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Wednesday January 31, 4:35 PM Investor appetite for soccer clubs to rise in 2007 LONDON (Reuters) - Financial investors' appetite for European soccer clubs is likely to sharpen this year as U.S. tycoons, hedge funds and other financial institutions seek to profit from the game's rising TV and commercial revenues. Opportunities in Europe's 11.6 billion euro (7.7 billion pounds) soccer industry already have included merger talks over Premier League clubs Liverpool and Newcastle and a planned initial public offering for France's Olympique Lyon. "There will be more foreign investment in football," said Patrick Lynch, a managing director at Morgan Stanley in London, who restructured the financial obligations of Germany's Borussia Dortmund last year. In Britain, where as many as five clubs including Chelsea and Manchester United have already been taken over by financial investors, the English league has doubled its sales to 2 billion euros in five years, according to data from accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche. "The clubs' finances will be further boosted when the Premiership's new TV deals start for 2007/08," said Paul Rawnsley, a director at the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. "This provides an opportunity to generate returns for investors in the years to come." DEALS IN THE WORKS Liverpool, 18-times English champions, said last week it had received a takeover approach by U.S. tycoon George Gillett, owner of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team. The 2005 European champions have already opened their books to Dubai International Capital. Media reported the club was close to agreeing on a 450 million pound deal and that the talks included a proposal that the Dubai-owned firm take on the club's debt and help it finance a new 60,000-seat stadium. Newcastle United has recently held takeover talks with Belgravia Group, a Jersey-based investment firm, and U.S. hedge fund Polygon. Both parties recently said they had dropped their interest. "The interest in certain 'football brands' is now extending globally, with Premiership matches televised in over 200 countries," Rawnsley said. "For some, this high level of interest and support also helps support the clubs' value should an investor want to sell on the club in the future." British clubs have opened their arms to outside investors to finance better players and build new stadiums. Chelsea won its first premiership in almost 50 years in 2005 after Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the west London soccer club for 60 million pounds two years before. The club has since spent more than $400 million to sign on top players, including a record 30 million pounds for Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko. EUROPE In France, where the league produces revenue of about 700 million euros, Olympique Lyon said last week it planned to raise at least 84 million euros in what would be the first IPO in a French football club. The club has said some of the funds raised would help build a stadium with a capacity for 60,000 spectators. However, buying stakes in soccer clubs in continental Europe may be more difficult than in Britain, because they are often held by club members or passionate millionaires. Investors are expected to be involved in debt deals. "We expect to see more fund-raising deals in continental Europe," said Lawrence Schechter, a director at Schechter & Co Ltd., a London-based investment bank whose team has raised money for Britain's Newcastle United and Germany's Schalke 04. "If you're unable to raise equity - somebody coming and buying the club - then, you have to raise debt, for which there are a variety of facilities like private placements with institutional investors." "Until the day Europe puts a salary cap on players, they'll need more money because they have more competition to attract players and to bring the fans to the stadium," Schechter said. British clubs have already used the bond market to raise money. Manchester United, the world's richest club for most of this decade, has said it's open to sell debt backed by revenue, such as ticket sales. Arsenal, a north London soccer club, already used the debt markets to raise 260 million pounds last year to help build its new stadium. "Football has become entertainment, globally," Morgan Stanley's Lynch said. "Players have become icons."