Skip to main content

Burnley takeover completed

American company ALK Capital have completed their takeover of Burnley, acquiring a 84 per cent stake: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11708/12176097/burnley-american-investors-alk-capital-complete-takeover-of-premier-league-club

The company specialises in investments in the sports and media sectors: https://alkcapital.com/  American companies have been taking over a number of European clubs during the pandemic, especially in Italy.

Normally reliable sources are indicating that the deal values the club at more than £200m and that the takeover is being funded by a number of private individuals.  The purchase is being made through Velocity Sports Partners, ALK's sports investment vehicle.

ALK intend to make funds available to Sean Dyche to strengthen the squad in the coming transfer window.  It is clearly in their interests to avoid any risk of relegation.

In August the Delaware-based company invested in two London-based football technology firms, AiScout and Player LENS.  Both companies are involved in data analytics and predictive assessment of players.

Alan Pace of ALK previously expressed an interest in buying Sheffield United.   As the new chairman of Burnley, he stated: 'With a rich heritage, a brilliant academy, and a passionate fan base, this club has solid foundations to build on.'   Mr Pace is a former CEO of Real Salt Lake which plays in MLS.

Many US companies choose to base themselves in Delaware, the home of incoming president Joe Biden, because it offers a favourable corporate legal environment.

Burnley made a pre-tax profit of nearly £5m on stable revenue of £138m in the year to end of June 2019.  This was primarily driven by Premier League broadcasting contracts.   The pre-tax profit of £45m a year earlier was inflated by selling players.   Mr Pace praised the outgoing leadership at Turf Moor for making the club 'financially stable'.

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball has tweeted: 'ALK will be inheriting a club that has been (along with Spurs) the best run financially in the Premier League. This means that they have scope to invest in the transfer market should they so wish.'

I approached the local Claret for a comment (there are fans in the Royal Spa) and he said: 'I have generally expressed a hostile view as I don’t see who gains from this apart from our two largest shareholders. Alan Pace, the inspiration behind it, is mainly notable for a recruitment algorithim so I’m wondering what happens when he goes to Mr. Dyche and tells him, “Computer says you have to buy Fred Higginbottom from Rochdale"'.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion.  Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs.  An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs CEO attacks luxury training base

The Tottenham Hotspur chief executive Vinai Venkatesham has issued a withering assessment of the way the club was run under Daniel Levy, likening the state-of-the-art training centre to a five-star hotel rather than a centre of high performance.  Venkatesham was appointed to his role in April 2025, having stepped down as chief executive at Arsenal the previous summer. However, he has said that some aspects of the club were “in a significantly worse state” than he expected.  “Our training centre is amazing, one of the best, if not the best in the world,” Venkatesham told BBC Sport. “But when you look around, it looks more like a five-star hotel than it does a performance environment. That will change over the summer. I think there are many areas where the club hasn’t got the right level of expertise.”  He explained that the football side of operations was the club’s main downfall when he arrived last year. [One Spurs fan wryly observed that it was like a water company sayi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...
Post a Comment
Read more