Re: Back Page tomorrow Mirror - Lewis to sell 1 Billion Tottenham
One of the founders of the company that has made a preliminary approach to buy Tottenham Hotspur helped to push through a record £1.3 billion purchase of the LA Dodgers baseball team.
Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed on Thursday evening that Cain Hoy Enterprises had registered an interest in launching a takeover bid for Spurs on behalf of a group of United States businessmen.
Cain Hoy confirmed its interest in a statement on Thursday afternoon and now has until Oct 10 to make a firm bid or pull out.
Jonathan Goldstein, a London-born and lifelong Tottenham supporter and season ticket holder, is leading the Cain Hoy approach in his role as head of European investment, while Henry Silverman is chief executive of the firm. It has now emerged that one of the three named founders of Cain Hoy is Todd Boehly, who is a co-owner of the LA Dodgers following a 2012 record buy-out.
Boehly is president of Guggenheim Capital, which made a minority investment in Cain Hoy and which Goldstein and Silverman used to work for. Guggenheim is not behind the interest in Tottenham
Goldstein and Silverman are not connected to the Dodgers, but Boehly is part of Guggenheim Baseball Management which outbid Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke to secure ownership of the club.
Boehly and his Guggenheim group paid £1.3 billion for the Dodgers, which comfortably beat the Kroenke bid that was thought to be about £900 million. It also dwarfed the previous record sum paid for an American sports team, set when the Miami Dolphins were sold for £680 million in 2009.
The Glazer family took over Manchester United in 2005 in a deal valued at £790 million. The previous record for a baseball franchise was the £520 million the Ricketts family paid for the Chicago Cubs in 2009. Boehly and his co-owners did not stop spending at the point of purchase with the Dodgers. In one weekend, they committed £123 million to buying two pitchers.
Since the involvement of Boehly and his partners, including basketball legend Magic Johnson, the Dodgers have won the 2013 West Division title.
Cain Hoy is yet to give any clues as to whether it can, or will, get close to the level of spending of Boehly’s Dodgers consortium or the £1 billion at which Tottenham owner Joe Lewis is thought to value the club, together with the new stadium development.
But Boehly’s involvement underlines Cain Hoy’s insistence that its interest in Spurs is serious and confirms to supporters that there is sports ownership experience within the company.
It is believed that Goldstein has already spoken with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who would be in charge of any negotiations regarding the sale of the club on behalf of 77-year-old Lewis.
Cain Hoy confirmed it was considering a takeover bid for Spurs in a statement that read: “Cain Hoy confirms that it is at the preliminary stages of assessing a cash offer for Tottenham Hotspur. There can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made or at what price any offer might be made. “In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, Cain Hoy must, by not later than 5pm on Oct 10, either announce a firm intention to make an offer in accordance or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.
“This deadline will only be extended with the consent of the Takeover Panel. This announcement has been made without the consent of Tottenham Hotspur.”
Tottenham responded by admitting the club had held talks with representatives of Cain Hoy, but insisted they were not in formal takeover negotiations.
The Spurs statement added: “As stated in yesterday’s announcement regarding the new stadium project, THFC has been in discussions with multiple providers of finance and, in the course of those considerations, has met representatives of Cain Hoy. However, there are no ongoing discussions with Cain Hoy. The club is focused on the new stadium development and the season ahead.”
