Liverpool primed for business: Bezos, Bhatia and the next steps at Anfield

Fenway Sports Group looks to be locked in talks with a consortium led by the son-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal while the Amazon founder has now been linked

Several times. In March 2021, FSG sold 10% of the company to RedBird Capital Partners for £543m. In 2022, FSG hired the investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to seek out potential buyers for a 10% stake in Liverpool. No deal was done and Henry confirmed the following year that FSG was always open to new investment but not looking to sell the club. In 2023, FSG sold a reported 4% stake in Liverpool to Dynasty Equity, an American sports investment company, for £164m. That money was largely used to pay off debts incurred during the pandemic.

Bhatia, who stepped down as co-owner and director of QPR on Tuesday after 18 years, is believed to have secured financial backing from Mittal. The Mittal family wealth is estimated to be £23bn. Those riches pale in comparison, however, with another potential investor – Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos. The fourth-richest person in the world could afford to buy Liverpool outright and still have $250bn left in his back pocket. Bezos has been approached about joining the consortium but is reportedly undecided on whether to invest in a Premier League club for the first time. Bezos is no longer chief executive of Amazon but is executive chair of a company that has expanded from online retail into entertainment and sports rights, including for Premier League games, in recent years.

Even without Bezos on board, the consortium’s proposed offer would improve Liverpool’s capital considerably as the club begins a new era under Andoni Iraola. How much say and sway Bhatia and others would have over Liverpool’s football operations remains to be ironed out. With the FSG president, Mike Gordon, returning to a more prominent role at the club after Edwards’s exit, it seems unlikely that Liverpool’s owners would follow the Glazers’ example with Ratcliffe at Manchester United and grant a minority shareholder full control on the football side. Given talks are only at a preliminary stage, Liverpool’s transfer plans for this summer are not expected to be affected.

Talks continue until a deal is done or collapses. FSG’s willingness to confirm Bhatia’s bid in a statement to the Financial Times on Tuesday, and Bhatia’s departure from QPR that very same day, indicates negotiations are heading towards a successful conclusion.