Red Bull's Leeds United ownership position latest as report claims company could purchase larger stake — YEP 18/12/24
By Joe Donnohue
Leeds United minority shareholders Red Bull are not
imminently planning to increase their stake in the club despite reports, Elland
Road sources have told the YEP.
A report by City AM on Wednesday, December 18 claimed Red
Bull 'could' increase their holding in the Elland Road club, however the YEP
understand no such plans are in place, at this time.
It has been suggested Red Bull are 'cutting funding
allocated to other sports with a view to increasing the focus on football',
which may be the case, but at this stage, there is no guarantee or confirmation
this will include purchasing a larger stake in the Whites.
Red Bull have recently expanded their global portfolio of
clubs with the acquisition of Japanese side Omiya Ardija, as well as purchasing
a minority position in French Ligue 2 team Paris FC. The Austrian company also
controls the football operations of FC Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, RB
Bragantino and New York Red Bulls with each club undergoing a rebrand at the
time of their acquisition.
The energy drink giant acquired a 'significant minority
stake' in Leeds earlier this year believed to be around 10 per cent, whilst
also agreeing a supposedly lucrative shirt sponsorship deal. United
States-based group 49ers Enterprises - the investment arm of NFL franchise San
Francisco 49ers - remain majority shareholders having taken full control of the
club from Andrea Radrizzani last year.
Leeds supporters have been reassured by chairman Paraag
Marathe that there are no plans to rebrand the club in a similar fashion to
others within Red Bull's sphere of influence. Meanwhile, it has also been
suggested by Elland Road executives that there is not a similar agreement with
the energy drink giant to the one 49ers Enterprises had with Radrizzani, in
which the minority partner could exercise a pre-existing option to purchase an
increased stake.
"They could have pursued an investment in any club in
English football, and they chose Leeds United. They chose to do a minority
partnership — which will continue to be a minority partnership — because they
recognised the global potential of Leeds and what this club could be,"
Marathe told The Athletic in May this year.
"That’s not going to change; not today, not tomorrow.
This is a minority partnership.
"This club is and will forever be Leeds United Football
Club. It’s not going to be the Leeds Red Bulls. To be fair, they understand
that. They appreciate that. They respect that. They know the legacy of this
club, so it’s not something they wanted either. But for me, that was table
stakes. That’s not going to happen," Marathe added.
Leeds sources say nothing has changed from the agreement
struck over the summer in terms of increased stakes or fresh negotiations
between majority and minority shareholders.