Bear Stearns

Phil Holland
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Tottenham fans can breathe a sigh of relief after the man who owns the club's parent company moved to calm fears that the £500million he's just lost will not force him to sell the North London outfit.



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Levy has been in close contact with Lewis after the bank's collapse.

Last week Joe Lewis, Britain 16th richest man (he's now based in the Bahamas - well, you would, wouldn't you?) and the man who controls the investment company ENIC, found himself out of pocket to the tune of half a billion pounds as a result of the American bank Bear Stearns' collapse.

Analysts had been predicting that Lewis might be forced to tighten his belt and sell-off a few assets in order to offset the loss of a fifth of his reported £2.5billion fortune. Other calmer observers pointed to the fact that with around £2billion of assets still at his disposal, there was no need to hit the panic button just yet.

However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who is understood to have been in contact with Lewis since the global credit crunch claimed its latest high profile victim, has been reassured that selling the club is not on Lewis' agenda.

Lewis holds a majority stake in ENIC, which in turn owns 82 per cent of Spurs, so the decision to bail out or stick in the game clearly has a significant bearing on the club, which is currently enjoying success on and off the pitch.

Coupled to a strong, though ultimately disappointing, UEFA Cup run, Spurs this year landed their first trophy since 1999, boast a decent squad and reported strong profits of £27million for the year ending June 30, 2007. Just as Spurs seem to be finding some stability the last thing they need is a takeover, so that Lewis is looking to ride out the storm is good news indeed.

One interesting question that might have crossed Lewis' mind is how much he might have got for Tottenham in the current market, and who might have been able to stump up the cash?

Debt-financing is currently the choice for most investors who want to spice up their portfolio with a football club, unless of course you are a deep-pocketed billionaire.

The problem is that the current economic climate means that borrowing against future earnings or other similar refinancing options are unlikely to be met with a positive response in the debt markets; meaning that the pool of potential suitors for football clubs could be dwindling fast.

.............er, "there's no need to hit the panic button just yet with $2 billion at his disposal"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus, what planet are we living on???