Sheikh Mansour_14-11-11
Sheikh Mansour_14-11-11
October 27 – Sheikh Mansour has put another £100 million into City Football Group (CFG), reinforcing his commitment even as Manchester City fight a Premier League verdict that could ultimately threaten his ownership.
Companies House filings show that 11,327,163 new CFG shares were allotted on October 14 and bought through Mansour’s Newton Investment and Development vehicle.
The deal nudges his holding in CFG to around 81%, with US private equity firm Silver Lake owning most of the remainder, and implies a valuation of roughly £5.9 billion for the group.
CFG described the money as “equity from our largest shareholder”.
“The proceeds will be used for normal corporate purposes against our strategic plans, funding planned investments into the City Football Group,” a spokesperson told City AM.
Just two weeks earlier, an independent commission found City guilty of 114 Premier League financial-rule breaches after concluding that commercial arrangements had been used to disguise owner funding and inflate revenues over a nine-season period.
City have appealed, calling the decision “unsafe” and arguing that it contains “clear material errors of law, principle and fact”.
If that appeal fails, the punishment is still to be decided. Financial penalties, points deductions and even relegation remain among the possible sporting sanctions.
There is another potential headache looming for Mansour. Independent Football Regulator chair David Kogan said last week that the watchdog has “absolute power” to force an owner to sell if it concludes a club has been run without the required propriety. Kogan stressed that the regulator will wait for City’s appeal process to run its course before considering any action.
That leaves an unusual backdrop to the latest cash injection: Mansour is putting another nine-figure sum into CFG while the future of the club at the centre of it is completely unresolved.
City are by far the biggest asset but still only one part of the operation. CFG has controlling or major interests across a network including New York City FC, Melbourne City, Girona, Palermo, Troyes, Bahia and Montevideo City Torque.
But there is little doubt where the crown jewel sits.
CFG chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said earlier this year that the group would fetch at least $10 billion (£7.3 billion) on the open market and described its clubs as “jewels”, while insisting there was no desire to sell.
That resolve is now being backed with another £100 million.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at harry.ewing@insideworldfootball.com