There are certainly reasons to think the time may be right for ENIC, who bought the club from Sir Alan Sugar for just £21million in 2001, to consider cashing in.
Joe Lewis, Levy’s long-time business partner who was previously considered Tottenham’s owner, was indicted in July for allegedly “orchestrating a brazen insider trading scheme”, a US attorney said. Lewis had “ceased to be a person of significant control” at Tottenham and ENIC in October last year, with his stake in both companies passing to beneficiaries of the Lewis Family Trust.
The 86-year-old has denied 16 counts of securities fraud and three counts of conspiracy, with his lawyer describing the indictment as a “egregious error in judgment”. But it remains to be seen what impact, if any, the case could have on Levy, ENIC and ultimately the club. It has long been assumed that Levy and ENIC will eventually countenance a full sale, cashing in on their investment over two decades with an enormous profit.
Selling a minority stake would, however, potentially be appealing to Levy in the medium-term, allowing the chairman to remain in control but significantly increase spending power and Spurs’s ability to compete with their richer and, in some cases, state-backed rivals.There are certainly reasons to think the time may be right for ENIC to consider cashing in on Tottenham
As Levy says, this kind of investment would potentially allow Spurs, a club which has long been managed under a tight set of financial parameters by ENIC, to potentially go “to another level”, enabling them to compete for trophies and cement Levy’s legacy.
Selling a minority stake would not be without its complications, however, particularly as it might make it harder for ENIC to complete a full sale in future.
Levy is understood to have met with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the Paris Saint-Germain president and chairman of the Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), in January for exploratory talks over a minority stake, but QSI are not actively looking at Spurs at present, having moved on to other opportunities.
Spurs deny the meeting took place, but Levy is understood to have talked to a number of potential investors in recent months, and confirmed to Bloomberg that there had been offers from the Far East, the Middle East and the US.
Spurs say Levy has never put a price on the club, but Forbes valued Spurs at £2.2billion this year, making them the ninth most-valuable club in the world.
Levy is likely to want far more, given Chelsea’s takeover last year was worth £4.14bn and there is currently a £6bn asking price for Manchester United.
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