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Leicester City for sale: Thai owners King Power put club on market for more than £200m

Leicester City's men's and women's teams, stadium, men's training facilities and sister club OH Leuven are all included in a sales brochure, with owners King Power putting a £224m price on the assets; the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought Leicester for £35m in 2010

Leicester City's owners are looking for potential buyers
Image: Leicester City's owners are looking for potential buyers

Thai owners King Power are seeking to sell Leicester City for more than £200m. 

The former Premier League champions engaged with Citibank to sound out potential buyers, it was reported last month.

Sky Sports News has now seen a sales pitch brochure produced by the investment bank, detailing the investment opportunity and the infrastructure which is included for sale at the club.

The dossier lists as up for sale: the men's and women's teams, King Power Stadium, both the women's and the men's training facilities, and OH Leuven, Leicester's sister club in Belgium.

The project is titled "Project Lineup" and values the physical assets at £224m with no specific sum placed on the sale of King Power's football teams.

In 2023, the club purchased the land around the King Power stadium for redevelopment, with plans to expand the capacity to 40,000, build a new hotel and entertainment complex.

Citigroup forecast the club's revenue during the 2026 financial year to be £97m.

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However, the bank do not mention the club's two relegations between 2023 and 2025 and the financial losses that caused.

Leicester City won the Premier League 10 years ago but are now in League One
Image: Leicester City won the Premier League 10 years ago but are now in League One

King Power, run by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, bought Leicester for £35m from Milan Mandaric in 2010.

In recent years, King Power have converted a lot of debt into equity, to the tune of almost £300m. That has meant, apart from some small maintenance loans, the club is largely debt-free.

Sky Sports News has been told King Power have no urgency to sell, and they will continue to fund the club to the fullest until such time as a new, credible buyer steps forward. They have backed head coach Russell Martin this summer, with nine new signings.

The document states that Leicester is the sixth most successful team in English football since 2000, making this a "rare opportunity" to buy a club with a record of "winning promotions to higher divisions".

Leicester City famously won the Premier League in 2015/16
Image: Leicester City famously won the Premier League in 2015/16

As well as their surprise Premier League win in 2016, Leicester also won the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2021.

These successes are all included in the sales pitch, but their current position in League One is not referenced.

The document also cites Ben Chilwell, Harvey Barnes and Kieran Dewsbury-Hall as profitable recent transfers, with Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey listed at notable former players.

Sky Sports News contacted Leicester City for comment but they have declined to do so.

Analysis: 'Finding the right purchaser could take years'

Sky Sports News' Rob Dorsett:

"On the face of it, it seems bizarre that King Power would look to sell Leicester City at a time when the club is at its lowest ebb, and at one of its lowest market values, with the team in League One after three relegations in four seasons.

"But in truth Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha has been seeking new investment for several years - all that is new here is the glossy brochure which advertises the club for sale, accentuating its assets. It is now being actively marketed for sale by financial specialists.

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha holding the FA Cup
Image: Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha holding the FA Cup

"That brochure - unusual as it is - is concrete evidence of a looming end of an era. King Power want out - having delivered unprecedented success in the form of the most unlikely of Premier League titles, an FA Cup, Champions League football and a Community Shield.

"For some Leicester fans, all that success has been tarnished by recent failures, and there have been protests against the ownership, and the director of football, Jon Rudkin. Serious mistakes have been made, for sure, in the management of the club in recent years, which has seen Leicester crash into League One, after boasting to be the club which came closest to breaking the "Big Six" Premier League monopoly over the last decade.

"But those dissenting Leicester fans should be careful what they wish for. On the open market, the football club is a very attractive prospect - almost entirely debt-free (thanks to the generosity of King Power in turning almost all of their £300m debt into equity in recent years) and with fully owned assets that are the envy of much bigger clubs in the Premier League. Their Seagrave training ground is a better facility than all but a handful of others in Europe.

"However, despite all their recent success, Leicester's fan-base is not as sizeable as many of the big clubs in the Championship, and having dropped into the third tier, even promotion at the first attempt would mean they didn't have the benefit of parachute payments in the second tier. All of those facts will be taken into account by would-be buyers.

"So don't expect a quick sale of the club. It could take years to find the right purchaser. The good news for Foxes fans is that King Power will not relinquish their responsibility as custodians, just because they have made the decision to sell. Nine new signings this summer is evidence of their determination to still support the football club. And the goodwill that the Thai business leaders still have for Leicester will almost certainly mean that they won't sell to the highest bidder, just to make a quick buck.

"Khun "Top" knows his legacy is at stake, and in memory of his late father, who died tragically in a helicopter crash in the stadium car park, he will no doubt want to sell the club to a new owner who can take the club forward, and once again make it a success."

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