ENIC pumps £150m into Tottenham to help fund Antonio Conte summer transfer spree
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Owners ENIC have pumped a £150m cash injection into Tottenham Hotspur as they look to challenge under Antonio Conte next season.
ENIC, owned by 85-year-old Joe Lewis, who is worth £4.3bn according to the latest Forbes figures, have agreed a capital increase of up to £150m with Spurs, via the issue of convertible A Shares and accompanying warrants.
The club announced that “the equity injection provides the Premier League Club with greater financial flexibility and the ability to further invest on and off the pitch.”
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The statement went on: “The investment represents permanent capital, with no ongoing interest cost to the club, and which may be drawn in tranches until the end of the year. The club’s independent directors have benefited from its majority shareholder’s ability to invest directly, swiftly and without the extensive due diligence and documentation involved in third party funding.
“Under the agreed structure the A Shares can be converted into ordinary shares. The number of ordinary shares granted to ENIC as a result of the capital increase will vary depending on when the A Ordinary Shares are converted, when the warrants are exercised and valuations at the time. If drawn in full, and based on assumptions regarding the above, ENIC’s ownership of the club could see an increase from its current level of 85.6% to circa 87.5% on conversion. Any dilutive impact is dependent on the number of shares granted and will be shared by all shareholders proportionately and principally by ENIC, the majority shareholder.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: “The delivery of a world-class home was always a key building block in driving diversified revenues to enable us to invest in the teams and support our ambitions to be consistently competing at the highest levels of European football. Additional capital from ENIC will now enable further investment in the club at an important time.’”
Jonathan Turner, Independent Non-Executive Director of Tottenham Hotspur, added: “We are pleased to welcome this investment which demonstrates the unequivocal support and commitment of our majority shareholder, ENIC. It is a timely injection of funds to ensure we can continue to grow the club we all love and underlines the Board’s continued ambitions for success.”