Brentford in advanced talks with investors over minority sale | OneFootball

Brentford are in advanced talks with English filmmaker Matthew Vaughn and South African businessman Gary Lubner over the sale of a minority stake in the club, per The Athletic.

The Bees’ owner Matthew Benham has been seeking fresh investment to help fund the Premier League side for several years.

In February last year, the 57-year-old hired multinational private and merchant bank Rothschild to oversee the potential sale of a stake in the West London club.

Now they are closing in on an agreement with Vaughn and Lubner, with Benham interested in selling 10-20 per cent of his shares at a total valuation of around £400 million for Brentford.

The club plan to invest this money in helping them be more aggressive in the transfer market, fund further additions to Best Intentions’ multi-club group and boost their commercial department.

Benham initially provided interest-free loans to his boyhood football club before taking full control in 2012.

The British businessman has helped transform the fortunes of Brentford, pouring more than £100m of his own wealth into the team since 2005.

They were competing in League One when Benham first became the owner, but led them to Premier League promotion in 2021.

He has overseen the Bees’ move to the Gtech Community Stadium and established them in the English top-flight under manager Thomas Frank, who recently left to join Tottenham Hotspur.

With external investment, Brentford want to consistently challenge for a place in the top 10 and European qualification.