Tottenham Hotspur have become the target of a record-shattering takeover bid despite ENIC’s clear stance.
According to The Sun, a consortium based in the United States led by tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick has submitted an extraordinary £4.5 billion offer to buy the club.
The 41-year-old is the face of a 12-man investor group that includes NFL and NBA heavy hitters who are prepared to pay £3.3 billion to buy out Tottenham’s current owners, ENIC and the Lewis family.
They’ve also set aside a whopping £1.2bn player budget covering wages, fees, and agent payments. The war chest will be made available to manager Thomas Frank in January.
If they somehow convince ENIC to sell, the deal would surpass the £4.25bn that the Todd Boehly-led consortium paid to purchase Chelsea three years ago.
Earick has promised to invest heavily in the club both on and off the pitch as part of his “Tottenham 3.0” vision.
He also sweetened the deal by lining up a £250 million naming rights agreement for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Former chairman Daniel Levy had struggled to finalise the deal since the club cut the ribbon on the stadium six years ago.
Earick’s consortium believes Spurs already have a world-class stadium and training facilities, but they want to bring in the required investment to turn the club from pretenders to major contenders.
ENIC may be tempted to sell as deal is well above market price
Talks between Earick and Spurs began months ago, but accelerated after Levy stepped down from his role as chairman, 24 years after joining the club.
It’s believed that Levy’s reluctance to cede power held up a potential sale. Earick’s bid comes after ENIC and the Lewis family made it clear that they’re not looking to sell the club.
They had already turned down two expressions of interest from Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and a consortium led by Roger Kennedy and Firehawk Holdings.
Earick’s bid adds to the already growing uncertainty surrounding Tottenham’s ownership.
Before he tabled his offer, Andrew Ashcroft, son of billionaire businessman and long-standing Tottenham shareholder Michael Ashcroft, bought a 3.4% stake in the club worth around £100m.
Tottenham is valued at £2.6bn by Forbes, which means Earick’s bid is a 27% premium on its current price.
ENIC and the Lewis family have repeatedly shut down any talks of a potential takeover, so it remains to be seen if the mouth-watering bid would be enough to get them on board with a sale.