Consortium approved in Warriors bid

THE consortium of former Worcester chief executive Jim O’toole has been chosen as the preferred bidders for the relegated Gallagher Premiership club.

Worcester collapsed into administration and were partially liquidated this month with HM Customs and Revenue pursuing unpaid tax in the region of £6million.

Steve Diamond, the former Worcester director of rugby, had launched a rival bid to buy the club through his Sixways Village consortium.

“We are grateful to the Begbies Traynor team for their recognition of our consortium as the exclusive preferred buyer,” O’toole and his business partner James Sandford, who are backed by American investment, said in a statement.

“As has always been, our focus remains on retaining an elite-level rugby club based on a viable long-term strategic business model at Sixways for the immediate benefit of the community of Worcestershire and beyond into the wider game of rugby.

“This is a positive and major step in the process. The process remains complex, needs complete confidentiality and will require our attention until it runs its course.

“To this end, we will be making no further comment in the media or on social media until this exclusive formal process concludes.”

Worcester were relegated from the Gallagher Premiership and suspended from the Premiership Rugby Cup for the remainder of the 2022-23 season on October 6.

More than 20 players have since joined new clubs, some agreeing short-term contracts.

But England internationals Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill have signed long-term deals at Bath, fly-half Fin Smith has joined Northampton, and Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe has returned to Edinburgh. The Premiership was reduced to 11 clubs on Friday when Wasps’ relegation was confirmed by the RFU.

Wasps, who went into administration this month, were hit by a winding-up order from HMR for £2million in unpaid tax. They were also required to repay a £35m bond which had helped finance the club’s move to Coventry.