Liverpool's American owner "slapped a stunning" £1B ($1.32B) price tag on the club after "preliminary buy-out talks," according to John Richardson of the London DAILY MIRROR. Financier Amanda Staveley, who has "strong links to billionaires in the Middle East," reportedly made "initial soundings about the club's availability" on Sunday. Staveley runs PCP Capital Partners, a fund with global assets of more than £28B ($36.8B). The 44-year-old was involved with Dubai investors in takeover attempts in '07 which were "ultimately aborted." Last year, her firm made a joint offer for a share of the club with Chinese company Everbright Ltd. -- but it was rejected by Liverpool's current owner, the Fenway Sports Group. Liverpool is "on the radar of the Middle East billionaires anxious to invest in a leading English club." But Fenway, which bought the club seven years ago for £300M, is looking for a "major return" on its investment and "will only sell for the right price" (DAILY MIRROR, 10/9).
STAVELEY STORY: In Liverpool, Neil Jones reported Staveley's presence at St. James' Park for Liverpool's away game at Newcastle United on Oct. 1 "certainly got tongues wagging." However, Fenway Sports Group reportedly remains "very much in it for the long haul at Anfield." In Aug. '16, Fenway Sports Group Chair Tom Werner said, "I have said repeatedly this club is not for sale." The mention of Staveley in any potential takeover story, though, "is to be expected." She is "understood to be a Reds fan." Born in Ripon, Yorkshire, Staveley was educated in York and "went on to study languages at Cambridge." It was after leaving university and a spell managing accounts at a restaurant that she "set up her own," Stocks, in Bottisham. This venture brought her into contact with wealthy Middle East businessmen, who would visit nearby Newmarket racecourse. Staveley said, "The real reason I wanted to run a restaurant was because I'd seen Michelle Pfeiffer in Tequila Sunrise. I thought, 'Ooh, that looks good.'" Soon, she "branched into finance, trading stocks and investing in start-ups." She also founded Q.ton, the conference center and restaurant business based at Cambridge Science Park. At 27, she was made Young Entrepreneur of the Year (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 10/8).
