TWO BIDS TO BUY CITY’S HOME GROUND
TWO bids are understood to have been made to buy the Coventry Building Society Arena – a situation that has enabled the stadium to continue to operate and host Coventry City matches for the foreseeable future, inlcluding (and beyond) tonight’s home match with Blackburn Rovers.
The Coventry Telegraph understands that the NEC Group are one interested party who have expressed a firm interest in the stadium, which is run by operating company ACL, while a rival bid is also understood to have been lodged – both of which effectively keeps the business going for the time being.
As of Friday afternoon, it is understood that ACL was heading for liquidation if a buyer, fresh funding or credible interested parties had not been found by 4pm today (Mon, Oct 31). As it stands, ACL is not in administration.
It’s not clear at this stage who the second bidder is but former Newcastle United owner and Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley is understood to be one of the stronger contenders.
American billionaire John Mcevoy has also been linked with interest in owning the stadium and football club, while BBC CWR today claimed that Sky Blues’ owners Sisu are one of four “credible” parties “circling” in the event of administration.
ACL have been looking for a buyer for the last two weeks and Coventrylive understands that with talks ongoing, there is a strong likelihood that next week’s fixtures against Wigan Athletic (Tuesday, November 8) and QPR (Saturday, November 12) are expected to go-ahead as planned.
Given the football club’s struggle to pay HMRC and lack of transfer funds made available in the summer when the star defender Dom Hyam was sold to bring in funds at short notice, it’s unlikely that the hedge fund owners have the financial wherewithal to bid for the Arena unless it was at a significantly knocked down price amid liquidation or they manage to secure investment from elsewhere.
City have confirmed that they have reached a payment agreement with HMRC after being hit with a transfer embargo by the EFL. The club have outlined that the pitch issues at the CBS Arena have had a “significant impact” on the club’s finances. Mark Robins’ side were forced to postpone four out of five home games in the opening weeks of the campaign, with their cup tie against Bristol City being moved to Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium.
City have confirmed that the CBS Arena will be the venue for the midweek meeting with Blackburn Rovers.
The game had been thrown into doubt after Arena Coventry Limited, the company that owns the stadium, was served a notice for administration, which ended yesterday. City had been searching for alternative venues in the case that the club would be locked out of the stadium.
However, following talks with ACL and Coventry City Council, that won’t be necessary. The club released a statement to announce the news: “Coventry City are very pleased to confirm that Tuesday night’s game against Blackburn Rovers will take place at the Coventry
Building Society Arena. This follows constant dialogue over the past few days with Arena Coventry Limited and Coventry City Council, and we thank both parties for their support in enabling us to play the game at the Arena on Tuesday.
“We thank Sky Blues supporters for their patience and understanding in this matter, and also the EFL as well as Blackburn Rovers and their fans.
“Tuesday’s matchday operation and ticketing etc will be as per normal, and we look forward to welcoming fans to the Arena on Tuesday. We will continue to communicate with fans regarding the situation at the Arena as and when we are able to do so.”