A.F.C. Bournemouth takeover possible as US consortium prepares £150m bid

A Las Vegas-led consortium is pushing to buy A.F.C Bournemouth, the PA news agency understands.

The club’s owner, Maxim Demin, is thought to be weighing up whether to sell, with US investors ready to pay £150m. An American takeover at Bournemouth would mean that more than half of Premier League clubs had minority or majority US shareholders.

The business magnates Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali became the latest US Premier League owners when their consortium paid a sports-franchise world-record £4.25bn to buy Chelsea. Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Leeds and Liverpool all also have US investment on some scale.

Demin is understood to have explored the possibility of a sale in the past and could now have that interest reignited. The owner, who is Russian-born but a British citizen, bought Bournemouth in 2011 and his investment spurred the club into the Premier League in 2015. He has been the sole shareholder at Bournemouth since 2019, when he repurchased a 25% stake he had previously sold to the company PEAK6 Investments.

Bournemouth returned to the Premier League this season but sacked Scott Parker as manager after just four matches following a 9-0 hammering by Liverpool. They have since secured a goalless draw with Wolves and a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, with their caretaker manager, Gary O’Neill, having a noticeable impact.