The Ricketts family, the sole owners of the Chicago Cubs, have expressed interest in buying Liverpool FC from Fenway Sports Group, an insider has claimed, as the bidding war for the Reds mainly consists of American investors.
US-based investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are assisting with the sale after it was revealed that the collapse of the proposal for a European Super League and the $5billion sale of Chelsea to Todd Boehly were part of the reasons for FSG's new stance to listen to offers, though the consortium could still stay in charge of the club as any potential deals remain at an exploratory stage.
Similar to the four US frontrunners who were interested in buying the Blues from Roman Abramovich before it was eventually sold to Clearlake Capital in May, there is 'strong American interest' in the Reds.
Among the suitors are the Rickets family, who were also in contention to buy Chelsea and sought ownership of Tottenham Hotspur, according to The Times.
'There have been a number of recent changes of ownership and rumours of changes in ownership at EPL clubs and inevitably we are asked regularly about Fenway Sports Group's ownership in Liverpool,' Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Penguins said in a statement.
'FSG has frequently received expressions of interest from third parties seeking to become shareholders in Liverpool. FSG has said before that under the right terms and conditions we would consider new shareholders if it was in the best interests of Liverpool as a club. FSG remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch.'
The Ricketts family, which is worth an estimated $3.7billion, according to Forbes, reached success after family patriarch Joe Ricketts founded the brokerage firm TD Ameritrade in 1975. As of 2019, the 81-year-old has a net worth of $2.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Joe's son, Thomas, is currently the Cubs chairman since 2009 after buying the MLB team for an estimated $900million. He is also the chairman and founder of Incapital LLC., a Chicago-based firm that provides securities firms and individual investors more efficient access to corporate bonds since 1999.
Together, with his siter Laura and brothers Pete and Todd, Thomas shares ownership of the Cubs through their family trust and the franchise has won a World Series in 2016 whilst under their tenure. Tom's net worth is currently, $2.3 billion as of 2018 according to Forbes.
Liverpool has under FSG re-established itself as one of the leading clubs in Europe and won its first English league title in 30 years in 2020.
Manager Jurgen Klopp has also helped the club win the Champions League, Club World Cup, FA Cup and League Cup since being hired in 2015. But he has spoken publicly of the difficulty in challenging Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City in the transfer market and the recent sell of Newcastle United to the Public Investment Fund, the sovreign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
'Nobody can compete with City in that,' Klopp said last month. 'You have the best team in the world and you put in the best striker (Erling Haaland) on the market. No matter what it costs, you just do it. . . . What does Liverpool do? We cannot act like them. It's not possible.'
Liverpool were valued at $4.48 billion by Forbes at the end of the 2021-2022 season (in May) after being bought by FSG for $345 million in 2010. The Reds could be sold for higher than it's current valuation should an auction take momentum.
Depending on the stature of bids to buy the Merseyside club, FSG could then assess the valuation of a minority stake, should it decide to only sell a percentage of the team, The Times reports.
A group interested in acquiring Chelsea that was led by former British Airways and Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton, and was backed by Brazilian business tycoon Michael Klein, who owns popular South American chain of department stores, Casas Bahia, has close ties with Liverpool.
The two investment bankers were involved in the Reds' sale to FSG in 2010 from previous American owners, George Gillet Jr. and Tom Hicks.
Last year, Fenway sold a 10 percent share of the club for $625 million to RedBird Capital Partners - an American private investment firm founded by Gerry Cardinale and with equity stored in AC Milan, the Red Sox and the Yankees. The firm manages $7.5 billion of equity, according to GlobeNewswire.
At the time of the transaction, FSG was valued at $5.76 billion but suffered losses from the financial consequences of the pandemic when the consortium raised its debt after borrowed from itself, instead of plunging its ventures into crisis.
The Boston-based group, however, remains adamant that it 'remains fully committed to the success of Liverpool, both on and off the pitch' for the time being.