Brooklyn Earick has caused a stir at Tottenham, with the club forced to release a statement after an American consortium expressed an interest in buying the team from ENIC
American tech entrepreneur Brooklyn Earick has teased Tottenham fans with a cryptic update on social media after launching a bid to take over the club. Earick is heading up a consortium that has made an approach to buy the Premier League club from ENIC.
The former DJ and NASA employee is trying to convince the Lewis family to sell Spurs following the departure of Daniel Levy as chairman. Those talks have accelerated since Levy’s shock departure was announced earlier this month.
The Lewis family insist that their stance has not changed and that the club is not for sale. It comes after they rejected two informal approaches for the club, which broke their long trophy drought by winning the Europa League in May.
ENIC owns 87 per cent of Spurs and insists they won’t budge, but Earick has raised the interests of Spurs fans by posting a photo apparently taken inside the team’s dressing room at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. At the bottom of the image is a countdown titled “COYS” with 27 days, 10 hours and 36 minutes on it.
Earlier in the day, Earick posted a photo of the Sun newspaper, which reported on his interest, with the caption “pretty low key morning so far”. His moves have prompted an official response from Tottenham, who have to inform the public of any takeover talk due to the fact that 13 per cent of the club is publicly traded.
In a statement to the Stock Exchange, Spurs said: “The Board of Tottenham Hotspur Limited is aware of recent media speculation and confirms that its majority shareholder, ENIC Sports & Developments Holdings Ltd, has received, and unequivocally rejected, an informal expression of interest in relation to a proposal to acquire the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of the Club from a consortium led by Mr Brooklyn Earick.
“The Board of the Club and ENIC reconfirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and ENIC is not looking to sell its stake in the Club.”
Meanwhile, a source close to the Lewis family reiterated that message by telling The Athletic: “This unsolicited and unnecessary interest does nothing to change the family’s resolve and commitment to do whatever it takes to drive success on the pitch. The club is not for sale.”
Earick is not the first person to express an interest in Spurs with an Asian consortium of investors led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited doing the same last month. They indicated an informal intention to make an offer for Spurs on the day Levy departed, only to be pushed back by ENIC.
Meanwhile, Amanda Staveley and PCP International Finance Ltd are also believed to have shown enough interest. Staveley has previous experience in the sector, having brokered the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund takeover of Newcastle.