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Articles on football club takeovers and related issues
Austrian energy drinks company Red Bull are interested in buying Leeds United, but owner Massimo Cellino only wants to sell a minority stake. This could then be used to buy Elland Road for the club which is currently leased.
Red Bull are thought to value Leeds at between £55m and £70m. They were interested in buying Newcastle United, but were put off by the £230m asking price.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is tightening his grip on Rangers. Financial consultant Philip Nash, one of the two directors he has been trying to remove, has resigned from the board with immediate effect.
This suggests that rescue plans from indviduals other than Mr Ashley are unlikely to succeed. The offer of £16m for the club from former director Dave King looks set to fail because of opposition from Sandy Easdale who controls 26 per cent of the voting shares.
Crystal Palace may be on the verge of becoming the sixth Premiership club to be either American owned or to have an American majority shareholder. American billionaire Josh Harris is being linked with an acquistion of the club.
Harris, who owns the NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, was linked with a possible takeover at Aston Villa earlier in the year.
Dave King, who in conjunction with two other businessmen, is seeking to make a £16m bid for Rangers has been in talks with influential shareholder Sandy Easdale. King needs the support of 75 per cent of shareholders and Easdale controls 26 per cent of the voting shares. King is said to be open to a deal which would avoid dilution of the stakes of existing shareholders.
Bolton Wanderers is for sale to the right purchaser, but the question is whether any purchaser can be found. Not only are the club bottom of the Championship, but they are £160m in debt.
Inter Milan has had a difficult patch since winning the Champions League in 2010. It has finished no higher than fifth in Serie A in the past three years and has fallen to 15th in the latest Football Money League from Deloitte.
Indonesian tycoon Erick Thohir now owns 70 per cent of the club (with business partner Handy Soetedjo) and is aiming to make it one of the top ten revenue earning clubs again and a contender in the Champions League.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has more than doubled his stake in Rangers to hold just under 9 per cent of the shares. The maximum stake he is permitted to hold under an agreement he concluded with the Scottish football authorities is ten per cent.
US investment group Cain Hoy has droppes its potential bid for Tottenham Hotspur. The group, backed by Guggenheim Capital, said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange yesterday that after preliminary work on the offer it has ‘subsequently terminated its assessment and is consequently no longer making an offer for Tottenham.’
The sleeping giant that is Aston Villa has stirred and with the club currently 2nd in the table, following forecasts by pundits that they could be relegated, Paul Lambert has been given a new four year contract. Owner Randy Lerner has been unable to find a buyer for the club and has shelved his sale plans for the time being.
There is no doubt that ENIC International, the investment company owned by billionaire Joe Lewis, would sell Tottenham Hotspur if the price was right. The original plan when he took control in 2001 was to sell within three years. Whether he can get the near £1 billion he wants is another matter.