FSG part-owners RedBird Capital reportedly look into buying Chelsea

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RedBird capital – investors in Liverpool’s owners FSG – are interested in buying Chelsea, according to reports. It’s an interesting turn of events.

This comes from ESPN. They claim that US Investment firm RedBird capital are one of several groups looking at buying Chelsea.

Roman Abramovich publicly put the club up for sale this week, of course. That’s brought about much speculation around who could buy the club. After all, Chelsea are one of the world’s biggest – opportunities like this don’t come around too often.

And RedBird were already looking into potentially buying a club outright. Their dream situation could well have fallen into their lap – if they can find the cash.

RedBird capital and FSG at Liverpool

So this is a particularly interesting one for Liverpool as RedBird actually own 10% of FSG, the Reds’ owners. They completed a £540m deal a little over a year ago to claim that stake.

So how does that work? Could RedBird actually part-own Liverpool as well as Chelsea? We’re not entirely sure and it might come down to the definition of a controlling stake.

Premier League rules are a little unclear, though we may be missing something. I.4 of their handbook says no person can have a direct controlling influence in more than one club, while I.5 says no person can acquire a significant interest in a second club.

RedBird owning 10% of FSG doesn’t give them a controlling influence at Liverpool, while it’s debatable if that’s a significant chunk of the Reds’ ownership. That might mean they can indeed have a stake in both clubs.

10% is a fair size, though, for Chelsea’s potential owners to have in a direct rival. At the same time, RedBird will know the rules far better than we do and would only push for this if it’s possible.

We wrote a year ago that RedBird’s investment in FSG wouldn’t have a significant effect on Liverpool. With this news, however, there’s more of this story to tell.