Leicester City sale: Thai owners seek £200m+ exit after 16 years

Leicester City’s Thai owners have put the club up for sale for more than £200m, ending a 16-year ownership that delivered one of English football’s most improbable triumphs but also oversaw two relegations in three years. King Power’s decision to market the Foxes, their women’s team, King Power Stadium, and the £121m Seagrave training complex as a single package marks a definitive break from the Srivaddhanaprabha family’s tenure, which began with a £35m purchase from Milan Mandaric in 2010. The sale brochure, titled ‘Project Lineup’ and produced by Citigroup, pitches the club as a “rare opportunity to acquire a club with an excellent track record of winning promotions to higher divisions,” while omitting the £103.6m in bank loans disclosed in the club’s 2025 accounts or the £180m lost during the yo-yo years between 2023 and 2025.

What the sale brochure reveals — and what it hides

The eight-page document values the club’s physical assets at over £200m and forecasts turnover exceeding £97m for the 2026 financial year, but it makes no attempt to quantify the value of the men’s and women’s teams amid their current struggles. Instead, it leans heavily on Leicester’s headline achievements: the 5,000-1 Premier League title in 2016 and the FA Cup win five years later. The brochure’s omissions are as telling as its inclusions. The back-to-back relegations from the Championship in 2024 and 2025, which dropped the Foxes into League One, are absent, as are the club’s accumulated losses. The sale process follows months of fan protests outside King Power Stadium after the second Championship relegation, with discontent crystallising around the leadership of Khun Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha, who publicly accepted blame for the club’s decline eight months ago.

Prospective buyers will inherit a club whose identity remains tied to its greatest triumphs, yet whose recent reality has been financial strain. The brochure’s framing risks overselling a club that has spent more time in the lower leagues than the top flight since 2023, a period in which it lost over £180m. For investors, the pitch is clear: buy a brand with historic cachet and a stadium infrastructure valued at £121m, but accept the liabilities of a club that has haemorrhaged value on and off the pitch. The inclusion of OH Leuven, Leicester’s Belgian sister club, suggests buyers may be offered a transnational portfolio, though the brochure does not detail the Belgian side’s financial health or its recent league position, which has seen them compete in Belgium’s second tier since 2021.

Who might buy, and what it means for the Championship

The sale arrives at a time when Championship clubs are navigating a transfer window frenzy, with clubs like Hull City breaking records to secure talent amid financial uncertainty. Hull’s record-breaking move for Mendy underscores how Championship outfits are gambling on short-term success to secure promotion, while Leicester’s sale raises the prospect of a new owner prioritising long-term stability—or doubling down on risk in pursuit of an immediate return. Potential buyers range from private equity groups to ambitious domestic investors, though any deal would need to address the club’s £103.6m in bank loans, a figure that complicates financing.

The timing also coincides with broader governance tensions in European football, where power struggles at FIFA and UEFA have created an unpredictable backdrop for club sales. The players’ union has criticised FIFA’s “abuse of power” as UEFA seeks leverage in its standoff with world football’s governing body, a climate that could deter some potential investors wary of regulatory volatility. For Leicester, the sale process could attract bidders willing to gamble on a quick bounce-back from League One, but it may also expose the club to the same financial pressures that have plagued other promoted sides in recent years, such as the £100m-plus losses reported by some Championship clubs during their single-season top-flight stints.

Identity, legacy, and the road ahead

Leicester’s sale is less a transaction than a reckoning. The club’s legacy is indelibly tied to Claudio Ranieri’s 2015-16 title winners, a team built on pragmatism and collective endeavour, but the Srivaddhanaprabhas’ exit marks the end of an era defined by ambition without sustained infrastructure. The Seagrave training facility, opened in 2020 and valued at £121m, represents the family’s most tangible investment, yet its existence has not prevented the club’s sporting decline. The brochure’s emphasis on promotion history feels like a plea to buyers: trust in the brand, even as the present reality is one of struggle.

For the Championship, Leicester’s sale could reshape the second tier’s competitive landscape. A new owner with deep pockets might accelerate a return to the top flight, but the club’s financial baggage could deter others. The sale also raises questions about the Championship’s broader financial health, where clubs increasingly chase short-term gains at the expense of sustainability. Leicester’s story—from fairytale to financial cautionary tale—serves as a reminder that even the most storied clubs are not immune to the consequences of mismanagement and overreach. The club’s £103.6m debt burden, for instance, is now more than double its projected 2026 turnover of £97m, a ratio that would raise red flags for any potential buyer conducting due diligence.

The process now moves to the hands of Citigroup, tasked with finding a buyer willing to navigate the contradictions of a club whose past outshines its present. The brochure’s closing pitch—”a rare opportunity”—is accurate only if the buyer is prepared to confront the realities the document quietly omits. For Leicester City, the next chapter begins not with a bang, but with a sale.