Chiefs sell stake in hotel to CEO Rowe

MEMBERS of Exeter Rugby Club passed a resolution for a percentage of shares in Sandy Park Hotel Limited to be sold to club chairman and chief executive, Tony Rowe, on Tuesday night.

The sale of the shares mean Rowe now has a majority stake of Sandy Park Hotel Limited moving forward, but that the Rugby Club itself still maintains a sizeable percentage of the shares themselves.

The fee paid for the shares by Rowe not only provides an injection of capital to keep cash flow going, but will also help service substantial debts accrued by Exeter Rugby Club due to the impact of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Part of the resolution was also that directors shall use their best endeavours to retain at least 26 per-cent shareholding in Sandy Park Hotel Limited and also prior to any disposal of shares they will likewise use their best endeavours to enter into a Shareholding Agreement to ensure that in the event of the company at any time selling a part or whole of a minority holding in Sandy Park Hotel Limited, no discount shall be applied to the value or the shares on account of their being from a minority holding.

Exeter have not disclosed how much Rowe has paid, or what stake he has taken.

The group that runs Exeter had borrowings of £28.1m according to accounts to June 30, 2021.

Those included a Barclays Covid-19 loan of £5m, a Sport England loan of £6.8m and a NatWest loan of £6.6m - accounts show that Rowe has personally guaranteed £750,000 to NatWest in the event the club were to default on that loan.

On the pitch, the Chiefs return to action in Sunday when they play host to Gloucester in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

Both teams have an undefeated record with Gloucester winning all three of their Pool A games and the Chiefs winning two. However, Gloucester hold a six-point lead having accrued bonus points in all three of their victories, while Exeter have just one extra point.