Spurs takeover interest assessed - but is £4bn valuation fair?

There always seems to be a big football news story during international breaks and this time it has all been about Daniel Levy and Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite the relative lack of on-field success in recent times, Tottenham have been one of the best-run clubs in the world under Levy and ENIC.

With so much interest in buying English clubs, it is only to be expected that investors have been looking at Tottenham. What makes matters even more interesting, of course, is that Tottenham have been looking for investment, and that's one of the reasons they have retained the services of advisors such as investment bank Rothschild & Co.

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We now know that two groups have approached ENIC about buying its stake in the club. The approaches have both been rejected.

What do we know about potential takeover moves?

The two groups are Amanda Staveley's PCP International Finance Limited and a consortium led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai-Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited.

As 14 per cent of Tottenham is owned by private investors, interested parties have to comply with UK takeover rules and come clean about their intentions. Tottenham have set a deadline of 5pm on October 5 for interested groups to declare whether or not they intend to bid for the club. Any offer to buy ENIC's stake also has to be extended to private investors.

PCP have already issued a statement announcing that they do not intend to bid. Under takeover rules, they cannot bid for six months except in special circumstances such as a competitor making a bid or the club inviting bids.

There is also interest in Tottenham from American NFL owners.

Does the PCP statement mean Staveley is going to walk away now?

Buying a Premier League club is often a long, drawn-out process, so this is not necessarily the end of the road as far as Stevely and Spurs are concerned.

Staveley is one of the most well-connected dealmakers in football, and it is clear she still wants to be involved in the game after her departure from Newcastle United last year.

The controversial Saudi-Arabian-backed deal, which she brokered for Newcastle, took almost four years to get across the line, so she is not someone who necessarily takes no for an answer.

Even if she were to walk away from Tottenham, you sense she has unfinished business in the Premier League.

Are Spurs really "not for sale"?

That is the official position, and that has been made clear this week by the club and sources close to majority owner Joe Lewis and his family.

Tottenham chief executive Vinai Venkatesham says the Lewis family are committed to owning the club for many years to come, and it is business as usual after executive chairman Levy's departure last week.

Tottenham are in the unique position of being the only big English club who have not been bought and sold in recent times.

There were more than a hundred expressions of interest in Chelsea when they were put up for sale in 2022. That gives you an idea about the level of interest there is from global investors in English football.

Is Tottenham's £4bn valuation realistic?

As the old saying goes, if you need to know how much something costs, then you probably can't afford it.

The highest valuation for a sports team sale was £7.4bn for the LA Lakers earlier this year. The latest Football Benchmark report in May valued Tottenham at £3.1bn. That valuation takes into account that Tottenham have a state-of-the-art modern multi-purpose stadium as well as one of the best training grounds in the world.

Their location in London and place in the Premier League and Champions League makes them especially attractive to investors.

Is external investment a possibility?

That appears to definitely be on the cards because Tottenham have been in talks with potential new investors.

Venkatesham talks at length in a club interview about how committed the present owners are to the club, as well as providing financial support going forward, but he does not rule out the possibility of external investment.

He said: "We have firm backing from the Lewis family against our ambitions to be successful on the pitch, both on the men's side and women's side.

"They know that's going to require investment, and we have their firm backing.

"But I would also say, like all other 20 Premier League clubs, we also need to make sure that we're cognisant and aware of the financial fair play rules."

Who owns Spurs?

ENIC own 86.58 per cent of Tottenham. The other 13.42 per cent is owned by private investors.

Joe Lewis and his family own most of ENIC, with Daniel Levy and his family owning about 30 per cent.