Spurs Reject Two Expressions Of Interest As Life After Levy Begins

Most Tottenham Hotspur fans would have probably thought that the September international break would be a period where they could let their hair down and reflect on how new manager Thomas Frank had begun to settle into life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Many will think that the 51-year-old Danish native has helped them turn the corner following the almost disastrous 17th-place Premier League finish they had last term.

Two wins from their opening three games sees the side sat in fourth spot at this very early stage of the season, and fans will be tempted to buy a VPN so that they can watch the action for themselves, but September has so far been anything but relaxing. We are a matter of days on from the announcement that executive chairman Daniel Levy had left his office for the last time after an almost 25 year spell as the club finally looked to go in a different direction after his many years in charge, and as the last tough negotiator joke was muttered, Spurs confirmed that they had an answer to the question of who would fill the massive void that his departure had left.

The answer was Vinai Venkatesham. He was at north London rivals Arsenal for 14 years, and only left them last summer after a six-year spell as their chief executive officer, and he had been appointed by Spurs last April to take up their CEO role. Given such a major change in the structure of the club, it did not take too long at all for the speculation rumour mill to pick up on suggestions of a potential incoming takeover, however very late on Sunday evening as people were preparing for the new week, the Tottenham board took to the press to announce that they had ‘unequivocally rejected’ two expressions of interest that had been made, and stated that the club was ‘not for sale’.

It seems that the expressions of interest were genuine as well as Spurs went on to confirm that the one approach had come from former Newcastle United shareholder Amanda Staveley’s PCP International Finance Limited group, and the second belonged to a consortium led by Dr Roger Kennedy and Wing-Fai Ng through Firehawk Holdings Limited. In a separate short statement, PCP International Finance later confirmed that it did not intend to make a formal offer for the club.

With a statement from ENIC Sports & Developments Holding Ltd, which owns an almost 87% stake in Tottenham, stating: “The Board of the Club and ENIC confirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and ENIC has no intention to accept any such offer to acquire its interest in the Club,” it means that under UK takeover rules PCP cannot now return with an offer for a period of the next six months.

Fans will now undoubtedly be watching on eagerly as they wait to see what the next development may be, but having announced that Levy’s departure was related to “part of the Club’s ambition to ensure that it is set up to deliver long-term sporting success,” it very much seems that a sale and cashing in is not on the cards, and it seems that it is unlikely to be on the table for the foreseeable future.

Spurs Reject Two Expressions Of Interest As Life After Levy Begins