Brentford in advanced talks with filmmaker Matthew Vaughn and businessman Gary Lubner over minority investment

New York Times

4 days ago

Brentford are in advanced talks with UK-based South African businessman Gary Lubner and English filmmaker Matthew Vaughn about a minority investment in the Premier League club.
Lubner is the former chief executive of Belron, the parent company of windscreen repair firm Autoglass, and founder of children's charity This Day.
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The 66-year-old came to London to study in the mid-1980s and has become a major donor to the Labour Party, having given them almost £9million in recent years.
Vaughn, on the other hand, has helped to raise money for the Conservative Party but is far better known as the producer of British ganger film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the director of Layer Cake and X Men: First Class and the co-creator of the Kingsman franchise.
The 54-year-old Londoner has also been married to German supermodel Claudia Schiffer since 2002.
Brentford declined when asked for comment by The Athletic but owner Matthew Benham has been looking for partners to help fund the west London club for several years, having poured more than £100million of his own wealth into his boyhood team since 2005.
Initially, he provided that support in the form of interest-free loans but the club's previous owners, the Bees United supporters' trust, voted to give him full control in 2012.
Since then, they have climbed from the third tier to the top flight, moved into a new stadium in 2020 and are now looking forward to their fifth straight season in the Premier League.
Earlier this year, Benham, a former banker who founded statistical research firm Smartodds and owns betting exchange Matchbook, moved his Brentford shares into a new holding company called Best Intentions Analytics.
Bees United's golden share in Brentford was converted into a protective rights deed that gives them a seat on the board and the right to veto the sale of the GTech Community Stadium.
Benham only wants to sell 10-20 per cent of his shares at a total valuation for Brentford of around £400million.
This money will be invested in the club to help them be more aggressive in the transfer market, fund further additions to Best Intentions' multi-club group and boost their commercial department.
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Having previously owned Danish side Midtjylland from 2014 to 2023, Benham bought Spanish third-tier side Merida AD in April.
The news of fresh investment is likely to be welcomed by supporters as the club have just seen their long-standing manager Thomas Frank leave to join Tottenham Hotspur and look likely to lose at least one of their best players to rival clubs, as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa are men in demand.
By Jay Harris
Brentford owner Matthew Benham has been open to selling a stake in the club for a few years.
In 2017, when they were still in the Championship, representatives of the former Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Brazil striker Ronaldo approached Brentford about buying the club. A deal never came close though, as the two parties were way apart in their valuation.
In December 2023, in response to fresh reports Benham could sell a portion of Brentford, a club spokesperson said: 'It is only natural, and perhaps even essential, for us to carefully explore what new investment could potentially mean for the future of Brentford FC.
'We must not stand still and we remain absolutely determined to safeguard the long term future of Brentford FC and to remain competitive in the world's most challenging and successful league.'
Brentford have recorded two top-half finishes in four seasons since they were promoted to the top-flight after winning the Championship play-off final in May 2021.
They probably require external investment to help them push on and consistently challenge for a place in the top 10 and European qualification. They have lost one of their best players every summer since they were promoted to the Premier League.
In 2022, Christian Eriksen joined Manchester United, a year later David Raya moved to Arsenal and 12 months ago Ivan Toney departed for the Saudi Pro League.
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There is a high chance Bryan Mbeumo will leave in this window and he favours a move to Manchester United.
Earlier this month, Thomas Frank left after nearly seven years in charge to become Tottenham Hotspur's new head coach. External investment might help Brentford to pay better wages and retain their best talent.
Brentford have explored different ways to continue evolving. They announced a strategic partnership with Portuguese top-flight side Gil Vicente in March.
A month later, Benham bought Spanish third-tier side Merida AD. Benham was previously the majority shareholder of Danish side Midtjylland between 2014 and 2023, during which time they won the title for the first time in their history.