Auckland Rugby League on verge of buying NZ Warriors club

IT seems the Auckland Rugby League will be the new owner of the New Zealand Warriors.

The ARL, represented by the Carlaw Park Heritage Trust, has agreed a sale and purchase agreement with Eric Watson and his representatives.

There could still be a late Uturn by either party — and there have been numerous twists and turns since Watson first admitted he was open to

selling the club last August — but the deal is believed to be ‘‘99%’’ complete.

The Herald on Sunday understands the final documentation will be completed over the coming days, with a formal announcement expected later this week.

The ARL is not expected to make any immediate changes to the club, and will take a busi ness as usual approach for the rest of this season.

Former Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah and exKiwis, Manly and Queensland coach Graham Lowe have been involved in the ARL bid, but it is not yet known what roles, if any, they will have within the ownership of the club.

ARL chairman Cameron McGregor declined to comment.

Warriors executive chairman Jim Doyle, who, along with Don Stanway has been overseeing the negotiation’s on Watson’s behalf in New Zealand, was also reluctant to discuss the progress that had been made.

‘‘As we have said all along, any negotiations are private and confidential out of respect to all parties and we will not be making any further comments until the deal is finalised,’’ Doyle said.

Richard Fale, who is head of the TonganAmerican consortium that has also been negotiating with Watson to buy the club, indicated on Saturday that it was not willing to see the drawn out process continue for too much longer.

‘‘There are a lot of moving pieces on the table for us,’’ Fale said.

His group had been approached by other sports teams seeking investors.

‘‘We are going to be making some solid commitments so they need to make their minds up. We have capital out there and we want to do something with it but we can’t wait for ever . . . ’’

The ARL is understood to have steadily increased its offer over the past few weeks, though it is still believed to be less than the $24 million that Fale’s group, Pacific Sports International, had put on the table. However the overall package — and the relative simplicity of the ARL deal — has evidently appealed to Watson.

The sale process has been a convoluted affair. In August last year Auckland businessman Paul Davys approached Watson with an offer to buy the franchise but no sale eventuated.

The ARL completed due diligence — and made an initial offer — before pulling out of the process for unspecified reasons last year. Former Warrior Monty Betham suggested a crowdfunding option, but that was shortlived, and there was also interest from a Waikatobased group funded out of China.

But Fale’s bid, revealed by the

Herald on Sunday in February, raised the stakes and lifted the public profile of the process. Fale had big plans, including games in North America and a new stadium and his highly publicised visit to New Zealand in March created all kinds of headlines.

Another mystery group has recently declared its interest in buying the club, though little is known about this consortium apart from the fact that it consists of local and overseas investors.

Both the ARL and PSI appeared to have the inside running at various times over the last few months, but it seems that the ARL has prevailed. — NZME