Media reports suggest that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries is interested in buying the English football club Liverpool FC. A rush in global interest in purchasing a property like Liverpool was inevitable but not everybody sees value in buying a top Premier League club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a British billionaire, recently ruled out the possibility of picking a stake in the Merseyside club. He said there is more value elsewhere in the footballing world, than in buying a top-tier Premier League club. Ratcliffe currently owns Ligue 1 side Nice, a French football club.
“Our position has developed since the summer and we are now focusing our efforts in Nice and raising our ambitions for the club to make them into a top-tier club in France to compete with PSG,” his spokesman said in a statement.
“This would represent much better value for our investment than buying one of the top-tier Premier League clubs.”
Currently, Ambani’s company owns Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket side Mumbai Indians and also runs the Indian Super League football event besides being the commercial partner of the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
Forbes listed Liverpool as the world’s fourth most valuable football club, with a value of around $4.45 billion (around £3.8 billion). The club has won 19 top-flight league titles and numerous trophies in European competitions. According to ‘The Mirror’, the FSG are willing to sell the club for £4 billion.
