Bezos consortium’s Liverpool stake is nearer 40% — with a route to full control

Bezos’ Liverpool deal comes with a major twist

1892 Holdings has bought close to 40% of the club from Fenway Sports Group, rather than the roughly one third first reported, and holds an option to buy a controlling stake within the next 12 months.

The figure is understood to be about 38%, BBC Sport reported, after the revised number was first reported by The Athletic.

FSG announced on Friday that it had entered into a “definitive agreement” for the sale of a “strategic minority investment” to the group, which takes its name from Liverpool’s founding year.

The deal values the club at between £5bn and £6bn, a figure that bears comparison with where Liverpool’s valuation ranks among sport’s biggest clubs.

Who bought the Liverpool stake

The consortium is led by the British-Indian businessman Amit Bhatia and also includes Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

Bhatia, the son-in-law of the Indian billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, spent 18 years as a director and co-owner of Queens Park Rangers before relinquishing his stake there last month. He will become Liverpool’s vice-chairman and join an expanded board, pending regulatory approval.

The option to go further carries no obligation to use it, and nothing changes at Anfield immediately. But if it is exercised inside a year, the Fenway era on Merseyside ends with it.