EPL Club Takeovers Slow As Economy Hits English Soccer
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Harris Says Economy Slowing Down Sales
Of EPL Clubs Like Blackburn And Everton |
Investment firm Seymour Pierce Chair Keith Harris, who is handling the sale of multiple English Premier League (EPL) clubs, said that whatever '09 "has in store for English football as economic crisis engulfs the world, it is unlikely to include another giddy round of club takeovers," according to David Conn of the Manchester GUARDIAN. Newcastle United Owner Mike Ashley has withdrawn the team from the market, and Harris, who was charged with finding a buyer, said that "despite interest from the US, Middle East and South Africa, a solid offer never arrived." Harris: "The problem was not the price being asked but the general climate. In a way it is a wake-up call: we're in the toughest economic situation anybody has endured in our lifetime and that means we are unlikely to see much activity on the football takeover scene." Harris' "negative diagnosis" also includes Everton, which he "remains instructed to sell, and the other Premier League clubs publicly for sale, including Portsmouth and Blackburn." Harris: "We have been through a time when clubs have been overspending, with very ordinary players commanding huge transfer fees and wages. The climate has changed and takeovers are not going to be the solution to the woes that they may have been two years ago. That is unequivocal." Harris added of trying to broker a sale, "You can't force a club down somebody's throat. They have to really want to buy it. They may expect to make money out of a club ultimately but a football club is a trophy asset, for enjoyment. Confidence is dented everywhere and I do not see much activity on takeovers until we get some form of stability in people's minds. ... The supply of richer people has proved to be finite" (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 1/7).
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