Liverpool FC and the role of Amanda Staveley - Telegraph
Liverpool FC and the role of Amanda Staveley
"Of course the negotiations are complicated - the investment is very important to Tom and George, as it is to us. But it means a great deal to have the fans' support. Liverpool has a huge following in Dubai and the Middle East."
"The legal documents have yet to be signed but we're really pleased. Of course we want to own Liverpool outright but this large stake is a great start."
The bid for Liverpool is the first of several big acquisitions Dubai plans to make in European sporting ventures, both as an investment and to build a sporting legacy of its own.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, is no stranger to British sport. As the owner of the biggest stables in the UK, he has dominated horse racing and Newmarket in particular for years. Although the sheikh is said to be a follower of English football, the driving force behind Dubai's interest is DIC's Sameer Al Ansari, described by many as a "die-hard Red".
Dubai clearly has enough money to "do an Abramovich" and invest millions in the club. However, as in other areas, the investment vehicle wants to be seen as a considered private equity investor, not a wall of money.
"This is a serious investment and we will not overpay. But it is also a long-term investment, not a private equity play that we want to sell in a few years' time at profit. We want to ensure the club thrives."
Blonde and bubbly, Staveley is an unlikely front for an Arab bid, but she has earned the trust of the sheikh and his family. She started mixing with the powerful Middle Eastern families while running Stocks, a restaurant she set up after studying languages at Cambridge, which became a hit with the high-rolling racehorse owners in Newmarket.
In the 1990s, she branched into finance, trading stocks and investing in start-ups. She also founded Q.ton, the conference centre and restaurant business based at Cambridge Science Park. When she sold half the business to EuroTelecom and then raised £17m by floating it on the stock market in April 2000, her reputation soared.
advertisementBut it wasn't all easy. Just 11 months after flotation, EuroTelecom slid into administration. Then allegations of irregular share dealings followed, although Staveley herself was never suspected of any wrongdoing. She was badly battered by the storm and had to rebuild her career. Nonetheless, Staveley remained close to the sheikh and his advisers and it was to her that DIC turned when it was thwarted by Kop's swoop on Liverpool last year.
"We started the day after DIC lost Liverpool," Staveley says. "At that stage we just wanted to know what had gone wrong."
Over the spring and summer, Staveley pored over the figures but it wasn't until late summer that the idea of bidding again for the club surfaced.
In October, Staveley who had been watching from the sidelines, picked up the phone and asked for a meeting. Coincidentally, Hicks was part of a shooting party in Yorkshire close to where Staveley had been brought up. She travelled up to see him and explained that DIC was interested in Liverpool again.
A few weeks later Hicks wrote to DIC offering it a 15 per cent stake for £150m, valuing the club at £1bn. Staveley refused, claiming the valuations were too high.
Liverpool's projected profits for 2008 is just £30m, most of which would be eaten up by interest payments, leaving little spare to build the new stadium.
After more talks, 12 days ago Staveley put in an official bid for the club which included buying Liverpool's debt plus £60m in cash for both equity stakes. As an added sweetener Staveley included a facility whereby both Americans would benefit from a rise in the value of the club worth up to £20m each.
At the end of last week, Gillett agreed. But it wasn't enough to persuade Hicks whose Liverpool investment is an integral part of his portfolio of sport investments. If the deal is signed Hicks will be the majority co-owner with 51 per cent of the club. But since they have the financial firepower, the club needs it is unlikely to be long before the DIC tries to score again.
