The Abramovich Link..

Danners9 · Sep 17, 2003

from a while back, this is from the Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=D&xml=/sport/2003/09/18/sfnlev18.xml

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, has for the first time confirmed that he had a meeting with Roman Abramovich months before the Russian bought Chelsea.

Since Abramovich acquired Chelsea there has been much speculation as to whether he could instead have been Tottenham's Santa Claus.

There have been conflicting stories about whether an offer was made for the north London club.

The Russian did come to White Hart Lane to meet Levy, probably around April when he was in this country for the Champions League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Old Trafford. It was at this second-leg tie that the Israeli agent, Pini Zahavi, introduced Abramovich to Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive who moved to Chelsea in the same capacity last week.

Levy, whose company ENIC own 29.9 per cent of Tottenham and who is presently on honeymoon, told The Daily Telegraph: "Yes, we did have a meeting at his request because he wanted ENIC's perspective on the European football market. It is important to note however, that at no time did we discuss, either then or subsequently, his desire to acquire a Premiership club."

Then, just before Abramovich emerged as Chelsea's saviour, Levy received a phone call from Zahavi asking whether Tottenham were for sale. Levy, unable to believe a man he regarded as a football agent could be acting as an investment banker trying to buy a public company, told him Tottenham were not for sale. He quoted a silly price to get him off the phone.

Other sources have claimed Levy also spoke to Abramovich's investment bankers, although Levy denies this.

Levy told me: "For the record, I can also confirm that we have had no proposals from any party to acquire any or all of the share capital in Tottenham Hotspur."

I understand the price Levy quoted Zahavi was around £50 million for ENIC's shares. This would have valued the club at more than £150 million at a time when the share price of Tottenham on the London Stock Exchange was 18p, valuing the club at £20 million.

Abramovich, when allegedly told about Levy's response, clearly thought it was a ridiculous price and bought Chelsea instead. Although Chelsea cost him £60 million, paying off the club's debts pushed the overall figure up to £150 million. But for that he also got a stadium which had been developed as well as two hotels, more than he would have got at Tottenham.

One reason, apart from getting Zahavi off the phone, which could have prompted Levy to quote such a high price was a clause in the agreement which took ENIC into private ownership in March this year.

This clause, concerning any future sale of Tottenham, promised shareholders that should in the next two years Tottenham be sold at a higher price then the money would be shared between all those who had been shareholders of ENIC at the date of privatisation.

One source said: "If Abramovich really did consider Tottenham then it came two years too soon for Levy."

Apart from the brush-off Levy gave Zahavi, Abramovich may also have been deterred from making a formal bid by the fact that Alan Sugar, the former Tottenham chairman, owns 13.2 per cent and would have driven a hard bargain. Chelsea, with large debts, were an easier club to buy.

Levy's meeting with Abramovich was not discussed by the Tottenham board as Levy clearly felt that there was no offer and therefore there was nothing to report.

Levy may be right in insisting that there was no formal approach. With a first-class degree from Cambridge University, Levy is clearly a clever man but he has not always shown himself to be a good deal-maker. He originally wanted to buy Tottenham from Sugar in the autumn of 1998. As he was negotiating, it emerged that Sky were bidding for Manchester United, Sugar asked for more money and it was March 2001 before Levy was able to buy Tottenham.

He did end up paying less, 80p instead of £1 per share, but also bought the club just as the football bubble was about to burst.

Since then two other decisions of his have cost the club money and left them looking for a future home as well as a training centre. Earlier this year Tottenham's planning application to develop an academy and training facility at Abridge was rejected by Epping District Council and, as a consequence, £1.2 million of costs had to be written off.

Levy also ditched the plan he had inherited to develop White Hart Lane, writing off another £500,000 in professional costs, but has so far failed to come up with an alternative.
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Interesting.. the fact that Chelsea had developed their whole image more than Spurs, and because of this they were in debt made it so much easier to buy them. Perhaps, if Spurs had danced with financial insecurity then we'd have been bailed out. Risky game to play.