A group of American investors led by Los Angeles-based businessman Brett Johnson is on the verge of buying Ipswich Town for £17.5 million, The Athletic is reporting.
The League One club have been owned by British multi-millionaire Marcus Evans since December 2007 but the 57-year-old has been in talks with various parties for at least six months, having poured more than £100 million of his wealth into the club over the last 13 years. Evans is understood to be writing off that debt, giving Johnson’s group a clean slate.
Johnson is the founder and chairman of Fortuitous Partners, a sports investment fund, and Benevolent Capital Partners, a private equity firm with investments in manufacturing, property and sport.
In 2015, Johnson bought a minority stake in Arizona United, a new team in the USL Championship, American soccer’s second tier, and became the club’s co-chairman and president. His first significant appointment was making former Ipswich stalwart Frank Yallop the team’s manager. Within a year, the team had been rebranded as Phoenix Rising.
Evans has reduced his financial support in recent seasons but the club accounts show a total wage bill of £102 million over the last six years, which is more than their total income of £98 million. As of summer 2019, the club’s debt to Evans had grown to £96.4 million. Writing to supporters in December, Evans admitted Ipswich had lost money in all but one of the last 13 years.
Without publicly putting the club up for sale, Evans has consistently stated he would relinquish control if suitable investment was forthcoming. “I have always said I would step aside for an owner who would be prepared to spend more money on Ipswich so long as they are fully committed financially over a period of time to take the club up the league tables,” he wrote before Christmas.
The pandemic has taken a further toll on both the club’s and his own finances. Earlier this season, Evans predicted COVID-19 would cost Ipswich £10 million in lost income, while his Marcus Evans Group will likely have struggled more than most over the last 12 months as it is one of the world’s leading conference and sports hospitality businesses.
The price tag of £17.5m is seen by some as on the high side but is also believed to be a similar amount to the Allam family’s asking price for Hull City. They do not own their ground either but were a Premier League side as recently as 2017 and are currently third in League One.
That said, Ipswich’s average gate last season was 19,500, second only to Sunderland’s in League One and better than half of the Championship’s sides. And fans of a certain generation will remember the club’s golden era in the late 1970s and early 1980s when they won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup and twice finished second in the old First Division under Sir Bobby Robson.
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