Duncan Castles has shed more light on Tottenham’s rejection of the £3 billion takeover bid from American-based special purpose acquisition company LAMF Global Ventures.
Castles first broke the story in his article for The Daily Record on Friday in which he claimed LAMF Global Ventures, a Los Angeles-based SPAC company, showed interest and entered into negotiations with Daniel Levy over buying Spurs.
The company, which is chaired by the nephew of billionaire investor George Soros was said to be willing to meet the £3 billion valuation set by ENIC and Daniel Levy.
However, the report explained that the Spurs chairman rejected the proposal since the takeover would have entailed the club relisting on a stock exchange for the first time since 2012.
Castles has now backed up that claim, insisting that Tottenham’s unwillingness to be listed in the stock market was the main reason behind their rejection of the offer.
The journalist said that LMAF had earmarked Spurs as the ideal club to takeover but Levy was not even willing to ‘engange’ since it would be in the club’s interest to stay off the stock market.
Castles said on the Transfer Window Podcast: “This (takeover bid) comes from a Los Angeles-based NASDAQ listed Special Purpose Acquisition Company, a SPAC, called LAMF Global Ventures. They were floated on the NASDAQ stock market in November, raised over $250m in their initial public offering. It was an offering that was oversubscribed, so they’re confident they can raise substantial funds on top of that.
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“It’s an interesting group of people behind them, the chairman Jeffery Soros is the nephew of billionaire George Soros, and they’re also using Keith Harris as a special advisor on football who has been involved in more takeovers of English football clubs that anyone else in the financial world.
“They want, I’m told, to buy an elite European club, preferably in the Premier League, ideally one of the big six. My understanding is that the principal target has always been Tottenham Hotspur because it’s been known that Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis have built the club up in a way that it is ripe to be sold with the billion-pound investment in the training ground and the stadium, the London location and getting close to winning the Premier League title.
“Keith Harris, I’m told, approached Daniel Levy recently, and presented LAMF’s interest in the club to the chairman. My understanding is that he pitched the valuation at £3bn, in the hopes that Levy would be interested in selling at that price or interested in selling a percentage of the shares at that price.
“Instead, I’m told Levy rebuffed them. Guidance from a club source is that he cut the conversation short and didn’t even engage on the price, he didn’t want to get involved in bargaining on the number.
“I’m told that was nothing to do with the figure or the valuation of the club, but because of their status as a SPAC and the need for Tottenham to go public if a transaction occurred with LAMF then the structure of the deal means that when they buy an asset like Tottenham it would be listed on the stock market, and Tottenham deliberately came off of the stock market in order to raise money to overhaul their stadium and training ground, and it’s in their interest to stay off the market.”
Spurs Web Opinion
A lot of Spurs fans on social media seem to be upset with Levy and ENIC for rejecting the offer.
However, those with insufficient understanding of the business world (me included) should refrain from commenting on the impact of Spurs being enlisted in the stock exchange.
While some Spurs fans are desperate for new ownership, it is understandable why Levy and Lewis would prefer an off-market takeover from a private individual.
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