Enic to Buy Alan Sugar's Tottenham Stake
08/06/2007 |
 |
 |
Tottenham Hotspur Plc's majority shareholder agreed to buy former chairman Alan Sugar's stake and offered to buy the rest in a transaction valuing the London football club at 209.5 million pounds ($415 million).
Enic International Ltd., owned by Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy and currency trader Joe Lewis, said in a Regulatory News Service statement today it will offer 113.6 pence a common share and 1,773.77 pence for each preferred share. The common stock slid 14.5 pence, or 11 percent, to 118 pence.
The transaction may make it easier for the club to be sold to an investor, according to Tom Cannon, professor of England's Buckingham University Business School. Overseas buyers have snapped up seven Premier League clubs in the past 10 years. Billionaire U.K. retailer Mike Ashley yesterday took control of Newcastle United after Chairman Freddy Shepherd agreed to sell his 28 percent holding.
``It's been on the cards for a while,'' Cannon said in a phone interview. ``They could be a target for one of the big U.S. hedge funds and this gives them complete control and the freedom to do what they want.''
Investors from Manchester United's Malcolm Glazer to Chelsea's Roman Abramovich are tapping into the worldwide appeal of the richest football league. It stands to double its revenue from broadcasters to 2.7 billion pounds over the next three seasons after signing contracts with companies in about 190 countries.
City, Reading
More takeovers are being lined up. Manchester City is in talks with former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Reading owner John Madejski has said he'd like to sell, while Sunderland -- which will join the top flight next season -- was bought by an Irish group last year.
Buying out Sugar's Amshold Ltd. will lift Enic's stake to 66 percent from 54 percent. Lewis owns 70.6 percent of Enic and Levy 29.4 percent.
Tottenham, which in 1961 became the first English team in the 20th century to win the league and F.A. Cup in the same season, has made progress in the Premier League since Enic first invested in 2001. The team was fifth the past two seasons after finishing no higher than ninth the previous nine.
``Tottenham Hotspur has made significant progress in the six years since the Enic Group first became a shareholder and we believe its future prospects are encouraging,'' Enic said.
Spurs Double
Spurs, as the club is known, won their second and last league championship in the double-winning season 46 years ago. They've won the F.A. Cup eight times, most recently in 1991, and lifted the League Cup for the third time eight years ago.
Coach Martin Jol has improved the team's fortunes since his appointment in 2004. The first British team to win a European competition -- the 1963 European Cup Winners' Cup -- Tottenham this year reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, a competition it won in 1972 and 1984.
On-field progress has also boosted financial results. Accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche LLP rated Tottenham the sport's 15th richest team by revenue in fiscal 2006 with sales of 85.9 million pounds.
Today's announcement may signal the end of Sugar's involvement in football. Sugar, the chairman and chief executive officer of Amstrad Plc who appears on television show ``The Apprentice,'' spent 11 years as Tottenham chairman through 2001.
(Source: Bloomberg.com)
|
| Back |
|
|
|
|
 |
