Keith Harris, the man who has brokered five Premier League takeover deals, believes the credit crunch could affect clubs seeking new owners as benefactors become more cautious.
Harris, who has masterminded deals at Chelsea, Aston Villa, Hull, West Ham and Manchester City and is seeking buyers for Newcastle and Everton, claims the economic downturn has made it tougher to find investors willing to risk moving into the top echelons of the game.
“It has never been more difficult to find buyers,” said Harris.
“It’s no longer a question of price negotiation - it’s should we? People are wondering if now is the time to spend.”
Harris is particularly concerned Liverpool may find themselves in financial difficulty if joint owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett fail to pay back a reported £350million worth of debt.
He also claims Merseyside rivals Everton are no longer a realistic proposition to be bought out.
“Liverpool’s debt is due in January, with maybe a six-month extension,” said Harris.
“The two banks which are the principal lenders - the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia - are two of those that have suffered. Whether they want to lend it again or not, they may not be able to.”
Equally alarming, said Harris, was the situation at Everton where there has been no movement in terms of a buyer for the Goodison Park club who, like Liverpool, want to build a new stadium.
“There is no progress at all,” said Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce investment bank and a former Football League chairman.
Harris, speaking after a private address to football financiers in Zurich, re-iterated there were still two offers on the table for Newcastle but refused to name them.
“The work is progressing. They are wealthy investment funds, not from the Middle East but they do tick the test,” he added.
“The people behind them are first rate. They are capable of doing the deal and of investing in and managing the future.
“I don’t know how to predict when we might do the deal.”
Harris believes the Premier League’s fit and proper persons rule should be reviewed after the debacle of former Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who was in charge at Eastlands for a mere 14 months before selling the club to Abu Dhabi Investment Group for almost double what he paid.
“When he was first introduced to me I competed with another major investment bank to become his advisor.
“It wasn’t me who said Man City, it was him who wanted the club,” said Harris.
“We did an investigation into him by one of the big detective agencies. We found there was a military regime that was out to get him at all costs.
“We found that none of the allegations were proven and there was sufficient doubt in everyone’s mind as to what the motivation was of the military government - in short we thought it was out to get him.
“I actually I thought I was siding with the underdog but it went wrong which is sad. I think that probably what will happen now is that there will be an amendment in the way the Premier League view these (kind of) circumstances.”
Harris believes there has been too much negative publicity when it comes to the amount of debt accrued in English football and questioned FA chairman Lord Triesman’s widely-reported comments that the deficit figure was £3billion.
“The numbers he has used are slightly inaccurate,” said Harris. “The published figure is £2.5billion of which £900million is soft debt with no interest costs.
“The problem is only serious if the debt is with clubs which do not generate the cash to service it.”
Harris, who has masterminded deals at Chelsea, Aston Villa, Hull, West Ham and Manchester City and is seeking buyers for Newcastle and Everton, claims the economic downturn has made it tougher to find investors willing to risk moving into the top echelons of the game.
“It has never been more difficult to find buyers,” said Harris.
“It’s no longer a question of price negotiation - it’s should we? People are wondering if now is the time to spend.”
Harris is particularly concerned Liverpool may find themselves in financial difficulty if joint owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett fail to pay back a reported £350million worth of debt.
He also claims Merseyside rivals Everton are no longer a realistic proposition to be bought out.
“Liverpool’s debt is due in January, with maybe a six-month extension,” said Harris.
“The two banks which are the principal lenders - the Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia - are two of those that have suffered. Whether they want to lend it again or not, they may not be able to.”
Equally alarming, said Harris, was the situation at Everton where there has been no movement in terms of a buyer for the Goodison Park club who, like Liverpool, want to build a new stadium.
“There is no progress at all,” said Harris, chairman of Seymour Pierce investment bank and a former Football League chairman.
Harris, speaking after a private address to football financiers in Zurich, re-iterated there were still two offers on the table for Newcastle but refused to name them.
“The work is progressing. They are wealthy investment funds, not from the Middle East but they do tick the test,” he added.
“The people behind them are first rate. They are capable of doing the deal and of investing in and managing the future.
“I don’t know how to predict when we might do the deal.”
Harris believes the Premier League’s fit and proper persons rule should be reviewed after the debacle of former Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra, who was in charge at Eastlands for a mere 14 months before selling the club to Abu Dhabi Investment Group for almost double what he paid.
“When he was first introduced to me I competed with another major investment bank to become his advisor.
“It wasn’t me who said Man City, it was him who wanted the club,” said Harris.
“We did an investigation into him by one of the big detective agencies. We found there was a military regime that was out to get him at all costs.
“We found that none of the allegations were proven and there was sufficient doubt in everyone’s mind as to what the motivation was of the military government - in short we thought it was out to get him.
“I actually I thought I was siding with the underdog but it went wrong which is sad. I think that probably what will happen now is that there will be an amendment in the way the Premier League view these (kind of) circumstances.”
Harris believes there has been too much negative publicity when it comes to the amount of debt accrued in English football and questioned FA chairman Lord Triesman’s widely-reported comments that the deficit figure was £3billion.
“The numbers he has used are slightly inaccurate,” said Harris. “The published figure is £2.5billion of which £900million is soft debt with no interest costs.
“The problem is only serious if the debt is with clubs which do not generate the cash to service it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment