Bury buyers want more time from EFL
BURY were yesterday given a lifeline to avoid expulsion from the Football League, after a data analytics company agreed in principle to take over the beleaguered League One club.
But that lifeline may yet prove to be too short, after the EFL told C&N Sporting Risk to seal the deal by 5pm on Tuesday.
C&N is run by Henry Newman and Rory Campbell, who is the son of former Labour spin-doctor Alastair. They asked for a week to complete the discussions with Bury owner Steve Dale. C&N have been negotiating with Dale for 10 weeks.
Last night, C&N criticised the EFL’s decision to ‘go for such a short extension’ on a bank holiday, saying there were ‘a number of serious outstanding issues to be addressed’. Their legal advisor, they said, is away until Wednesday.
‘Meeting with her and the solicitors is absolutely fundamental to some serious contractual matters that need addressing and our overall decision-making process.
‘We made the EFL explicitly aware of this and the timeline we required.’ They added: ‘It would be a huge pity if the club were to fold because of lack of time to do the due diligence necessary.’
Bury North MP James Frith, who worked with the prospective buyers on the deal, agreed: ‘The EFL have taken more than 14 hours to decide this. Why expect the bidding party to achieve more in less than the time requested?’
There remain concerns that C&N do not have the capital required to move Bury forward. The company have assets of £180,000 and debts of £334,000.
Bury’s match against Tranmere yesterday was the sixth cancelled this season. The EFL said it could not allow any more games to be suspended ‘due to the integrity of the competition’ and ‘the impact on other clubs in the League’.