Portuguese businessman José António dos Santos, known as the "Chicken King", is still trying to sell his 16.38% stake in Sport Lisboa e Benfica, and is now asking 15 euros for each of the 3,767,400 shares he holds. The price would value the Portuguese football club's sports company, Benfica SAD, at 345 million euros.
Dos Santos told Bloomberg that two or three other investors were interested in his stake, speaking in the aftermath of a failed deal with the fund Entrepreneur Equity Partners in June.
Deal with US fund collapsed in June
Entrepreneur Equity Partners had agreed to pay 12 euros per share, which would have given dos Santos a payout of 45.2 million euros. Benfica blocked the sale using a clause in its statutes that bars entities holding stakes in other clubs from becoming shareholders, since Entrepreneur Equity Partners is a shareholder in the Italian club Venezia. The American fund withdrew from the deal.
Dos Santos said his target price was 15 euros per share, a figure he gave to the financial news agency in a brief phone call. At that price, his personal stake alone would be worth 56.5 million euros.
The valuation is three times Benfica SAD's share capital of 115 million euros and 130% above the closing share price on the Lisbon stock exchange on Wednesday, which stood at 6.52 euros, giving the club a market capitalisation of 149.96 million euros. At that market price, dos Santos's holdings, combining his individual 13.67% stake with the 2.71% held through the Valouro group he leads with his twin brother, would be worth only 24.5 million euros.
Dos Santos said there were no ongoing talks with Benfica over a sale.
Club open to buying stake 'at market prices'
On the same day, Benfica vice-president and financial administrator Nuno Catarino told the Portuguese outlet Eco that the club would be willing to buy the shareholder's stake at market prices.
Catarino said the shareholder's perspective was apparently different, adding that he respected the valuation and could even agree with it, since Benfica was worth more than its current stock market price reflected. He said the club's value was tied to an "associative matrix" that did not fit normal valuation parameters, and that under traditional financial metrics, the valuation would always be above one billion euros.
Benfica is one of Portugal's biggest football clubs and one of the few in the country whose sports company is listed on the stock exchange, meaning its shares can be bought and sold publicly like those of any other listed firm.
Stadium expansion put at 295 million euros
Catarino also told Eco that the Benfica District project, the club's redevelopment plan around its Estádio da Luz stadium, was in what he called the "almost, almost, almost" licensing stage.
The cost estimate for the project remains unchanged, he said: 220 million euros for works in the areas surrounding the stadium and 75 million euros for the expansion of the stadium itself. Benfica is expected to fund the project alone, without bringing in outside partners to the company set up for that purpose. Securing naming rights for both the stadium and a new pavilion with capacity for 10,000 people remains a stated goal for the club.
