Previously a private investment trust,
English National Investment Company was floated on the
London stock exchange in 1997 as
ENIC plc and became a
holding company for sports, media and leisure businesses. During the football investment boom of the mid to late 1990s, it began to acquire shares in football clubs around
Europe and bought stakes in Tottenham Hotspur (29.9%),
Rangers (25.1%),
Slavia Prague (96.7%),
AEK Athens (47%),
Vicenza (99.9%) and
Basel (50%). As well as football clubs, ENIC also invested in other businesses, such as software company
Autonomy, retailer
Warner Bros. Studio Stores, gambling website
ukbetting.com and entertainment complex
Church Street Station. In 2001, ENIC bought a controlling stake in
Tottenham Hotspur from
Alan Sugar and Levy became
chairman of the club. Later in 2001, ENIC's listing was transferred from the main stock exchange to the
AIM index. In 2003,
Joe Lewis and
Daniel Levy, who controlled 52% of ENIC shares, formed Kondar Ltd to buy out the remaining shareholders. A cash offer of £40m was made to take the company back into private ownership. Following the buyout, Lewis and Levy controlled 70.6% and 29.4% respectively of shares in ENIC, which was delisted from AIM and renamed ENIC Group. In May 2006, ENIC transferred 61% stake in Slavia Prague to Czech brokerage firm
Key Investments. In January 2008, Key Investment breached the contract with ENIC and increased the equity of Slavia Prague. ==References==