Bates Secures Leeds United Buyout

The ongoing financial saga over the future of Leeds United looks to have been
resolved after it was announced that the club had been resold to former owner
Ken Bates.

The deal, which has been concluded for an undisclosed sum, comes five days
after Leeds United’s administrators KPMG stated that they needed to sell the
club following a legal challenge from creditor HM Revenue & Customs.

KPMG received a number of bids but have finally struck a deal with Bates
which would seem to secure the future of the club.

However, it is known that HM Revenue & Customs are dissatisfied with
Bates’ involvement having already tried to block an earlier attempt from the
businessman to buy back the club in a package that gave its creditors just 8p in
every £1.

It is currently unknown how much of Leeds United’s £35m debt Mr Bates now
intends to pay off or indeed how much he will offer HMRC and other creditors.

‘We received several offers for the business which we considered carefully,’
said joint administrator Richard Fleming. ‘The approved deal represents the best
result for creditors in the circumstances and we believe provides the club with
the best chance of survival.’

KPMG had earlier said that unless the club was able to leave administration,
the Football League may not let it start the new season.