More In Common: How Sheikh Mansour’s Investment Is Funding Liverpool

One of nan awesome curiosities regarding nan authorities of Premier League ownership will travel into attraction erstwhile Liverpool sojourn Manchester City connected Sunday.

Despite a rivalry that has defined nan past decade and has led to some sides’ squad coaches being attacked, a £1m ineligible colony being paid by Liverpool aft City claimed their scouting database had been hacked, and accusations from City officials that Jürgen Klopp had made borderline xenophobic comments astir state-backed owners, which nan German rejected, nan 2 clubs person much successful communal than immoderate of their feuding fans whitethorn wish to acknowledge.

In 2023 City’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, sanctioned a $750m finance successful nan institution that is nan third-biggest shareholder successful Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group.

RedBird Capital Partners has since 2021 owned 11% of FSG, successful which Liverpool’s main owner, John Henry, is nan biggest shareholder pinch 40%. Mansour’s International Media Investments (IMI) ploughed $750m into RedBird 2 years later arsenic portion of a fundraising thrust that delivered $2.5bn to beryllium spent connected athletics and media assets, pinch nan finance deemed truthful important that nan money was renamed RedBird IMI.

The money was created to specialise successful athletics and media mergers, and RedBird IMI has spent nan past 2 years successful a analyzable position related to its involvement successful nan Telegraph Media Group.

The mobility of why Mansour’s IMI bought into RedBird has yet to beryllium answered successful public, arsenic is often nan lawsuit pinch Abu Dhabi’s investments. RedBird Capital, founded by nan New York-based financier Gerry Cardinale successful 2014, has made a bid of sports investments successful nan past 5 years, snapping up Toulouse successful 2020 and buying Milan for $1.2bn from nan hedge money Elliott Management successful 2022.

Its $735m finance successful FSG was concluded successful nan outpouring of 2021 astatine a clip erstwhile Liverpool’s proprietor was looking to stem losses caused by almost 12 months of nan Covid-19 pandemic.

Some of nan money is understood to person been utilized to thief money nan £80m redevelopment of nan Anfield Road Stand astatine Liverpool. Later successful nan twelvemonth FSG paid $950m to get nan Pittsburgh Penguins crystal lucky franchise, adding to a sports portfolio that besides includes nan Boston Red Sox and various investments successful Nascar and golf.

RedBird Capital’s 11% liking gives it small opportunity wrong nan FSG sporting empire, to nan grade that it was not progressive successful a waste process astatine Liverpool led by nan US banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs 3 years ago, which resulted successful FSG trading a mini liking to nan boutique finance patient Dynasty Equity for £164m.

With IMI owning little than a 3rd of RedBird Capital’s subsidiary funds, sources astatine Liverpool and City insist Mansour has nary power astatine Anfield. One root likened nan business to nan ownership position astatine Chelsea, whose mostly shareholder, Clearlake Capital, receives a important portion of its backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, nan proprietor of Newcastle.

With backstage equity firms viewing sports teams arsenic investable assets, specified associations betwixt ownership groups are apt to increase, pinch Liverpool besides tangentially linked to 2 different awesome European clubs. Another of FSG’s shareholders, nan American finance group Arctos Sports Partners, owns number stakes successful Paris Saint-Germain and nan Serie A broadside Atalanta.

Online conspiracy theories notwithstanding, location are nary superior suggestions that PIF calls nan shots astatine Stamford Bridge, aliases that FSG runs PSG. And nary 1 should expect Sheikh Mansour to beryllium wearing a half-and-half City-Liverpool scarf if he tunes successful connected Sunday.