Benfica share buy-up plan by US tycoon shown red card

A plan by a Portuguese millionaire who made his fortune from chicken farming, to sell his shares in Benfica Football Club to a US tycoon, has been shown the red card by the football club itself.

The proposed deal has fallen though because the US investor involved, Tim Leiweke, has investments in another European football club in Italy.

Tim Leiweke and his daughter, Francesca Bodie led a consortium that recently invested around €100 million in the Italian club Venezia FC.

The plan was for Leiweke to buy 16% of the shares in Benfica SAD – the company that manages the business affairs of the club – from Portuguese poultry king José António dos Santos through the former’s company Entrepreneur Equity Partners SPV V, LLC.

Agreement on the purchase was made in April with the US tycoon agreeing to pay just over €10 per share.

However, Benfica representatives informed Leiweke (pictured) that article 13 of the club’s statutes gave the club the right to block the acquisition of shares that represented more than 2% of the total shareholding given that the purchases had conflicting interests in another European club.

In fact Benfica used the same article to block a previous bid to acquire part of SAD Benfica by the Texan tycoon John Textor in 2022.

But the argument is not convincing and seems to be a convenient excuse to keep the club under Portuguese control.

This is because Tim Leiweke and Francesca Bodie do not intend to hold any position at Benfica, unlike at the Italian club, where Francesca Bodie was appointed president. Venezia has also just been promoted to the first division and is unlikely to play against Benfica in European competitions.

Source: ECO Online; Credits: Forced to “chicken out” – Tim Leiweke has been blocked from a 16% share buy-up deal.