A group that includes Jeff Bezos has struck a deal with Fenway Sports Group to become minority owners in Liverpool Football Club, FSG said Friday.
The deal is the Amazon founder's first investment in a sports property. The consortium will buy roughly one-third of the Premier League club, and the minority transaction is valued at about $7.1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.
As a condition of the deal, the investment group has an option to become the majority shareholder of Liverpool at a valuation around $8 billion in the next 12 months, according to a person familiar with the matter. The largest contribution to the $7.1 billion minority investment — more than $1 billion — comes from the firm K5 Global. Bezos is the lead investor in the K5 fund.
The consortium behind the deal, 1892 Holdings, is managed by businessman Amit Bhatia, who is the primary partner in the deal and a former co-owner of the Queens Parks Rangers soccer club. The group also includes K5 Sports and EE Capital, the family office of Elaine and Eduardo Saverin. Eduardo is a co-founder of Facebook.
