Amit Bhatia, the Queens Park Rangers co-owner, has resigned as a director of the Championship club after 19 years – a sign of the seriousness of his bid to buy a significant minority stake in Liverpool. The consortium he leads, backed by his father-in-law, the billionaire Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, is in negotiations with Fenway Sports Group over a deal that would value the Premier League giants at about £4.5bn.
FSG, which bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010, confirmed in a statement to the Financial Times that it had begun talks with Bhatia’s group over a potential minority share sale. The Boston-based investment group, led by John W Henry and also owner of the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, has previously held discussions over a minority sale without reaching agreement. But with the Mittal family managing assets of £16bn, the buyers clearly have the resources to execute the transaction.
“FSG in talks to sell minority stake to Bhatia consortium, valuing Liverpool at £4.5bn.”
Industry sources expressed surprise at the purported £4.5bn valuation – far higher than recent sales of similar-sized Premier League clubs. Chelsea were bought four years ago by the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital group for £2.5bn, though that was a distressed sale because owner Roman Abramovich was subject to UK government sanctions. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of 25% of Manchester United in 2024 valued the club at £3.9bn.
Bhatia, a London-born entrepreneur who has held numerous leadership roles at QPR since investing in 2007, said: “QPR has been a deeply important part of my life, and of my family’s life … I step back from my formal responsibilities with pride, gratitude and affection.”
Liverpool are currently in the US under their new head coach, Andoni Iraola, for a pre-season tour that begins with a game against Sunderland in Nashville on Saturday. The talks suggest FSG is poised to secure a spectacular return on its 16-year investment at Anfield.