Eddie Davies, the Bolton Wanderers owner, is prepared to write off up to £170 million in loans to the Championship club and sell his controlling stake for as little as £20 million in an effort to save the club from financial meltdown.
The Isle of Man-based Davies, 69, a Bolton supporter who made his fortune manufacturing kettle thermostats, is understood to be worth more than £100 million.
However, the reclusive owner of the club has made it clear that he is no longer willing to offer ongoing financial backing and the appointment of Trevor Birch, the former Chelsea chief executive, as an adviser to Davies is designed to accelerate discussions with interested parties keen to buy the Lancashire club.
Trevor Birch has experience with Chelsea, Leeds United and Everton
Sports Shield Consortium, a group including the former Bolton forward Dean Holdsworth, is in talks with Davies and Birch, with the prospective buyers ready to push through a takeover in order to take charge of the club before the January transfer window opens.
One element of the deal is understood to involve Amir Khan, the Bolton-born two-time world boxing champion, staging fights at the Macron Stadium in order to generate extra revenue.
However, with Bolton revealing a debt of £172.9 million in accounts posted in April, Davies is facing the prospect of a huge financial sacrifice in order to offload the club and ensure it can regain a sound footing. Aside from around £2 million of loans from directors and a £5 million overdraft provided by Barclays, Bolton’s debt is almost entirely owed to Davies, who has ploughed long-term loans into the club through his company, Moonshift Investments.
But with Davies ready to cancel the debt and sell for between £20 million to £30 million, potential new owners could go into the new year with funds available for manager Neil Lennon to strengthen a squad which lies in the Championship relegation zone, three points adrift of safety.
Lennon insists, however, that the club’s future has not affected the mood of his players. “It hasn’t been a distraction,” Lennon said. “I’m not even sure the players have been aware of it, to be honest. It hasn’t been something we’ve talked about and certainly not between myself and the backroom team either. That’s because we have no control over it. That will be down to the people that own the club.”
