Bolton Wanderers Agrees Takeover Deal

24 Feb 2016 | tshego

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Championship football club Bolton Wanderers has agreed a £7.5m takeover by the Sport Shied Group consortium.

The group, headed by former Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth, will takeover the club subject to Football League ratification.

The club owe HMRC £3m in unpaid tax and VAT bills, which is currently gaining £175,000 interest a week, and threatened with administration and possible liquidation.

Holdsworth’s group also confirmed that current owner Eddie Davies will become the club’s president, but not involved financially.

A winding up order on the club has been adjourned for 14 days to get approval from the league.

Holdsworth said: “Today was a poignant moment for the club because no one wants to see a club like Bolton go into administration. It’s a great day in terms of the saving of the identity and the bruising which goes with it. It’s an exciting day for the club.”

A club statement read: “Bolton Wanderers can announce that the club has today been given an adjournment of 14 days by the high court in order to conclude a deal with the Sports Shield consortium in taking ownership of the club. The club were represented by Trevor Birch and board member Richard Gee at the hearing in London on Monday.”

Birch, the insolvency practitioner advising the Bolton board, said: “Whilst this continues to be a challenging time for everyone associated with the club, we are confident that this adjournment will give us the necessary time to conclude a transfer of ownership of the club, subject to approval from the Football League.”