It "used to be every tycoon's dream -- and as more and more money flows into the game, you might think that a top English football club would still be a highly desirable trophy," according to Malcolm Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. As the EPL season prepares to kick off once more after Sunday's traditional Community Shield fixture, however, "this particular asset seems to have lost" some of its luster. At least five English Premier League clubs held sale negotiations over the summer, according to people involved, "but not one has managed to find a buyer." Deals for Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Hull City and Southampton have failed to materialize "despite, in some cases, prolonged bargaining." On paper, owning a Premier League club, even a relatively lowly one, "has never been more attractive." Deloitte partner Dan Jones said when the company released its annual football report, "The change in club profitability in 2013-14 was more profound than anything we could have forecast. This may move clubs from being seen as exciting and enticing trophy assets to being recognized as businesses capable of delivering consistent profits." But those involved in the negotiations said that buyers "had been put off by tighter regulations on club ownership, worries over relegation and even geopolitical problems." West Bromwich Albion, which at one point "entered exclusive talks with one buyer, saw the deal collapse when the Chinese stock market tanked." One attempt to sell Aston Villa, meanwhile, "was scuppered by sanctions on Russia." Hull City was put up for sale by its owner Assem Allam last summer "but has yet to attract any significant interest." A person who knows the club said, "It has been a surprise because there is no external borrowing." Bankers working on the deals for the clubs said that "it had been a difficult summer." One of those bankers said, "When you sell businesses, it tends to be to corporate buyers, or private equity or hedge funds, people who you understand. But with a football club it is Russian oligarchs, Middle Eastern or Asian buyers, or Americans. They are very different sort of people." A second banker said that football clubs were difficult to value and market. He said, "This is such an unusual business because it is a talent business but when you think about talent businesses they are often part of a conglomerate, like WPP or Vivendi, that can absorb the volatility" (FT, 8/2).
