Since the Asian billionaire Peter Lim bought one of the historically top five Spanish clubs a decade ago, Valencia has become a lower-half La Liga team, with financial losses in nine out of the ten years under his ownership. Lim invested around €290,000,000 in the club during this period, including €100,000,000 at the time of purchase, averaging less than €30,000,000 annually — a paltry amount for a person with such financial power and for a club of Valencia’s stature. The club’s debt has ballooned to a staggering €340,000,000, and fans have been protesting vigorously against the Singaporean owner for years, demanding he sell the club.Following recent events, where a couple of Valencia fans were arrested in Singapore outside Lim’s residence after holding a public demonstration and indirectly threatening more radical actions, reports from Spain suggest that the controversial owner of the Bats has put the club up for sale. However, the asking price is highly controversial — between $350,000,000 and $400,000,000. This means that a potential new owner would immediately face a financial burden of around €740,000,000 (including the purchase price and existing debts). The big question is whether anyone would be crazy enough to dive into such a mess.##NAJAVA_MECA_8420668##Valencia is now officially on the market. Madrid-based AS accessed a document circulating among investment funds focused on purchasing European football clubs. This document summarizes the social, shareholder, economic, and family circumstances surrounding the club from Mestalla. It is not an official document from Valencia or Meriton Holdings (Lim’s company), but rather from agencies specializing in buying and selling clubs, acting as intermediaries, indicating that Peter Lim is asking between “€350,000,000 and €400,000,000” for his 91.5% stake in Valencia.The most intriguing part of the document is the explanation of the social situation:”The social situation is tense against the owner, with regular demonstrations against him, even during matches. They are unwanted in the city, and various movements are pressuring them to sell.”Potential Paris FC takeover could reshape the French football sceneThis is one of the reasons the document explains why Valencia is considered a market option in Spain. It also lists factors like the city’s appeal, the club’s history, the population size, the financial situation (debt of €340,000,000), and the club’s assets.This last point, concerning heritage, is given significant emphasis. It highlights the presence of an unfinished stadium (Nuevo Mestalla) as well as a “Sports City” covering 200,000 square meters and a Technology Park (one of Valencia’s most important business zones). However, the document notes that completing the new stadium would require an investment of €150,000,000, meaning that the total amount needed by a new owner, according to the latest presented project, would be around €1,000,000,000.Diario AS report that Valencia are up for sale. An agency specialising in the purchase and sale of football clubs say they have a rough asking price. #VCF pic.twitter.com/gCuXmoMzri— Football España (@footballespana_) October 17, 2024 The social discord, the irreconcilable rift between fans and the owner, is not the only reason why Valencia is on the list of clubs that need to be sold. If not sold, the club may not survive. There’s also another side to the story: Lim might find it easier to sell the club if he at least begins, or better yet completes, the construction of the new stadium. However, this could prolong the sale process by at least three more years, and since Lim clearly struggles with efficient management, looking that far ahead seems unrealistic for Valencia. La Liga president Javier Tebas had his own thoughts on this matter:”If the new stadium has a crane, it will be much easier for Peter Lim to sell it. Why? Because that adds value for the sale and attracts investors,” said Tebas.Sources familiar with the club sales market see rebuilding the team as essential for any new project. As many as 15 out of 25 players have contracts expiring in 2026, with another eight expiring in 2025. This essentially means that in the eyes of potential new investors, the “inheritance” in the form of the current team wouldn’t pose an issue, as it would be almost non-existent.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Currently, Valencia has no formal contacts with investors, though transactions of this nature often extend beyond the walls of Mestalla. Of course, any investor looking to acquire Valencia before 2026 would not only need to negotiate with Lim but also with the banks, the club’s main creditors.While formal contact with potential investors has not been acknowledged, rumors suggest that there are interested parties.”Any club can be sold, Valencia or any other, but the seller in this case is asking for an unrealistic price,” Tebas recently stated, adding: “In Valencia, investors are scared. If a buyer comes who isn’t favored by certain locals, besides the price to be paid, if the season goes poorly, 30,000 people will turn against him. That’s intimidating.” This speaks volumes about Peter Lim, whose management has resulted in losses in nine of the ten years since his arrival, with Valencia competing in European competitions in only three of those nine seasons.🚨 El Valencia está en el mercado💰 Agencias especializadas en operaciones de compra-venta de clubes incluyen en sus listados al Valencia CF SAD e indican que Peter Lim “pide” entre “350 y 400 millones”https://t.co/cLbGhEU7vh— Diario AS (@diarioas) October 17, 2024 In recent days, the situation reached a climax when fans took their protests a step further, traveling all the way to Singapore to demonstrate against the owner of their beloved club. Among other actions, the police confiscated the passports of a couple — allegedly on their honeymoon — who were under investigation for participating in a public protest against Lim in Singapore. Spanish media identified them as Dani Cuesta and his wife Mireia Saez, both supporters of Valencia. Cuesta shared photos on social media from various locations in Singapore, holding a black-and-yellow banner reading “Lim Go Home,” including one in front of a building believed to be the businessman’s residence.Both were detained at the airport on October 4th when they attempted to board a flight to Bali, as Valencia’s mayor Maria Jose Catalá told Spanish radio station Onda Cero. In a statement on Tuesday, police said they issued a “strict warning” to a 34-year-old man for “participating in a public assembly without a permit… and for posting notices.” A 30-year-old woman was also warned “for the offense of supporting a Spaniard’s participation in a public assembly.” Singapore has strict laws limiting free speech and public gatherings, even restricting one-person protests.Valencia is drowning in debt, and on top of everything, it currently ranks 18th in La Liga. Whether there is any hope for the club depends, as things stand, on whether there is a daring enough investor to take on this devilishly difficult task and roll up their sleeves like never before in their business career.
