Three Bidders In Place For Southampton

The list of serious bidders for League One-bound football club Southampton has grown to three, according to the administrator of the club’s holding company.

The administrators are engaged in a race against time to agree a deal before the club is forced out of business. Within days of the season finishing this weekend, the club will be relying on a bank of goodwill from creditors that has almost run dry and will fold if a buyer is not in place.

Mark Fry, joint administrator of the club’s parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings, said that another potential buyer had joined the two that entered a full due diligence process last week but cautioned that it was by no means certain that a saviour would be discovered.

If a buyer can be found, Southampton will start next season in League One on minus 10 points after the Football League last week ruled that the holding company, which went into administration earlier this month, and the football club were ‘inextricably linked’ as a single economic entity. The club is pursuing an appeal against the 10-point penalty.

Any potential buyer would need to be able to reduce the club’s debts by coming to an arrangement with major creditors Aviva Investments and Barclays.

Southampton lost its Premier League status three years ago not long after moving to a new purpose-built ground, the St. Mary’s Stadium, which has provided the bulk of the club’s debt.

The club has struggled in the Coca-Cola Championship this season and its relegation to League One was confirmed last week.