SAINTS’ potential new owner Markus Liebherr has a personal fortune estimated at two-and-a-half billion pounds – but is expected to take a sensible and considered view to his spending at St Mary’s.

The 61-year-old, who was born and educated in Germany but is now a Swiss national, is expected to complete his Saints buyout today using personal wealth.

But the worldwide financial group also aiming to take over at St Mary’s were last night frantically trying to contact administrator Mark Fry to see if they could remain in the race by upping their bid.

Liebherr was a part of the Liebherr Group family business, which in 2008 turned over 8,408 million euros.

He had stood down from the board a year earlier to concentrate attention on his MALI Group, a hightech engineering company, made up of five independent companies and all belonging to him.

He had previously bought the MALI Group – whose companies are based in Switzerland and Germany in 1994.

A source who knows Liebherr told the Daily Echo last night: “This is a very sensible and serious guy.

“He is buying this out of his personal money and it is not in any way connected with the Liebherr family business."

“If he does acquire Saints he will not spend money all over the place, he will be sensible and measured.

“But he does understand what he needs to be done.

“It seems a long time coming at Southampton but this is the ideal purchaser and one who knows what you’ve got to do to get out of League One and the Championship.

“He won’t just go mad and throw money at it, but Southampton are getting a first rate new owner.”

Though Liebherr will be using personal wealth to finance his takeover as an individual purchaser, his philosophy on money is borne from his upbringing.

The Liebherr family business was set up by the late Hans Liebherr in 1949 and now employees 32,000 people worldwide. But despite its colossal size and growth, it is one of few companies that has grown without ever taking on any debt.

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