LeBron James looks set to become an part owner of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group in a potentially historic deal.
Reports in the US per the Boston Globe state that the basketball icon, who owns a two per cent shareholding in Liverpool, is set to join John W. Henry and Tom Werner et al in the ownership structure of FSG, along with James' business partner Maverick Carter.
The deal would see the duo become FSG's first black partners and comes on the back of the $750m investment, which is set to be concluded imminently, from Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital Partners firm in the FSG business.
The potential for exploring a stronger link with James, one of Nike's biggest clients and someone who could be key to Liverpool's marketing strategy with the US sporting giant following their link up last year, had been mooted ever since RedBird came on the scene.
FSG had been looking for investment for some time and were in deep negotiations with the ambitious Cardinale and Billy Beane special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) RedBall Acquisition Corp over a deal to take FSG public.
That broke down in January for a number of reasons, chiefly FSG's desire to remain away from the stock market right now and RedBall's inability to raise the second tranche of investment due to some disagreement from potential investors over the $8bn valuation on the FSG business, that includes the Boston Red Sox and Roush Fenway Racing as well as Liverpool.
When Cardinale and RedBird stayed at the table one of the potential deals, as mentioned in the ECHO, was that LA Lakers star James could come more into the fold through Fenway Sports Management, a part of the FSG enterprise.
But it now appears as if James' role is likely to be one of much more significance, with Carter, a long time friend of James who helped broker the deal for him to take a stake in Liverpool back in 2011, also coming on board.
Just where the RedBird investment was to be placed wasn't clear, although neither Liverpool or the Red Sox were set to be directly benefiting from the capital raised.
But The Globe suggest that the investment could be used to expand the portfolio of sporting organisations under the FSG umbrella, something that was key to the RedBall plan last year.
Cardinale already owns French second division side Toulouse through his RedBird FC arm of RedBird Capital and there is a potential for link-ups with Liverpool in a similar way that RB Leipzig, Manchester City and Leicester City operate multi-club platforms.
Any deal is contingent on gaining approval from Major League Baseball, which the Globe claim could take 'several weeks'. It is understood FSG have now approved the $750m investment, subject to MLB approval.
James' arrival in the ownership structure would not alter Henry's position as principal owner, with RedBird set to become the third biggest partner. The precise shareholdings being taken are unknown.
According to Forbes, James' net worth as of September 2020 was $450m.
