Billionaire soccer club buyers eye southern Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United and Chelsea will be the centre of attention for millions around the world in Wednesday's Champions League final in Moscow, but soccer bankers have their eyes further south as they seek new opportunities to emulate the English clubs' success and cash in the profits.

Italy and Spain are set to become the next markets for international billionaire investors on a football buying spree, people familiar with the situation told Reuters, after many top English clubs, including the two in Wednesday's final, have already been taken over.

U.S. tycoon George Soros is interested in Italy's AS Roma, while a foreign group of investors talked to Spain's Mallorca last summer about a bid, two sources familiar with the situation said.

Valencia Chairman Juan Soler also met investors earlier this year about a possible sale of his majority stake, the club's second largest shareholder, Vicente Soriano, said publicly in February.

"Following all the interest in English clubs, buyers are looking further afield," said Richard Feigen, managing director at Seymour Pierce, a London-based investment bank that advised on the sale of Chelsea and Manchester City to Russian and Thai billionaires Roman Abramovich and Thaksin Shinawatra respectively.

"Spain and Italy are top of the list of the market that people are investigating," Feigen said.

Soaring television and commercial revenues over the past five years have attracted the fortunes of investment banks such as Morgan Stanley, which holds a stake in Paris St. Germain, wealthy individuals such as the Glazer family at Manchester United and Liverpool's Tom Hicks and George Gillett, and hedge funds such as Sisu Capital, owner of a stake in Coventry City.