Blades takeover: what we know
You asked, we tried to answer. Here's what we know so far about Henry Mauriss, the enigmatic Californian in the running to be the club's new owner. Expect plenty of updates...
Words: David Taylor
Is it today, dad?
As soon as Sheffield United Football Club seems to be back in some sort of regular, uneventful groove, flirting with the playoffs despite an injury list as long as Wes Foderingham’s arm reach, along comes another Bramall Lane-shaped spanner in the works.
This time, the spanner comes in the form of ClearTV Media owner and Californian credit mogul Henry Mauriss. As reported by local and national media outlets, Mauriss, once involved in a similar bid for Newcastle United, has the original United in his sights, with a £115 million bid apparently accepted by the club.
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So, without further ado: what is ClearTV Media, who is Henry Mauriss, and what do we know about the bid?
Who is offering to buy Sheffield United?
Henry Mauriss, owner of a company called ClearTV Media. According to opencorporates.com, the UK arm of this, ClearTV Media UK, has two directors, Henry Mauriss and Mike Blood.
Henry Mauriss is the main man behind the company and takeover bid. Not much is known about Mauriss: a Californian businessman, he’s been involved in credit repair as CEO of Credit America and has been Chairman and CEO of ClearTV Media since its incorporation in 2014. ClearTV Media styles itself as the leader in DOOH (direct out of home) broadcasting, partnering with businesses such as airports and other public settings to provide television broadcasts and advertisement opportunities.
Mike Blood was brought on board as a director on 19 January, 2021. A graduate of Sheffield Hallam, Blood is partner and head of department at JMW Solicitors, specialising in corporate and sports law. His experience includes acting for a marketing business on the £75 million acquisition of commercial, sponsorship and hospitality inventory from a Premier League club.
He also helped the RFL secure a five-year, £175 million Sky deal, and in 2014 provided the tender documents and advised on the bidding process and final agreements for the Thai FA’s domestic TV rights, worth £53 million.
He’s on the board of directors at Premiership Rugby Union side Sale Sharks, and advised Manchester United and led its legal team for a £302 million merchandising and sponsorship deal with Nike.
What has the current owner said?
In an interview with Al Yaum, Prince Abdullah bin Musaed denied reports of selling the club for £115m - a 670 per cent return on his investment, according to journalist Assaf Al-Khelaifi. Via Google Translate, Al-Khelaifi reports that the owner stated “the numbers circulating about the value of the club’s sale are far from accurate and incorrect, adding that the issue has not yet taken place, and His Highness the Prince made it clear that the possibility of selling the club is less than 50 per cent.”
Is Henry Mauriss a billionaire? Where does his money come from?
Despite Mauriss’s billionaire status being reported elsewhere, we suggest caution.
We can’t find any evidence to suggest that Henry Mauriss has an individual net worth in the billions despite this being inferred by some outlets - the name “Henry Mauriss” is nowhere to be found on Forbes’ annual Billionaires List.
There are plenty of biographies of Mr Mauriss which explain that, during his time at Credit America, he purchased, converted and resold over $7 billion in receivables through portfolio trades. Receivables are amounts owed to businesses, not personal wealth.
This isn’t to say that business isn’t good. On its website, Clear TV Media states that it has partnered with over 200 television networks, and has an audience of 80 million. Clear TV Media UK Ltd was incorporated on Companies House on 2 May 2019 and is an actively trading company.
Is the club worth £115m?
Looking at football oracle transfermarkt.co.uk, United is valued at just above £90m, which means the £115m valuation and bid is a little on the high end. This could be good, in the sense that the club has extra assets that are of interest to any prospective buyer, and could be an encouraging sign that Mauriss is keen to buy the club.
Ian Dennis has been confident in his appraisal of the Mauriss bid, reporting that the businessman’s team has been impressed by the current state of the club.
This does, however, raise questions about the status of the bid. If Mauriss is found to have the money to purchase Sheffield United outright, then the process is much simpler. However, there is a chance, as mentioned by Ed Thompson of financialfairplay.co.uk, that Mauriss could be heading a leveraged buyout.
An LBO occurs when a company is bought using substantial loans, often using the assets of the acquired company as collateral. This would mean any new owner would buy the club using the club as its own collateral, gradually paying off the loans over a number of years.
How long will it take for the EFL to give clearance?
If the deal has been agreed, the next step is to formally notify the EFL of the purchase, with the EFL then putting Mauriss through its Owners' & Directors' Test. While this sounds like a suitable safety net, anecdotally, this test is about as useful as a chocolate teapot - just ask Derby fans.
Mauriss’s Newcastle takeover bid was eventually rejected by Mike Ashley due to lack of movement before it was sent for Premier League approval, meaning we don’t yet know how likely it is or how long it will take for any Blades bid to be verified.
Does Mauriss actually exist? Is he, as rumoured, only a face of a larger consortium?
This idea has been doing the rounds since Mauriss’s Newcastle bid. He’s conspicuous by his absence on the Internet.
Mauriss’s online presence is almost non-existent, with a handful of available photos, a personal bio a few years out of date and two LinkedIn profiles: one listing him as CEO of Clear TV Ltd. and Principal of Credit America Corporation, and one less-populated account only listing him as owner of Credit America. For someone looking to buy a football club in the modern era, it’s hard to believe that Mauriss could remain so out of the public eye, especially after the very public Newcastle takeover bid.
Newcastle United fans in general are cynical that he even exists, despite how far down the line the deal apparently went, but with £500,000 of legal fees paid by Mauriss during the Newcastle bid, there’s no reason to believe he isn’t a legitimate businessman. We’ve reached out to established Newcastle United journalists to find out more, and will update this piece as soon as we hear from them.
According to this 2020 Mirror article, Mauriss’s £350 million bid for Newcastle was in part negotiated by long-time Mike Ashley associate and Steve Bruce schoolfriend Chris Ronnie. Before this, per the BBC, Ronnie was sentenced in 2014 to four years in prison over a £1 million fraud while Chief Executive of JJB Sports.
Is he going to sort the training ground?
Judging by the aforementioned injury list, and Heckingbottom’s comments, the training ground has been a crisis point for an unacceptably long time. Any new owner would surely look at staff and supporter sentiment and see it as a priority. Whether a new owner would have the funds to deal with other outstanding financial demands and sort the training ground straightaway is another matter.
How easy would it be to isolate and extract The Blades from the ‘United World’ set up?
One way of sorting this would be not do to that at all, by selling United World in its entirety. This would be a much bigger undertaking for any prospective new owner, but with Mauriss’s last takeover bid reaching £350 million, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
If Sheffield United are the only club in the deal, this would make it rather tricky for United World to continue in its current form. We’ve reached out to football financial experts for comment, and will update this piece and future articles with any new information.
Regardless of Mauriss’s involvement or potential takeover, one thing is for sure: our current owner has opened the doors for a sale, the remuneration of which might just depend on the rest of this season’s run-in.
Does he know about the Greasy Chip Butty?
If we see a single French Fry at Bramall Lane, it’ll be time for cowboy boots off in the car park.
This story is ongoing: we’ll notify all subscribers as soon as there are any developments, but make sure to check back here for more details.
David Taylor is a writer, editor and former captain of Whiston Parish Church Cricket Club U17s. His writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire and National Geographic Traveller, with broadcast work for BBC Radio 4 and Premier League Productions. A South Stand aficionado (or so he likes to think), David has been a DEM Blades editor since 2018 and is Contributing Editor of The Pinch.