Paul Davidson, the colourful City entrepreneur knwon as the Plumber, is running out of time to clinch a €38m bid to become the first foreign owner of a Spanish football team. Davidson, who this summer agreed to buy Real Mallorca, now has only a few days to seal the deal after requesting an extension to raise finance. If Davidson fails, former Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd and an unnamed Russian oligarch could step in. Real Mallorca is a mid-ranking La Liga team.
Paul Davidson, the colourful City entrepreneur knwon as the Plumber, is running out of time to clinch a €38m bid to become the first foreign owner of a Spanish football team. Davidson, who this summer agreed to buy Real Mallorca, now has only a few days to seal the deal after requesting an extension to raise finance. If Davidson fails, former Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd and an unnamed Russian oligarch could step in. Real Mallorca is a mid-ranking La Liga team. The opportunity to develop land around the stadium, as well as to increase revenues by encouraging more tourists to watch matches, has made it an attractive proposition. Davidson had agreed ‘heads of terms’ with the Grande family, who own the club, but the sale should have been completed two months ago and fans are losing patience with him. The entrepreneur also sees Mallorca as an opportunity to market the plumbing products that have given him his nickname. Davidson is best known for beating the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on a damaging market abuse charge. He proved that a senior FSA official had met a member of the appeal tribunal during the trial, thus giving the impression of collusion. He won £750,000 in costs from the FSA, but the long drawn out process nearly ruined him.