FANS TOLD OF BIDDER

Due dilligence process is launched on Zengin

A potential buyer for Tom Wotherspoon’s majority stake in Airdrieonians has been named.

Seref Zengin, director of Bellshillbased ZL Group, has reached an “agreement in principle” and is said to be going through the due diligence process.

The former Diamonds supremo has named Zengin as the “preferred bidder”, according to ZL Group representative, David Irvine.

Airdrieonians Supporters’ Trust committee members were invited to a meeting with Mr Irvine, organised by club chairman Jim Ballantyne, on Monday.

Irvine revealed to the Advertiser that Zengin had been looking at purchasing the club since July, but decided to wait for it to be in “a better and stable position.”

He said the hope is that a deal is concluded “this side of Christmas”.

“He has a passion for football and the club has a local draw, with us being based in North Lanarkshire,” Irvine told the Advertiser.

“He understands it will be a longterm project and won’t go in just writing cheques. The goal is to come up with a sustainable model going forward. It’s a club with a lot of potential.”

In a statement, the Supporters’ Trust confirmed that members of the committee were introduced to “a representative who claims to be acting on behalf of a potential buyer of Tom Wotherspoon’s shares in Airdrieonians.”

They were also told that Zengin will be at the home Scottish Cup tie against Cove Rangers on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Trust said: “This is an emerging situation and we will be meeting with stakeholders in the coming days to discuss what this could mean.”

The news comes just days after the Trust revealed it is “actively involved” with the consortium of Airdrie- minded businessmen, f ronted by Diamonds legend B o b by Wa t s o n , w h o are aiming to bring stability to the club.

The Trust also said it received a “robust response” from Jim Ballantyne following last week’s announcement that they were withdrawing direct financial support from the current board.

The Advertiser understands that this included a demand to stop selling club merchandise “with immediate effect”.

The spokesperson added: “Several points were raised which we are considering carefully.”

Stake for sale Tom Wotherspoon has named Seref Zengin as his preferred bidder