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Derby County are set to become the fourth American owned Premiership club, following the path taken by Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester United. The makeup of the consortium acquiring the club will not be revealed until Monday, but they have existing interests in American football, baseball and basketball. It is thought that one of the backers could be San Franscisco-based investment banker Simon Jerome who was also linked with previous unsuccessful bids to buy into Millwall and Manchester City. Current chairman Adam Pearson claims that the new owners will 'establish Derby's brand worldwide through alliances with sports teams in the USA, the Far East and Africa.' Their investment will 'add financial firepower to the squad ... build the infrastructure at Pride Park and develop a squad which is renowned as a Premier League force.'
The new owners will provide a £50m cash injection and acquire the club's debts, so even if Derby are relegated, as seems likely, they will be far the richest team in the Championship. Of course, of the American takeovers that have happened so far, only Aston Villa's Randy Lerner has remained on good terms with the fans who ironically chanted 'USA, USA' on their recent visit to Liverpool. The acquisition confirms the attractiveness of clubs who are the only ones in their cities and their surrounding hinterlands and hence are seen to have good development potential.
UPDATE: New Derby Owner Unveiled - 28/01/2008
Derby have named their new owners as the American-based General Sports and Entertainment group. The group has agreed an investment partnership with the club, which will not involve them taking on any debt. GEC chairman Andy Appleby said that he had 'visited Derby County over the last six months and experienced a match day at Pride Park Stadium, where we were impressed with the incredible potential of the club and the loyalty of the fan base.' He did not refer to the quality of the on pitch performance where 'long suffering' is a phrase that could be applied to the fans. Current Derby chairman Adam Pearson will remain in post and Appleby will join him on the board. Tom Glick, a former chief marketing officer for the New Jersey Nets basketball team, is to be brought in as a new president and chief executive. Another GSE affiliate, Tim Hinchley, will become the Rams' executive vice-president.
The new owners claim that they are trying to model themselves on the way Randy Lerner has transformed Aston Villa rather than the way the Glazers run Manchester United or Hicks and Gillett run Liverpool. Appleby founded GSE in 1998. Its franchises have included the Detroit Pistons, three times NBA champions. Others are less impressive, including the now defunct Detroit Vipers ice hockey team and the Fort Wayne Wizards who are a minor league baseball outfit.
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