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A takeover of Coventry City is thought to be imminent as pressure grows on the directors to make a decision on two takeover bids for the debt ridden club. Rival bids for the club and the Ricoh Arena, which the club currently rents for £1m a year, have been tabled by wealthy former footballer Roy Ranson, and the multi-millionaire former chairman of the Sky Blues, Geoffrey Robinson, who is also a Coventry MP. ACL, the owners of the Ricoh, have made it clear they feel the Ranson offer is the best to have been made in ten months of bid speculation, but they have not seen the details of the Robinson offer. The club owes millions to the Co-op Bank and the Inland Revenue and will go into administration of a deal is not reached. ACL, which is the vehicle for joint ownership by Coventry City Council and the Higgs Charity, is understood to be increasingly frustrated at delays in progressing a sale. The Co-op Bank is also encouraging an early decision after the football club board met to discuss the takeover offers last Tuesday but failed to reach any conclusion.
The Conservative leader of Coventry City Council, Ken Taylor, said of both bidders, 'These people are solid individuals, they're not people who have just formed themselves into a company.' He added that he was confident that the proposals would not go the same way as the ill-fated takeover attempt by the American consortium Manhattan Sports Capital Partners. 'I'm a lot more confident than I was with the Manhattan bid because it never came to anything, we never talked about money. As soon as we have something solid in front of us and a general acceptance among those involved we (the council) will call an extraordinary general meeting.' The council supremo set out four tests which potential buyers would have to pass before th arena was sold. First, investors would have to show that their deal was agreed by both the football club and the Co-operative Bank. Second, they'd have to promise to use the Ricoh Arena to regenerate the north of Coventry. Third, the new investor would have to bring extra management expertise and strength to running both the club and the venue. Lastly, they'd have to show they had enough money to do a deal which didn't short-change the joint owners of the Ricoh. The terms for the sale of the Ricoh, which would give the club a more secure future, are likely to be the most difficult sticking point.
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