Another United States National Football League team owner — and American billionaire — is set to take over an English soccer club. Randy Lerner, who owns the Cleveland Browns, put in a £62,6-million bid on Monday to buy Aston Villa, one of the oldest clubs in English soccer.
The board of the Birmingham-based team recommended the transaction to shareholders, and said owners of 56,85% of the shares were committed to the deal. Lerner is expected to take over as owner within months.
”The basis for acquiring Aston Villa is that it is a storied club dating from the 1870s with periods of treasured memories and glory,” Lerner said. ”Currently it faces the need for reinvestment in a variety of areas which many of its competitors have under way or have completed in recent years.
”The opportunity to be a part of strengthening Villa’s business operations and facilities represents a broad set of challenges that I’m eager to take on.”
Last year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer took over at Manchester United, one of the most popular teams in the world.
Villa chairperson Doug Ellis, who has run the Premier League club for more than 30 years and owns 39% of the stock, put the team up for sale last year.
Lerner’s takeover vehicle, Reform Acquisitions, offered 547 pence per Aston Villa share, the principals announced to the London Stock Exchange on Monday. That represents a premium of about 47% more than the closing price on September 16 2005, the last day before the offer period.
Many English soccer teams are listed on the stock market to raise money from investors.
Lerner, the former chairperson of credit-card giant MBNA, took over as the Browns principal owner following the death of his father in 2002. Through MBNA, he has had extensive business dealings in Britain.
As a young man, Lerner served as equipment manager for the Cleveland Cobras of the American Soccer League. ”I never picked up so many smelly uniforms, socks and towels in my life,” Lerner said in 2004 when recalling his first venture into pro sports. ”I liked sports and my dad knew the Cobras owner, so he figured this would be a good learning experience for me, to start at the basic level.”
Villa, established in 1874, are one of only four English teams to win the European Cup — Europe’s top club competition. The team have slumped recently, however, and haven’t won the English league title since 1981.
”It’s inevitable they will have to go out and spend, given that they haven’t won the league in more than 20 years and finished close to the relegation zone last season,” said Henk Potts, an equity strategist with Barclays Capital.
The bottom three clubs in the 20-team English Premier League get demoted to a lower division each season.
Villa, who open the 2006/07 season at Arsenal on Saturday, posted a loss of £8,89-million in the last full financial year, and lost £1,17-million the year before.
”It’s a club with a rich pedigree but in recent decades, it’s been a bit thin on success,” said Stephen Jones, a Birmingham-based investment manager with Brewin Dolphin Securities. ”For a Premier League club, its finances are pretty solid.”
Potts said Glazer and Lerner targeted English soccer clubs in a bid to boost the appeal of the sport and the league in the US.
”[English soccer has] never been able to crack the lucrative US market,” Potts said. ”Many times it’s been tried, and failed.”
Potts said targeting the US market could ”revolutionise the game of football and take it from being the English Premier League … and turn it into the global club league”.
Lerner would be the fourth foreign owner of a Premier League club.
Chelsea has been revolutionised since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over the club two years ago and invested part of his fortune to buy a team of superstars. The Blues have won the past two league titles.
Last month, another Russian, Alexandre Gaydamak, took over at Portsmouth. — Sapa-AP