October 27 – John Textor (pictured) and his controversial Eagle Football multi-club ownership group has tabled has tabled a bid of more than £400 million ($532.2 million) to buy Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers from China’s Fosun Group.
Textor, who has made no secret of his desire to own control of a club in Premier League after his failure to have his voice heard as a Crystal Palace shareholder, and a failed (though probably only half-hearted) attempt to buy Everton.
The deal proposed for Wolves is reportedly for $200 million in cash and $350 million in shares in Eagle Football Group. Fosun are looking for new investors with banking group Moelis & Co repping the sale for a minority stake.
Textor still has ambition to take his Eagle Football Group public but is in dispute with his shareholders. Ares Capital Management, who underwrote his acquisition of French giants Lyon, wants to recoup its investment after years of losses, while the Iconic Sports Eagle Investment fund is in dispute over whether Textor is obliged to buy back shares in Eagle Football Group after Textor’s failed 2023 IPO.
Fosun bought Wolves for £45 million in July 2016 but has since the beginning of 2024 when Jenny Wang, the wife of Fosun chair Guangchang Guo, sold her majority stake in Swiss soccer club Grasshopper Club Zürich, looked to be finding an exit strategy from its football investments.
Textor is looking for a lifeline, but whether Wolves, currently bottom of the Premier League with only two draws in nine games, is it, remains to be seen.
Accepting Textor’s offer, or something near it, would still see a significant gain for Fosun but early reports are that they can achieve that gain with a minority investor. But can they do it without survival in the Premier League? And perhaps more to the point, would Textor pass the new English football regulator’s fit and proper person test?
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