, further illustrating the increasingly nebulous ownership web that football has weaved for itself in recent times.

Liverpool are trying to launch their own multi-cub network too, following in the footsteps of the likes of Red Bull and Manchester City’s City Football Group.

They came close to acquiring Bordeaux last summer. Now, they have turned their attention to Malaga but are competing in that auction against Qatar Sports Investments (QSI)

QSI own Paris Saint-Germain, who in turn took on a huge investment from Arctos in 2023. Again, football is becoming dominated by the same financial players.