TAKEOVER ‘COULD TAKE MONTHS’
Football finance expert has say on Town’s situation
IT could take two months for Town’s US takeover to go through, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
It emerged last Thursday that an unnamed North American group had agreed to buy the Terriers.
Contracts have been exchanged agreeing to the transfer of the shares in Town from now-100 per cent owner Dean Hoyle. It has been reported that Hoyle has written off around £40m that he is owed by the club.
But the identity of the potential new buyers, who will now need to go through the EFL’s Owners and Directors Test, remains a mystery.
Maguire described the anonymity of the US consortium as a ‘bit strange’ and pointed out that the
EFL will ask the group for proof of funds and a business plan, both of which will be used to determine that the new owners have the means and intention of funding the club for at least the next three years.
Maguire said Hoyle deserved ‘some credit’ for ensuring the club averted the potential danger of falling into administration.
“He [Hoyle] has stepped into the breach to make sure that doesn’t take place,” said Maguire.
“How long will it take for a deal to go through? I think if we take a look at another Championship club, which has had a very up and down season in terms of ownership, my understanding is it took Coventry City about two months.
“You’ve got to do your due diligence work as a prospective buyer but the EFL have got their responsibilities as well.
“They do not want another Wigan. They do not what another Bury. They do not want another change of ownership where things could potentially end up worse.”
The governing body will go through checks to make sure:
The new owners do not have conflicting interests in other clubs
That they’ve not been disqualified from being a company director
That they haven’t been jailed for a dishonest crime
That they haven’t been declared bankrupt or been involved in prior insolvency of a football club
That they have not been banned by a sporting body or breached betting regulations
That they have not been named on the sex offenders’ register.