Lewis family to raise another £100m via ENIC for Spurs, as sale rumours resurface
June 26 – Tottenham Hotspur majority owner ENIC is raising another £100 million of working capital to plough into the Premier League club, with most of it expected to go into the transfer market.
It will be the second time within a year that the Lewis family has put £100 million into the club and comes at a time when a 24.99% stake in ENIC that was held by former executive chairman Daniel Levy has been sold to Eight Sports Capital for an estimated £600 million.
Levy owned 29.88% of ENIC which holds an 87.62% stake in Spurs, effectively giving Levy a 26% ownership position in the club. The Eight Sports Capital acquisition effectively gives them about 20% of the club’s shares. Joe Lewis and his family trust own 70.12%. The rest of the club is owned by minority shareholders.
Earlier this month a spokesperson for Eight Sports Capital said: “We are delighted to have signed this agreement to acquire a significant stake in ENIC. We look forward to working with the club’s shareholders, management, staff, players and fans to support Tottenham Hotspur’s continued growth and success.”
While ENIC and the Lewis family advisors are still not acknowledging the sale of Levy’s shares publicly, it is understood from sources close to the club that money has been transferred and the share register is in the process of being updated.
The new money being raised by ENIC will be equity based and it has been confirmed that Levy’s trust has been invited to participate in the fund raising. Having just completed the acquisition of Levy’s shares in reality it will be Eight Sports Capital who are expected to participate.
Eight Sports Capital is a British Virgin Islands-registered firm whose chief executive is Brooklyn Earick, one of the initial bidders in the aborted sale of the club earlier this year. Earick has teamed up with Hong Kong corporate financier Wing Fai Ng and Taiwanese billionaire Richard Tsai who is chairman of the Fubon Financial holding company.
In March Insideworldfootball reported that a Special Purpose Agreement (SPA) was in place to acquire the ENIC shares from Levy, and that money had even been placed in escrow to secure the sale.
The big question over Spurs ownership is not so much whether but when will the Lewis family sell their shares and who to. Sources have told Insideworldfootball that the shares have been shopped to potential US investors.
It would be naïve to believe that Eight Sports Capital will not push for a larger stake in the club having gained a foothold, but such is the animosity between Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy, it is not clear whether that conversation is being had. That could potentially lead to an attempt at a hostile takeover.
For their part, the Lewis family have repeatedly said that the club is not for sale. But in football pretty much everything is for sale all the time.
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