Kieran Maguire drops ‘£500m’ Brentford takeover news – ‘From my understanding…’
Brentford owner Matthew Benham will value the club at £500million while looking for a minority investor.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the valuation of Brentford amid reports of a potential takeover.
According to Bloomberg, Benham is considering potential offers to sell a stake in the London club.
The 55-year-old first became involved with the Bees in 2007 when he took on a portion of the club’s debt.
He acquired a majority stake in Brentford in 2012 from the club’s supporters trust Bees United.
Benham also acquired a majority stake in Danish club FC Midtjylland where he would experiment strategies that would then be implemented at Brentford.
However, he sold his majority stake in FC Midtjylland in August and is now looking to sell a stake in Brentford.
Maguire believes Benham will prefer to retain control and sell a minority stake, with the club valued close to £500million.
“From my understanding, it is a minority sale that Matthew Benham is after,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“There are a lot of positives in respect of Brentford – the club has become quickly established in the Premier League and it boasts a very smart player trading model.
“It’s also based in London and Brentford fans will tell you that they’re the nearest club to New York because it’s closest to Heathrow Airport.
“That makes it an attractive proposition, especially for US investors.
“So I think the club’s probably looking for somewhere in the region of £500million.
“I think that’s probably top-heavy, especially for a minority investment.
“But there’s no reason why it couldn’t be valued closer to around £400million.
“So if somebody wants to buy a 15 or 20 percent stake that means the money comes directly to the club or to Matthew Benham, who himself has been a generous benefactor to Brentford.
“So I think it’s an astute move and it will allow Benham to release funds to broaden his portfolio of investment which could perhaps be buying another football club.“
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