FIFTH BID TO BUY COV CITY REJECTED
EX VICE CHAIRMAN AND HIS CONSORTIUM TABLED OFFER OVER £7M
A FIFTH attempt to buy Coventry City FC has been made by Gary Hoffman and his consortium of local businessmen.
The former Sky Blues vice chairman and his associates say they have put in a revised offer of in excess of £7million for the club which faces being homeless at the end of the current season.
The bid has been rejected by club owners Sisu, leaving the consortium to plead with the London-based hedge fund boss Joy Seppala to at least enter into “constructive dialogue” with them.
Sisu has called the bid “an effort to undermine and distract from the club’s on-pitch performance”.
The group of investors say they remain confident that they would be able to secure a longterm deal with Ricoh Arena owners Wasps to stay at the stadium.
The Telegraph understands that the latest deal also has a number of add-on incentives, including allowing Sisu to keep the sell-on fee from any future sale of former Academy star Callum Wilson which could be worth between £4m to £5m depending on his transfer fee.
The Bournemouth and England striker was linked with a £50m move to Chelsea in January and remains a target for a number of the Premier League’s big guns.
A statement from the consortium read: “The consortium led by Gary Hoffman have been working hard in the background and in private to produce an offer for Coventry City FC that could be attractive to Sisu Capital.
“A revised offer for the club was made a few days ago but this was disappointingly turned down on Monday without any discussion. We have offered to meet with Joy Seppala several times but this offer has not been taken up.
“The terms of the offer will remain confidential but we can tell you it had improved terms including a higher cash offer up front than the £7m that was turned down last time.
“Given the circumstances of the club we regarded it as very generous. The offer was supported by the ability to demonstrate Proof of Funds for the acquisition.
“We want the Sky Blues to stay in Coventry and we are confident of being able to quickly agree a long term deal to play at the Ricoh.
“Clearly the owners of the club have options. Another ground share or possible expulsion from the EFL which would of course be terrible.
“That’s why we made the offer for a better way forward for everyone, especially the fans.
“Mark Robins and the team are doing a great job and we all enjoyed a great day out at Peterborough last Saturday. However the plans for next season need sorting and we had hoped our offer would be accepted or at the very least form a basis for discussion.
“There are other options to a ground share or the threat of a negative decision by the EFL.
“For the sake of CCFC and its supporters we urge Sisu to explore those alternatives in constructive dialogue with the consortium. Please.”
A statement from Sisu said: “We note the recent comments regarding a “bid” for the football club. Given the football club’s current league position, this seems to be little more than an effort to undermine and distract from the club’s onpitch performance.
“For the avoidance of doubt, yet again this was an extremely low bid. It has little credibility and as usual provides no proof of funds nor confirmation of the investors/ consortium members (as had been included in the past).”
A fourth bid for the club worth £7million up front was rejected in December 2017, on the tenth anniversary of Sisu taking over the Sky Blues.
That offer was put to Sisu boss Joy Seppala - an improvement of £5m on the previous bid - which, it was claimed, would rise to in excess of £20m subject to various addons.
The investors had a second bid rejected in April 2017 - which the former vice-chairman Hoffman confirmed after it was leaked that they’d made a £1.2million cash up-front deal that would be worth more than £10m subject to various add-ons - which Sisu viewed as ‘derisory.’
The group went back in with an improved offer a month later.
The third bid involved just over £2million cash up front and allowing Sisu to keep the club’s Ryton training ground to sell for housing. The fourth bid did not include Ryton, which is understood to no longer be part of any deal.