Ex-Liverpool chairman Sir Martin Broughton to score with new ‎venture

A former chairman of Liverpool Football Club will unveil plans this week for a new sports-focused venture targeting high net-worth backers with an appetite for deals in the sector.

Sky News understands that ‎Sir Martin Broughton, a City grandee who ran British American Tobacco (Kuala Lumpur: 4162.KL - news) and chaired British Airways, will launch an investment platform offering opportunities to put money into selected sports-related companies.

The ‎new project will be a partnership between Sir Martin's consultancy firm Sports Investment Partners (SIP) and Envestors, which provides platforms for sophisticated investors to deploy a minimum of £25,000 in unquoted companies.

The launch will come six years after Sir Martin stepped down as Liverpool's chairman after engineering the club's sale to Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

Sir Martin endured a bruising battle with Liverpool's former owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, eventually emerging triumphant from a courtroom showdown with the American duo.

Since launching SIP soon after his exit from the Premier League club, Sir Martin's firm has backed companies such as BetBright, a gaming business, and Arena Group, which supplies temporary event equipment.

The tie-up with Envestors‎ is designed to bridge a gap for fast-growing companies in the sports sector seeking additional private funding while giving private individuals, family offices and sports personalities access to relevant deals.

Companies which successfully raise funds through the new platform will then gain access to Sir Martin and his SIP colleagues, either through a role on the board or ongoing commercial arrangements between them.