Ken Bates has become the controlling shareholder at Leeds United, but this move does not completely resolve the mysteries surrounding the ownership of the club and leaves some unanswered questions.
Ken Bates has become the controlling shareholder at Leeds United, but this move does not completely resolve the mysteries surrounding the ownership of the club and leaves some unanswered questions.
Bates has bought out FSF Ltd. for an ‘undisclosed sum’ using his company Outro Ltd. However, given the assets available to the former Chelsea owner, the sum is not likely to have been that large and it might be thought that the owners could have realised a better return on their investment by selling elsewhere.
Events at Leeds have been seen as a classic example of the need for greater transparency surrounding the ownership of the football clubs. The issue was raised in the current House of Commons Select Committee investigation into football governance. The Premier League had said that if Leeds won promotion back to the top flight, the League would require full disclosure of the shareholders of the three offshore trusts that owned FSF.
A statement from Leeds said that the change in ownership structure delivered the transparency required. FSF is based on the island of Nevis in the West Indies. The ownership of the discertionary trusts is unknown, but two men – Patrick Murrin and Peter Boatman – were appointed to run the club.