Sports Direct buys fashion chains USC and Cruise Clothing | Business | The Guardian Sports Direct International Sports Direct buys fashion chains USC and Cruise Clothing Sports Direct paid £7m for an 80% stake in USC and Cruise, which specialise in designer brands such as Ugg boots and the Adidas Originals range Sports Direct has taken a controlling stake in USC clothing stores Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian Wednesday 6 July 2011 04.35 EDT First published on Wednesday 6 July 2011 04.35 EDT Share on Messenger Close Mike Ashley , the founder of Sports Direct, is teaming up with Scottish retail tycoon Sir Tom Hunter to try to rid the sports chain of its discount image and take it more upmarket. Sports Direct told the City on Wednesday morning that it was acquiring majority stakes in the USC and Cruise Clothing fashion chains controlled by Hunter. Sports Direct, Britain's biggest sporting goods retailer, whose brands include Umbro, Lonsdale and Slazenger, is thought to have fought off competition from rival JD Sports.

It paid £7m for an 80% stake in USC and Cruise, which specialise in designer brands such as Ugg boots and the Adidas Originals range. Hunter will keep the remaining 20% in both businesses and will remain as chairman of both companies, as well as providing "strategic guidance". USC has 38 stores across the UK and made sales of £70m in the year to January, while Cruise has 10 UK stores and an annual turnover of about £20m. The shops will be run separately from Sports Direct's 470 UK stores in a newly established premium and luxury lifestyle division. Sports Direct, which is majority owned by Newcastle United owner Ashley, will provide a facility of up to £20m to develop the two businesses. New USC stores are due to open in Swindon and Newbury in the autumn. "This deal will transform the prospects for both USC and Cruise and our employees at a time of extraordinary turbulence in the high street," said Hunter.

"I've known the Sports Direct team for many years and have huge respect for their talent, and look forward to co-investing with them." Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey said: "While USC and Cruise will remain independent of Sports Direct, we will support the businesses with our operational expertise." Topics As the first M-local opens its doors, the grocer says that fresh food and own-label goods will cost the same as in its big supermarkets Published: 8 Jul 2011 About 4,000 chain-store shops shut in first five months of 2011, new study reveals Published: 7 Jul 2011 Ernst & Young said they would hold the clearance sale in case they failed to find a buyer for the retailer's 57 stores, which employ 4,000 people Published: 7 Jul 2011 Homeform, trading as Moben Kitchens, Dolphin Bathrooms and Kitchens Direct, closes with 557 job losses Published: 6 Jul 2011 Mike Ashley takes the Sports Direct route to running Newcastle United | Football | The Guardian Newcastle United Mike Ashley takes the Sports Direct route to running Newcastle United Owner has cut costs, reduced the wage bill and

 restructured a club that was poorly run but on the pitch things are going wrong Friday 3 October 2014 17.00 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 20 September 2016 12.41 EDT Share on Messenger Close It is July 2007.

Five months after the £2.2bn flotation of the business he has aggressively built into Britain’s biggest sports retailer and three months after taking control of Newcastle United for £134m, Mike Ashley is sitting in the bar of London’s Four Seasons hotel in ripped jeans and a casual shirt. Under fire from investors spooked by Sports Direct’s plummeting share price he called “these City people” a “bunch of crybabies” and warned them he had “balls of steel”. Frustratingly for his critics, he was right. From a low of 32p, the Sports Direct share price now stands around £6 (it hit a high of (£9.22 in April). It is the certainty that he knows best, buoyed by being proved right time and time again, that underpins his stubborn reluctance to sell Newcastle on the cheap or to be seen to be swayed by fan power over the fate of Alan Pardew .

The story of Ashley’s rise has been well told: how he took on the northern cabal of sportswear retailers that included the JJB Sports magnate and Wigan Athletic owner, Dave Whelan, and aggressively bested them; how he built the business by picking up distressed brands on the cheap, allowing him complete control of the supply chain, and used the proceeds to slash the prices of premium brands like Nike and Adidas. According to those who have dealt with him, he is far from a snarling Rottweiler. On the contrary he is pleasant, direct and courteous over dinner or drinks. He is said to have one of the sharpest strategic minds in the business and likes to think of himself as the mechanic in a Formula One team, happy tinkering in the garage to solve supply chain issues. It has also been suggested that he is a man who will say one thing and allow his lieutenants to do another. The former FA chairman David Bernstein, who headed Blacks Leisure during a bruising five-year aggressive takeover battle with Sports Direct, once called the company’s modus operandi “aggressive and bullying“.

That fits with the experience of Kevin Keegan, who can still be seen on YouTube speaking at a function in the north-east and bemoaning Ashley’s lieutenants: “I found him during my second short stint here OK. What I didn’t get was the people he surrounded himself with.” He is the sort of man who can happily risk £200,000 on a guessing game of Spoof to settle a dispute with a Merrill Lynch banker over fees or place a £43m bet on the value of Tesco shares . He revels in taking on the establishment – be they football agents, a rival “club” of sportswear magnates or the City – and is loyal to the point of stubbornness to the handful of associates that have helped him to a £3.75bn fortune and a sprawling business empire now looking to expand into Europe. In short, he is difficult to second-guess and twice as hard to reason with once his mind is made up. So it is perhaps no surprise that Newcastle fans have instead turned their ire on Pardew, who they perceive as Ashley’s stooge. Analysis of Ashley’s motivation has tended to divide his tenure into two acts.

The first, shorter, period had him treating St James’ Park as his personal playground, assuming that wearing a black and white shirt and getting a few rounds in would endear him to fans. The second, following the emotional 2008 statement in the wake of the Keegan debacle in which he vowed to sell the club, has him running Newcastle at break even and using it as a giant billboard for Sports Direct. Michael Walker, in his new book on football in the region, memorably points out that 137 Sports Direct logos now adorn one of the most famous grounds in football. But business considerations were always uppermost in Ashley’s mind when he swooped for Newcastle and provide the answer to the question that has been perplexing many ever since: why did he buy the club in the first place? Recognising that in contrast to most other forms of clothes retailing, in sport the big global brands – Nike, Adidas, Puma et al – held sway in all price negotiations, Ashley saw the purchase of a high-profile football club as a means to buy a seat at the table.

The way he saw it, it would not only boost the Sports Direct brand – see the temporary renaming of the stadium, the endless billboards – but, more crucially, give him leverage in negotiations. Looking at the stellar path of Sports Direct since it is hard not to conclude that it has worked. “You’ve just got to look at the trajectory of Newcastle United and compare that with Sports Direct. They are going in two opposite directions,” says Peter Fanning of the Newcastle United Supporters Trust. “One of his main strategies seems to be buying well-known brands to stick on your shelf as though it’s the quality brand. He seems to have applied that to Newcastle, thinking ‘I could buy that club, use the brand.’ “He’s not bothered what happens with the club as long as they stay in the Premier League and he’s got the worldwide coverage he needs. His heart is in what it brings to Sports Direct rather than what it brings the club.” More than £100m in personal, interest-free loans still sit on the balance sheet – an insurance policy to ensure he gets his money back that is likely to deter potential purchasers.

Going through Newcastle’s accounts since the takeover, a picture emerges of a club run in much the same way as Ashley’s hugely successful, sprawling empire of sports shops. To his critics, he buys distressed assets – once proud brands such as Dunlop, Slazenger, Karrimor, Lonsdale and Lilywhites – and sweats them for a few years before repeating the process. To his advocates he is a genius with the ability to spot an opportunity before anyone else. Selling those brands direct allowed him to cut out the middleman and take a greater cut of the profits, using them to fund price cuts on premium brands. Ashley has tried to run Newcastle in much the same way. He has cut costs, reduced the wage bill, restructured a business that was, in many ways, poorly run and made it profitable . With a policy of cashing in on valuable players while attempting to bring through new ones, he has consistently turned a modest profit since the club returned to the Premier League. In contrast to other clubs, and to Newcastle in the more profligate era of Douglas Hall and Freddie Shepherd, the wages to revenue ratio has remained at a sensible level.

He might argue that fans need only look down the A1 to Leeds United to see how much worse things can be when “living the dream” becomes the guiding obsession. In 2012, when Newcastle finished fifth with a squad comprised of gems unearthed from France and elsewhere by the chief scout, Graham Carr, it seemed to be working. But a football club is not merely a business. Not only that, but as Arsène Wenger eventually found, a steady supply of hidden gems in a ferociously competitive market is impossible to guarantee. The fans vehemently believe Ashley has got the balance wrong. Whereas a cheap pair of sports socks is an end in itself, their relationship with their team is different. The instinct that has served Ashley so well in business – relying on a trusted inner circle of associates ever since he opened his first store in 1982 – has led him down endless blind alleys to ill-chosen allies in football, from Dennis Wise to Joe Kinnear . Since those early, bruising mis-steps Ashley has adopted a “never apologise, never explain” philosophy. Estranged from the fans, at war with the local press and increasingly isolated, he prefers to keep them all guessing.

This week’s purchase of more shares in Rangers (where Sports Direct has naming rights and a deal to sell merchandise), taking his overall stake to just below the 10% threshold he has agreed with the SFA, was just another in a series of curveballs. Those close to Ashley insist a recent statement when he said he planned to remain as Newcastle owner until at least the end of next season should be taken at face value. The Rangers play could be seen in the context of his frequent punts on what he thinks are undervalued businesses – such as his further investment in Debenhams on Thursday or Tesco’s. Or, just as characteristically, an aggressive attempt to keep his options open. Attendances at St James’ remain extraordinarily high given the drift of recent years. But some fans – contemplating the racks of Wonga-sponsored shirts in a club shop that now feeds the bottom line of Sports Direct rather than the club – are now wondering whether a boycott of Ashley’s shops and his club would make any difference.

But they know the truth is that a man with so much money – who recently reportedly told analysts he would warn European rivals who did not want to cooperate with his Sports Direct expansion plans that “we’ll come to your country and smash you to bits” – is unlikely to care. “He’s a very resilient guy,” says one insider. “His view is that it’s all about where you finish.” So the fans remain locked in a grim embrace with an inscrutable owner who refuses to engage and instead concentrate their fire on the manager. “Ashley is a symptom of the state English football has got itself into, not the cause. With the amount of television money coming into the game, it has attracted a different sort of owner,” says Fanning, who carries in his wallet his father’s ticket stub from the 1955 FA Cup Final – the last time Newcastle won that trophy. “We don’t have unrealistic expectations. What the fans want is a club with some ambition. Instead, mid-table mediocrity is the only gameplan.” At the moment, even that looks a long way off. Mike Ashley net worth: What does the Newcastle United, Sports Direct and Debenhams billionaire own and how much is he worth? | City A.M.

He later raised his exposure to Debenhams to 11.2 per cent, and today increased it further when converting that stake to another put option. In total Sports Direct now owns 12.7 per cent. House of Fraser In April, as House of Fraser lumbered towards a long-awaited sale to Chinese retail conglomerate Sanpower (also known as Nanjing Xinjiekou) it suddenly transpired that Ashley had bought his pal Sir Tom Hunter's 11 per cent stake. This was at a crucial moment for HoF and chairman Don McCarthy and resulted in legal letters being sent, but it didn't derail the plans and the sale went ahead. So now, Ashley owns a decent chunk of a business about to be to be given a ton of cash to grow internationally (particularly in China, so that's a nice way for Ashley to get exposure to a further 1.3 billion people). Sadly for Sports Direct shareholders however, that deal was done through Mash Holdings, so they won't see the direct benefit. Office Sports Direct then made a move for Office, but suggested Adidas had prevented the company from pursuing a bid through “anti-competitive” behaviour. But several months on, Office is still looking for a buyer...

Tesco In September, the retailer took a punt on Tesco , again with a put option, but shareholders didn't seem too keen on that move, and it prompted some questions about his turning Sports Direct from a retailer to an investment vehicle. Newcastle United Ashley is not only interested in retailing – sports are clearly his passion. He first bought Sir John Hall's 41.6 per cent stake in Newcastle United – at one pound a share – back in 2007, through St James Holdings. Two months later he bought Freddy Shepherd's 28 per cent stake. By July of that year he was in possesion of 100 per cent of the company and despite some ups and downs with the club's fans– the renaming of St James' Park the Sports Direct Arena just one that leaps to mind, having to pay Kevin Keegan £2m compensation another – he is still hanging onto that investment. Rangers In October though, he added to that collection by uppping his stake in Scottish club Rangers to 8.9 per cent. As part of that deal, chief executive Graham Wallace and financial director Philip Nash both left and the club secured itself an interest free loan for £2m (secured against Edmiston House).

He has also brought in his own people, including David Llambias, who was managing director of Newcastle United. How much is Mike Ashley worth? It's difficult to tell exactly where that leaves his personal wealth now. Some of the punts (Tesco, Debenhams) look to be unlikely to produce much growth in the short term, but conveniently those tend to be the ones made through Sports Direct. HoF's value has already jumped, so Mash Holdings will be doing nicely from that, however Rangers is also more of the wait-and-see variety. The most recent estimate, in May this year, put his personal wealth at £3.75bn – making him richer than Sir Richard Branson . Share Sports Direct shop staff to each net '£43k bonus' after profits soar | Daily Mail Online comments Sportswear guru: Sports Direct owner and Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley Two thousand shop staff at Sports Direct were celebrating yesterday after landing a shares windfall worth on average more than £43,000 each for beating sales and profits targets.

Sports Direct, founded by former squash coach Mike Ashley 29 years ago, has hit its target for the second year in a row, with profits up 25 per cent for the year ending this April. This means its staff are set for a shares windfall worth more than twice their average salary of £20,000. It is believed to be the largest shares bonanza of its kind ever to be handed out to shop staff in Britain. While other high street stores are struggling, the company - whose boss also owns Newcastle United - has surged ahead with its business. Staff at the discount sportswear chain, which also owns Sports World, Lillywhites and brands including Slazenger, Lonsdale and Dunlop, who are entitled to the share pay-out are those that have been on the payroll for two years. Each will receive an average £30,960 share payout, and in addition will net a bonus payout for meeting the previous year’s target, which means they will each pocket an average total of £43,860. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share The company’s share price has more than doubled in the past 12 months.

The firm grew its retail sales by 6.6 per cent, with revenues up 10.2 per cent. The only drawback is that they will have to wait until July next year if they want to cash in their shares. The company has revealed underlying profits of £200.4 million in the year until April - topping its target of £195million. Mr Ashley, who set up his first shop in Maidenhead, Berkshire in 1982 and now has approximately 350 around the UK, devised the scheme two years ago to help improve the chain's trading performance. The company's shares scheme is said to be more generous than those run by rival chains such as John Lewis, Tesco and Asda, who offer cash bonuses. Booming profits: Sports Direct, founded Mike Ashley 29 years ago, has hit its profits target for the second year in a row But executives say it is partly the reason why they have become so successful. Sports Direct’s chief executive, Dave Forsey, told the Independent: ‘This has been an excellent year of growth for the group in what has been a challenging retail environment.

‘Key to this growth has been the success of our employee bonus share scheme, which we introduced to focus on the whole group on our ambitious growth targets.’ An analyst at Singer Capital Markets, Matthew McEachran, said the boost in sales of between £15 million and £20 million in the last year was partly influenced by the World Cup. Sports Direct plans to open or relocated 15 to 20 outlets over the next year in the UK, including one at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford – conveniently close to the London 2012 Olympic site. It also currently has eight stores throughout continental Europe and plans to expand that number to 17 within the next five years. 'He likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns': The rise of Mike Ashley's sports retail empire ANALYSIS By DAMIEN GAYLE Mike Ashley, a former county squash coach, opened his first sports shop in 1982. Twenty-nine years later, he controls the UK's dominant high street sports retailer. Although Sports Direct is now a publicly traded company with annual revenues brushing £1.5billion, Ashley still holds around 71 per cent of the stock, making him one of Britain's richest men.

Ashley's rise to wealth has been achieved by a mix of hard work, business acumen, and ruthless operating. As a banker said of him before Sports Direct's debut on the London Stock Exchange: 'He [Ashley] likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns.' Biggest sporting goods retailer: Sports Direct also owns Sports World, Lillywhites and brands including Slazenger, Lonsdale and Dunlop Ashley's business with a single store in Maidenhead in the early Eighties, trading as Mike Ashley Sports. As the decade progressed, he opened several more sports and ski shops around London, reaching three outlets by 1990. Funded by the profits from these shops, an injection of private money and a 'pile 'em high, sell 'em cheap philosophy', the chain expanded quickly. By the end of the Nineties, with 100 UK stores rebranded as Sports Soccer, Ashley finally made the switch from sole trader and incorporated the business as a limited company. A perennial outsider, in 2000, Ashley turned whistleblower on industry rivals. He handed the Office of Fair Trading evidence of meetings held by sports retailers to fix the price of football shirts.

According to reports, at the meeting Dave Whelan, the founder of JJB Sports, told Ashley: 'There's a club in the north son, and you're not part of it.' Allsports, JJB, JD Sports and Blacks Leisure were later fined millions by the OFT. He then embarked on a series of takeovers which shot his business into overdrive. In 2002, he bought prestigious Piccadilly Circus sports shop Lilywhites, and was accused of turning it downmarket. Uncowed, he moved into sportswear manufacturing two years later, buying Dunlop Slazenger for £40million, closely followed by acquisitions of outdoor gear manufacturer Karrimor, iconic hat maker Kangol, boxing brand Lonsdale and tennis brand Donnay. His acquisitions, mainly at hefty discounts from distressed buyers, showcased his ruthless business style, but broadened the scope of his sports retail empire. Deals with Umbro, Matalan, Blacks and even archrival JJB helped Ashley cement the Sports Direct brand and give it a firm foothold in the consciousness of sporting consumers.

Lillywhites store in Piccadilly Circus, London: Ashley was accused of taking the prestigious sportswear retailer downmarket Ashley's parent company, Sports World International, finally debuted on the London Stock Exchange on February 27, 2007, valued at £2.5billion. A year later, it was revealed that Ashley also held a 12 per cent stake in John David Group, parent of JD Sports. He is thought to hold stakes in a number of his rivals. Last week, Ashley signalled an attempt to take Sports Direct upmarket with an announcement of a tie-up with fashion retail chains USC and Cruise. The company agreed to take an 80 per cent stake in the chains, run by Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter, for £7million. Both stores specialise in expensive designer leisure brands like Ugg boots, Adidas Originals and the £300-a-pair True Religion jeans. Mike Ashley: From Sports Direct to Mega Value, the controversial career of the Newcastle chairman Mike Ashley: From Sports Direct to Mega Value, the controversial career of the Newcastle chairman June 1, 2015 17:11 BST Mike AshleyGetty Mike Ashley never sits still.

Ever since he burst on to the wider attention of the retail scene 15 years ago he has relentlessly expanded his Sports Direct empire, crushed rivals, taken positions in Tesco and Debenhams and even settled an argument with a banker over a £200,000 (€278,000) legal bill with a game of spoof. He has courted controversy over his ownership of Newcastle United and Rangers and hit the headlines for losing a reported £300m on HBOS shares. His latest gamble appears more measured: a potential new chain of discount stores, dubbed 'Mega Value'. While not a recluse, Ashley is notoriously media shy and seldom gives interviews, keeping everyone guessing. So who is Mike Ashley? Rocky road While not a rags to riches tale in the traditional sense, Ashley's journey from a Buckinghamshire bungalow, where he grew up, to a multibillionaire business tycoon with operations across the continent has been as entertaining as it is astonishing. Little is known about his early life, other than he left grammar school at 16 and tried his hand at squash before injury put an end to those dreams.

He then opened his first sports goods shop in 1981 and has never looked back. Sports Direct now has over 400 stores in the UK and a growing presence in Europe. It has acquired brands including Donnay, Dunlop Slazenger, Karrimor, Kangol and Lonsdale, and has swallowed defunct retailers JJB Sports and Republic. Sportswear retailer Sports DirectReuters However, it has not all been plain sailing. When Sports Direct listed in 2007, experts called it a disaster. Sales were under pressure, its share price collapsed and debt ballooned. There were even claims that Ashley was running the firm as his own personal fiefdom rather than a corporate entity and shares dropped as low as 32p in 2008. Those accusations were probably correct. Ashley still runs the business in much the same way, but because Sports Direct is now a hugely successful company, there is less consternation. Ashley's "pile 'em high, sell em' cheap" business model subsequently proved popular in recession-hit Britain. The firm is now worth just under £4bn with shares trading at around 673p.

While he has come under fire for his use of zero-hours contracts, the billionaire also rewards full-time Sports Direct staff with regular multimillion pound bonuses that have meant life changing sums of money given out. In 2013 thousands of shop assistants were awarded £70,000 as part of a bonus scheme. The new Mega Value venture might seem slightly out of Ashley's comfort zone of sports retail, with its focus on more pound shop-style merchandise, but it is much less of a digression than his foray into football clubs. Football The strong rumour in the City is that when Ashley bought Newcastle United in 2007, he had Middle Eastern buyers lined up to take it off his hands at a higher price. The deal, the story goes, collapsed and he was lumbered with it. Rather than feeling sorry for himself, Ashley instead decided to get the club's finances in order and run it as a profitable business. In March, Newcastle announced a record annual profit of £18.7m for 2013-14, the fourth consecutive year it has been in the black.

Ashley bought Newcastle in 2007Getty Images However, he has earned fans' ire for using the club as a huge branding exercise for Sports Direct, not investing enough money in players and for having no ambition other than Premier League survival. From a business point of view, his ownership of Newcastle has been so successful that Ashley has tried, and is still trying, to operate a similar model in Scotland with Rangers. However, he has come up against football authorities in his attempts to do so. Risk taker What makes Ashley a real maverick are his side deals. Last year he bet Goldman Sachs £43m that shares in Tesco will recover and undertook a complex deal that could see him take 6.6% of Debenhams. City wonks were left bamboozled by the moves while observers raised eyebrows because they were conducted through Sports Direct, again raising questions over its corporate governance structure. Then there is the game of spoof he lost trying to settle a £200,000 legal bill and the £300m he haemorrhaged on HBOS shares. Despite Ashley's gambling, it would appear that he never bets beyond his means and has never been in any personal financial difficulty.

With the high street already full of pound shops and the economy recovering, will Ashley's latest foray be a gamble too far? With a string of business success stories to his name, you would not find many betting against him. Share Stay up to date with our daily newsletter YOU MIGHT LIKE THISSponsored Content by Taboola IBT Video Tesco Troubles: Mike Ashley Makes £43m Bet Weather Tesco Troubles: Mike Ashley Makes £43m Bet One of Britain's best-known businessmen takes a big punt on a recovery at the supermarket chain after its profits blunder. 10:31, UK, Thursday 25 September 2014 Image Caption: Sports Direct says it believes in Tesco's long-term future Mail The billionaire owner of Sports Direct and Newcastle United has made a £43m bet on Tesco's future. The announcement was made by the retailer, which is majority-owned by Mike Ashley, to the stock exchange as the supermarket chain battles the fallout from a £250m profits error. Tesco's admission , on Monday, sent its shares to their lowest level in a decade and raised serious questions on management and governance .

Sports Direct said it had entered into a put-option agreement with Goldman Sachs for more than 23 million shares, representing a 0.3% stake in the supermarket business. Its statement read: "This investment reflects Sports Direct's growing relationship with Tesco and belief in Tesco's long-term future". Image Caption: Mike Ashley owns Sports Direct and Newcastle United The move essentially means that Mike Ashley is betting that the Tesco share price will rise. The agreement gives Goldman Sachs the option to sell 23m Tesco shares to Sports Direct at a set price on an agreed future date. If shares have fallen below this predetermined price, Goldman Sachs would be able to ‘exercise’ the option, allowing them to sell the shares to Sports Direct at the higher rate - meaning the retailer would have to pay more for the stock. However, should the share price rise above the pre-agreed price, Sports Direct would be able to book the premium as profit. Its punt on a recovery in the supermarket chain's value followed a decision by Tesco's third-largest shareholder to cut its stake. The world's biggest investment firm BlackRock sold more than £150m-worth of shares, taking its stake below 5%.

The sell-off came to light after credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's joined Moody's and Fitch in warning of a potential downgrade to Tesco's credit rating. It said its action would depend on the findings of the chain's investigation. It has also emerged that Tesco executives may be hauled before MPs to explain its profit guidance mistake. Adrian Bailey, the chairman of Parliament's Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, told BBC Radio 5 Live it was "unbelievable" that a company of Tesco's size could get into such a mess. Top Stories How the English Premier League Clubs' Owners Got Rich | Mental Floss UK Videos How the English Premier League Clubs' Owners Got Rich The English Premier League is now the second richest in the world after the NFL. But where do its owners get their money? Kenny Hemphill google+ Following a TV deal that has seen television rights to English Premier League football break $5bn - Sky, for one, is paying 70% more than last time - it's become the second richest sports league in the world behind the NFL. But who owns the clubs, and how did they make their money?

Arsenal Owner: Stan Kroenke The numbers: Kroenke is estimated to be worth £2.4bn Silent Stan is one of a number of American owners of EPL clubs. Kroenke first became wealthy buying and selling commercial land. But after forming Kroenke Sports Enterprises, he acquired stakes in the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, AFL’s Colorado Crush, MLS’ Colorado Rapids and NLL’s Colorado Mammoth. He also owns the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Kroenke has owned a majority stake in Arsenal since 2007 and since then has been hoovering up more stock from existing shareholders. He's very much a hands-off boss though, and leaves the running of the club to chief executive Ivan Gazidas and chairman Sir Chips Keswick. Aston Villa Owner: Randy Lerner The numbers: Lerner is reckoned to be worth £1bn Lerner might just be the most reluctant billionaire owner of an EPL club, having unsuccessfully tried to sell the club in the summer.

A former owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL team, which he inherited from his father in 2002, Randy Lerner is one of several EPL owners who made their fortune on the financial markets. Columbia Law School graduate Lerner started his own firm, Securities Advisors, Inc. in 1991 and two years later became a director of US bank MBNA, where his dad Al Lerner was chairman. Lerner took on the role of MBNA chairman in 2002 after AL's death and helped sell the bank to Bank of America in 2006. Lerner donated £5m to the National Portrait Gallery in 2008, and the ground floor was re-named The Lerner Galleries in recognition of what was at the time, the biggest single donation it had ever received. Burnley Owners: John Banaszkiewicz and Mike Garlick Estimated wealth: unknown Lifelong Clarets fans Banaszkiewicz and Garlick took control of the club in 2012 when then chairman Barry Kilby setpped down. Since then the two are believed to have invested £10m in the club as it bid for promotion to the Premier League.

Banaszkiewicz made his money trading in ocean freight and freight futures. He co-founded Freight Investor Services Ltd UK in 2002. Garlick started his working live as an IT salesman with NCR in the 1980s. He started his own IT consultancy, MBA PLC in 1989 and ten years later the company became the first profitable British firm to float on Nasdaq. Chelsea Owner: Roman Abramovich The numbers: Abramovich is worth around $8.4bn Abramovich's wealth is the stuff of legend. A decade after the fall of communism, he was a billionaire several times over. The right place at the right time? Lucky? You could say that. By the mid-90s, Abramovich had set up and liquidated around 20 companies, as well as building wealth in oil companies and pig farms. He was imprisoned in 1992 for theft of government property. On his release from prison in 1995, he re-kindled his friendship with Boris Berezovsky, an associate of then President, Boris Yeltsin. Together, Roman and Boris acquired a controlling interest in oil company, Sibneft.

Each paid $100m for half the company, a fraction of its stock market value. Sibneft's value rose dramatically over the next few years, and Abramovich later admitted in court that he had bribed government officials and obtained protection from gangsters to buy Sibneft and other assets. No such skullduggery was required when Abramovich bought Chelsea from Ken Bates in 2003, after which he poured millions of pounds into the club, allowing it to break transfer fee records as it set about building a world-beating squad. The club, now valued at £588 million by Forbes, has made a loss every year since Abramovich took over, with the exception of 2012 when it made £200,000 profit. Crystal Palace Owner: CPFC 2010 Ltd. The numbers: CPFC 2010 Ltd acquired Crystal Palace FC from its administrator under a company voluntary arrangement. It also bought Selhurst Park from Lloyds Bank. The consortium CPFC 2010 Ltd is jointly owned by Steve Parish, Martin Long, Stephen Browett and Jeremy Hosking, each of whom holds a 25% stake.

Long co-founded insurance company Direct Line in 1985. He left in 1989 and set up another insurance company, Churchill, which he sold to RBS in 2001 for £50m. Hosking made his fortune, estimated by The Sunday Times to be £330m via investment and private equity. In October it was reported that the consortium was on the verge of reaching an agreement to sell the club to American businessman Josh Harris. Everton Owner: Bill Kenwright The numbers: Kenwright is estimated to be worth £33m Theatre impressario Kenwright has been on the Everton board since 1989 and has been the largest stakeholder and chairman since 2004. Despite several attempts to secure investment, and much unhappiness among the fans about lack of investment and uncertainty over the club's long term future, Kenwright remains in control. One of the UK's most successful theatre producer's, Kenwrights biggest hits include Blood Brothers, the UK national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and the 2011 London West End production of The Wizard of Oz.

Hull City AFC Owner: Assem Allam The numbers: Allam is believed to be worth £240m and bought Hull City for £1 in 2010. One of the EPL's most controversial figures, Allam announced in 2013 that he intended to change the name of the club to Hull City Tigers and would remove all references to AFC from the club's branding. Fans protested, and in 2014 the FA rejected the proposal. Allam said he would appeal. Born in Egypt, Allam came to the UK in 1968 and began his working life as an accountant. After the company he ran, Tempest Diesel Limited was put into receivership, he formed an industrial manufacturing company Allam Marine Limited where he made his fortune. Leicester City Owner: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha The numbers: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha is estimated to be worth £1bn Having been the club's shirt sponsor for three years, Thai duty free business King Power bought the club from Milan Mandaric in 2010.

Or more accurately, a consortium led by King Power CEO and chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha (formerly Vichai Raksriaksorn – the name Srivaddhanaprabha was bestowed on the family by the King of Thailand in 2013) bought the club. Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha made his money from King Power's duty free business. Liverpool Owner: Fenway Sports Group (John W Henry, Tom Werner) The numbers: FSG acquired Liverpool FC in 2010 for £300m. Henry is estimated to be worth £1bn while Werner is a comparative pauper with only £400m to his name. Founded by John W Henry and Tom Werner in 2001, FSG also owns the Boston Red Sox and has stakes in several other US sports groups, as well as owning the Red Sox stadium, Fenway Park. FSG took control of Liverpool in 2010 after the board voted to dump then owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette. Henry started his working life as a commodities trader and developed his own method for trading futures.

After building the company and his own personal wealth to the point where his estimated worth was over $1bn in 2006, Henry, who also owns the Boston Globe newspaper, scaled back the investment management of his company to focus on his sports companies. Werner is a TV producer, writer, and director who was executive producer of The Cosby Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun and That 70s Show. He made $600m from the syndication of episodes of The Cosby Show. Manchester City Owner: Sheikh Mansour The numbers: Sheikh Mansour is worth around £18.9bn, although the family as a whole is thought to be worth £90bn. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs of the UAE, and part of one of the world's wealthiest families, there's little mystery behind Sheikh Mansour's wealth. As well as running an oil company, he has staked in Virgin Galactic, Daimler, and Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation.

Since acquiring the club, Sheikh Mansour is believed to have poured around $150 million into it on players and staff, and has pledged another £50m for a state of the art training centre at Sportcity, next to the club's stadium. Manchester City has yet to make a profit under his ownership, but that didn't put him off buying another club, MLS newcomer New York City FC. Manchester United Owner: The Glazer family The numbers: The Glazers are worth several billion dollars. Father Malcolm was estimated to be worth around £2.7bn before his death in 2014. The short answer to how the Glazers acquired the money to buy Manchester United is that they borrowed it. More precisely, they borrowed it using loans, half of which were secured against the club - a tactic also used by former Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette. Heaping debt on to Manchester United didn't endear them to the club's fans, nor did several share and bond issues which were used to raise more funds. Nevertheless, the Glazers remain in charge. Glazer senior started out as a jeweller, before moving into real estate investment and then buying a bank.

The family's holding company First Allied now owns stakes in several large US companies, including Harley Davidson and Formica. Glazer bought NFL team Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1995. Newcastle United Owner: Mike Ashley The numbers: Ashley is worth around £1.68bn and spent a total of £133 million acquiring Newcastle United. He's since invested much more after discovering the club was deep in debt. Buckinghamshire-born Ashley is something of a controversial figure, who often prefers the stands at St James Park to the directors box. Sitting among the fans for home games, however, hasn't done much for his popularity in the North East and 'Ashley Out' banners are now as common a fixture at home games as Alan Shearer's name once was on the team sheet. Ashley's £133 million investment is small beer for a man whose net worth is measured in billions. Those billions come courtesy of Sports Direct, the chain of sports retail stores Ashley founded. Sports Direct is now publicly traded but Ashley retains 61% of the stock. The company reported a profit of £152m in 2013.

Queens Park Rangers Owner: Tony Fernandes The numbers: Fernandes is estimated to be worth £390m Another accountant (see also Assem Allam at Hull City), Fernandes was an auditor at Virgin Atlantic before becoming financial controller of Virgin Records in the late 80s. A spell at Warner Music, as its vice president for South East Asia, followed but when Time Warner swallowed AOL in 2001, Fernandes left to do his own thing. That thing turned out to be an airline business, following in the footsteps of his old boss, Richard Branson. Fernandes also owns a chain of hotels and, in 2010, founded the Lotus Racing (later Caterham F1 after Fernandes bought Caterham Cars) F1 team. He sold that in 2014. Southampton Owner: Katharina Liebherr The numbers: Liebherr is worth around £1.8bn Katharina Liebherr inherited both her £1.8bn fortune and the ownership of Southampton Football Club following the death of her father Markus in 2010.

Markus Liebherr died just a year after paying around £14m to buy the club from administrator Begbies Traynor, after its previous owner Southamption Leisure plc went bust. He made his fortune running several companies in Switzerland, all of them involved in design, engineering and manufacturing. Neither father or daughter ran the club directly, leaving it in the hands of Italian banker Nicola Cortese, until last year when he lost a power struggle with Katharina and left the club. Stoke City Owner: Peter Coates The numbers: Coates is reckoned to be worth £750m Catering and betting magnate Peter Coates is in his second spell in charge at the Britannia Stadium, having previously owned the club between 1989 and 1997. Coates bought the club back from the Icelandic consortium to whom he had sold it, for £1.7m plus £3.3m to cancel debts in 2005. Having served in the Parachute Regiment, Coates then worked for the Wimpy burger chain before starting his own catering company and, later, a local radio station.

The big money came, though, in 2000 when the family, led by Coates' daughter Denise, launched the Bet365 online betting platform. Sunderland Owner: Ellis Short The numbers: Short is worth £2.4bn US hedge fund boss, Short has owned Sunderland since 2008 and for several years formed part of a 'dream team' with former Black Cat and head of the consortium from which Short bought the club, Niall Quinn. The Irishman has now gone, but Short remains in charge, and has now taken on the role of chairman. Generous to a fault, Short once left a £3000 tip in a restaurant after what we assume must have been a particularly good meal. Swansea City Owner: Martin and Louisa Morgan The numbers: The Morgans are believed to be worth £30m - £40m Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins is the public face of the consortium that owns the Welsh club. But it's Martin Morgan and his wife Louisa who are the biggest shareholders.

The Morgans made the bulk of their fortune when they sold their travel business to Thomson for £40m in 1999, having founded it in 1992. Tottenham Hotspur Owner: Joe Lewis The numbers: Lewis is estimated to be worth £2.5bn Technically, Spurs is owned by the ENIC Group, which in turn is owned by the Tavistock Group. As chairman and major shareholder in the Tavistock Group, though, Lewis is the closest thing the club has to a billionaire owner. Bahamanian Lewis made his money investing in majority stakes in over 200 companies – including oil and energy companies and banks – since the mid-seventies and now lives and works on a yacht on which he also stores his $1bn art collection. West Bromwich Albion Owner: Jeremy Peace The numbers: Peace is believed to be worth £40m - £50m Tough nut Peace runs West Brom 'with a rod of iron,' according to the Daily Express and has done since he became chairman in 2002. It was three years later, in 2005, that Peace took the club private and bought the major shareholding.

Another accountant (see also Hull City and QPR), Peace also worked as a stockbroker and investment banker. He's been a director and major shareholder in several companies. West Ham United Mike Ashley eyes latest move with bid for Evans Cycles - Telegraph Mike Ashley eyes latest move with bid for Evans Cycles The Sports Direct founder is among a group of top retail names trying to buy the company Mr Ashley is understood to see Evans Cycles as way to expand into the lucrative cycling market. Photo: AFP By Graham Ruddick 8:00PM GMT 24 Jan 2015 Mike Ashley , the founder of Sports Direct, is among a group of top retail names trying to buy Evans Cycles. Mr Ashley is understood to see Evans Cycles, which would cost roughly £100m, as way to expand Sports Direct into the lucrative cycling market. Halfords and the online cycling retailer Wiggle, which is owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint, are also understood to have looked into buying Evans. Several other private equity firms are thought to be in the mix. Mr Ashley was in talks to buy the retailer before it was snapped up by private equity group Active Capital for £35m in 2008.

Active, which also owns the fast food chain Leon, has appointed Canaccord Genuity to advise on the sale. Related Articles Mike Ashley to cut stake in Sports Direct 20 Jan 2015 The first Evans shop was opened in 1921 on Kennington Road in south east London. Today it has more than 50 shops and employs more than 1,200 people. The retailer has a built a reputation as a specialist cycling chain and sells a range of bikes designed with Sir Chris Hoy, the multi gold medal winning cyclist. Halfords has looked at buying Evans on numerous occasions because of its relationship with key suppliers. The popular bike manufacturers Specialized and Trek supply Evans but refuse to supply Halfords with products. However, a source close to the situation said Halfords had now “categorically ruled out” a move for Evans. Instead, Halfords wants to focus on developing its own high street cycling brand Cycle Republic. Matt Davies, the outgoing chief executive of Halfords, has said he believes the company could open 100 Cycle Republic shops. The second Cycle Republic shop in London is due to open this week.

A potential deal with Sports Direct hinges on whether the key cycling brands would keep supplying Evans following a deal. Previous Sports Direct deals, such as its move for the clothing chain USC, have run into trouble because suppliers have pulled out of stores due to fears that Mr Ashley would cut the price of their products. However, Sports Direct has stated that cycling is a key market that it wants to expand into. Mr Ashley, who serves as deputy chairman of Sports Direct and also owns Newcastle United, caused surprise in the City last week after conducting a series of share dealings. The tycoon sold more than £110m of Sports Direct shares , then moved a majority stake in the company from his holding company Mash into a new entity called Mash Beta Limited. Sports Direct then announced on Friday that it had extended its control of Debenhams to 16.6pc of the department store after taking out a new option. However, Mr Ashley’s company said it “does not intend” to make a full offer for Debenhams. Sports Direct and Halfords declined to comment.

Question: Who is the chairman of Newcastle United who also owns the chain of sports shops known as Sports Direct?
Answer: MIKE ASHLEY