Joshua Harris Finally Buys "Sizable Share" of EPL Team
For over a year we’ve been talking about Joshua Harris’ efforts to buy the Premier League club Crystal Palace. At last report, it looked like he was going to drop $148 million to take the whole thing over. That didn’t happen, but Harris is taking over a “sizable share” of the team. I hope his helicopter can cross the Atlantic.
According to the Guardian, Harris will be buying a “sizeable shareholding” of the club, which ESPN reports is 18%. Here’s how the new shares shake out:
“Indeed, sources told ESPN FC that Harris is keen to purchase an 18 percent stake in Palace, with [chairman Steve] Parish and [Harris’ business partner David] Blitzer also maintaining the same stake, with the remaining 46 percent a combination of the three existing CPFC 2010 investors and new American investors.”
So Harris didn’t get to buy the whole thing, but he and Blitzer control a 36% share in the team, which looks to be a majority. Harris will stay out of the day-to-day running of the club – sound familiar? – and will allow Parish to govern the club as he sees fit. Many reports of the investment say that Harris “developed a soft spot for” or “became a fan of” Crystal Palace while watching Premier League football and traveled to see them live a few times. But ESPN knows the Josh Harris we know:
Harris and Blitzer, who also own NHL side New Jersey Devils, targeted Palace because the pair saw similarities with Philadelphia — South London is booming amid a £5.2bn regeneration plan and 7,000 new homes being built — while plans for a redevelopment of Selhurst Park are in the works.
LAND THE PLANE CHOPPER, JOSH.
[h/t reader Andrew]