Stefan Borson: The ‘most likely scenario’ is Tottenham investor buys out Daniel Levy in £750m deal
Tottenham’s majority owner ENIC could agree a deal for a new investor to buy Daniel Levy out of his shares in the company for up to £750million.
Tottenham confirmed Levy has stepped down as the club’s executive chairman on Thursday (4 September) after spending 24 years in the role, with Peter Charrington appointed non-executive chairman.
Spurs insisted there will be no changes to the ownership of the club, while Levy will remain part of ENIC, which owns an 86.91 per cent stake at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Levy and members of his family own a 29.88 per cent stake in ENIC, with Joe Lewis’s family trust holding the remaining 70.12 per cent.
Alongside Charrington, Vinai Venkatesham will now steer the ship after he was appointed as the club’s CEO in April.
Tottenham could agree Jim Ratcliffe-style deal
This article contains exclusive comment from Stefan Borson, a former financial adviser to Man City.
Football Insider revealed on Friday (5 September) Amanda Staveley has been in talks about a Tottenham takeover.
The former Newcastle United chief is believed to have been spearheading a consortium from the Middle East, while an American group is also interested in Spurs.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the likely outcome following Levy’s exit, Borson said: “Well, we can only guess and sort of speculate as to how it pans out from here.
“Clearly, ENIC’s been trying to sell the club for quite some time. Now, what that looked like in terms of whether they wanted to leave completely or whether they wanted somebody to co-invest, we don’t know.
“I certainly think that the valuation that has been touted is unrealistic, and some of the numbers that I’ve heard about don’t seem to be credible, either in terms of what people have said was on the table or otherwise.
“So, it’s very hard to know where they were, and how close they were to doing any sort of deal historically.
“But I think most likely now the most doable deal probably is that you would have somebody coming in like Ratcliffe at United, and you would have them taking out Levi’s 25 per cent holding and being somebody there that could stand their corner for equity investment.
“So, if let’s say they want to put £200million in from ENIC at the moment, the £200million should be split roughly in proportion to the 70-30 that they own in ENIC.
“But let’s say it’s £200million and it’s 30 per cent, Daniel Levy is not going to put his hand in his pocket with £60million to put into Spurs for his corner. And likewise, I assume he doesn’t want to be diluted.
“That is a problem because I think that’s going to be a block to how money gets put into Spurs by ENIC.
“And therefore, I think the most likely scenario is that they can find somebody that will co-invest with the Joe Lewis Trust, replace Levy, allow Levy to take what could be £750million even, allow Levy to take his millions and for a new partner to come in.”
Daniel Levy has boosted Tottenham’s finances
While Levy has been a controversial figure among Tottenham fans, he leaves the club in a strong financial position following his departure.
Spurs’ latest published accounts for 2023-24 revealed their turnover fell from £549.6million in 2022-23 to £528.2million, but their commercial revenue increased from £227.7million to £255.2million across the same period.
In terms of matters on the pitch, Thomas Frank has picked up six points from his opening three Premier League matches in charge of the club, having replaced Ange Postecoglou in June.
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