Formal takeover talks have taken place at Blackburn Rovers with representatives of Ahsan Ali Syed, an Indian national. Ali, who lives in Bahrain claims to have followed Blackburn for ten years, although he has never been to Ewood Park. In an interview on Radio 5 this evening, he said that his involvement was an emotional one and he had a ‘passion’ for Blackburn. He would buy a house in Lancashire if his bid was successful.
Formal takeover talks have taken place at Blackburn Rovers with representatives of Ahsan Ali Syed, an Indian national. Ali, who lives in Bahrain claims to have followed Blackburn for ten years, although he has never been to Ewood Park. In an interview on Radio 5 this evening, he said that his involvement was an emotional one and he had a ‘passion’ for Blackburn. He would buy a house in Lancashire if his bid was successful.
Ali’s team arrived at Ewood Park at 10 a.m. but went to admire replica shirts in the club shop before getting down to business. Talks are said to have progressed well in a cordial atmosphere. They have now concluded with heads of agreement and a memorandum of understanding that will permit due diligence.
His 15-year business plan for the club, divided into three five year phases, involves a £300m investment in players, stadium, training facilities and the youth academy. The club’s £20m debt would be cleared immediately and an undisclosed sum paid for the equity held by the trustees of the Walker family. He plans to increase the stadium capacity to 40,000 – 45,000 (filling it may not be that easy) and Sam Allerdyce would be given a £100m transfer kitty.
Western Gulf Advisory, Ali’s Bahraini-Swiss group has about $850m (£540m) of funds available for investment, but only $350m of this is uncommitted. He is the ninth generation of his family to be involved in business, the origins of the family fortune being tracked back to the days of the East India Company. The purchase would be a personal one.
Ali has not made any notification of his intentions to the Premier League as the expanded ‘means test’ requires, but his negotiating team have access to the club’s books and have four weeks to undertake due diligence. He does not expect to conclude the deal before the transfer window closes.
Saurin Shah, a rival Indian bidder, has said that he will submit an offer this week, but he is behind the curve. His aim is to bring a touch of Bollywood glamour to East Lancashire and get the large local Asian population interested in the club.