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Amanda Staveley’s £500m Tottenham part-takeover masterplan hits major hurdle
Amanda Staveley wants to buy a significant stake in Tottenham from Daniel Levy and ENIC, but the latest news from her investment empire does not bode well.
Since April this year, Spurs have officially been in the market for minority investment. In reality, Levy and ENIC have been courting potential buyers for much longer.
The North London club have enlisted the Rothschild bank to smoke out potential new partners, with the stated aim of strengthening their capital base.
Levy has said that the plan is to reinvest the cash from a sale in Spurs‘ infrastructure projects.
Although the chairman and co-owner has not said so explicitly, this is likely to be the planned on-site hotel at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, when TBR Football spoke exclusively to football finance expert Kieran Maguire a few weeks ag, he said that Levy and ENIC may simply pocket the cash from a minority sale themselves.
Exactly how much of the club is for sale is not clear, and it is likely not a fixed number in any case.
But it is understood that Levy and ENIC value Spurs at £3.75bn, meaning a minority stake would likely fetch at least £500m.
Amanda Staveley has reportedly raised £500m following her exit from Newcastle United, and she is believed to have eyes for Spurs as her latest football investment project.
However, the latest news from the financial sphere may suggest that things will not be straightforward.
- READ MORE: Antonio Rudiger says player Tottenham sold for £11m is the most underrated player he’s ever seen
Staveley’s Newcastle investment company liquidated
In October 2021, Staveley was the public face of the deal that saw a consortium led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund take over Newcastle.
As well as investment from the Reuben Brothers, Staveley and her husband and business partner Mehrdad Ghodoussi also took a stake through their investment vehicle, PCP Capital Partners.
PCP Capital Partners has since been rename Apollo Belvedere Services.
However, Apollo Belvedere Services has now been given a winding up petition – in layman’s terms, the company is being liquidated.
This is believed to be a consequence of Staveley’s defeat in a legal battle with a former business associate, to whom she has been told to fork out substantial costs.
Why is this is consequential for Spurs? Because, when Bloomberg reported Staveley’s interest in Spurs, it was said that the money she had raised through Middle Eastern investors was via PCP Capital Partners.
If the company is now insolvent, it raises questions about what has happened to the capital raised.
One potential answer is that is has simply been funnelled into one of Staveley and Ghodoussi’s other companies.
Significantly, Cantervale – the company through which the investment in Newcastle was originally struck – has changed its name to Redstart Leisure, indicating it is not a dormant entity as some had suggested.
Spurs’ takeover value – a case study in football investment
Without a doubt, the single most transformative event in Spurs’ history – in financial terms, at least – is the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019.
Levy and ENIC were able to agree loan deals with various financial institutions at fixed rates that would simply be unattainable in the current financial climate.
And while it has left the club with an enormous debt burden, the structure of the agreement means that long-term profitability is all but guaranteed.
It’s a term that most football supporters justifiably detest, but the stadium has breathed new life into the Spurs ‘brand’, making the club a magnate for new sponsors as a result.
Commercial income has more or less trebled since 2019, as has the cash that the club generates through the turnstiles.
Part of the commercial income figure is the events hosted at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, such as the NFL London Games, which are expected to generate £8m for Spurs this year alone.
With these income streams generally insulated from fluctuations in Spurs’ performances on the pitch, it is no wonder that the club are attractive to investors like Amanda Staveley.
Whether Daniel Levy’s infamous negotiation style may deter prospective buyers at his £3.75b price point is another matter, however.