A consortium headed by prolific American real estate tycoon Preston Haskell IV, who owns leading Moscow property consultancy firm Forum Properties, has tabled a formal takeover bid for League One side Coventry City.
The group, headed by former City vice-chairman Gary Hoffman and suspended Life president Joe Elliot, are believed to have made the bid this week, the title reports.
Following extended negotiations over rent owed for Coventry’s stadium, The Ricoh Arena, the club faced debts of over £60 million and was placed into administration in late March.
The proposed deal to buy out the Midlands side’s current owners, investment firm Sisu, would also involve obtaining a 50 per cent stake in the Sky Blues’ stadium.
The non-operating subsidiary of the club, Coventry City Football Club (Holdings), was confirmed to own the Football League’s “golden shares”, which provide the team with membership to the League and the FA.
Two months of negotiations have begun to frustrate the club’s potential owners, however, with talks stalled at one point because too many of Coventry’s key players being on holiday.
It is hoped, however, that despite a long-standing row over £14 million worth of rent arrears payable to Arena Coventry Limited, which owns the Ricoh Arena, relations have improved sufficiently that a new agreement would lead to any new owners taking control of half of the 32,600-seater stadium.
The news comes on the day that the club's administrator Paul Appleton officially put the club up for sale and met with fans and members of the Sky Blues Trust to reveal his progress into the investigation of the club's finances, the BBC reports.
Speaking about the consortium’s bid, Joe Elliott told the title: "We can confirm that we have now tabled an offer for Coventry City Football Club Limited (in administration) which assumes the Football League's 'golden share' is in that company.
"Everyone knows that the stadium and the football club need to be brought closer together. Therefore, we are also pleased to confirm that an offer has been made to acquire 50 per cent of Arena Coventry Limited (who manage the Ricoh Arena) and we will shortly enter the due diligence phase."
Elliott and Hoffman confirm that they have continued to work closely with Haskell – who was in Coventry all day on Tuesday last week for meetings – and his colleagues and that the businessman remains “extremely serious and committed” to pursuing the potential purchase of Coventry City and bringing stability to the football club.
Elliott added: “We have met with the administrator and have agreed to keep our conversations confidential. Therefore, whilst we will be saying very little at the moment, this does not mean we are not tirelessly working towards a resolution.
“We spent nine hours with Preston in Coventry… and we have got a guy who is extremely serious and wants to do it.”
The consortium remain concerned about Coventry’s current outlook, however, as Elliot confirmed: “The last thing we want to do is destabilise the club. Sisu owns it, so they think; they’re running it.
“But, the administrator is in charge of Limited and, we believe, the golden share is in it and therefore we are talking to the administrator.
“He’s acknowledged our offer and we will be interested to hear what he has to say in his findings.”
Leave a comment