Secret emails shed new light on Leeds Utd shares dispute
Yorkshire Post 7/1/14
PREVIOUSLY-unseen documents have shed new light on the collapse of Leeds City Council’s bid to buy Leeds United’s Thorp Arch training ground.
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows the council wanted to know exactly who it would be dealing with if the purchase went through and so asked for “full details” of United’s shareholders.
It is not clear if the details were forthcoming – but just over a week after October 2009’s request, the deal fell through.
E-mails from United to the council also indicate some reluctance to offer up the shareholder information.
In a message to council officials, Leeds’s then chief executive Shaun Harvey says he “can not [sic] see the justification for shareholders under 30 per centas they cannot exert influence which is surely the point”.
Mr Harvey then raises the council’s role in the sale of Leeds Bradford Airport to private equity group Bridgepoint.
He says: “On a separate but related note how did you get yourself comfortable with all the ‘members’ of the fund that bought the airport from the consortium of local councils. Surely you didn’t enquire about every member in the same way as you are seeking here?”
Leeds sold Thorp Arch to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler for £4m in 2004 but remained tenants. They had a £6m buyback option that expired in October 2009.
If the council purchase had gone ahead, the site would have been leased to United for a fixed period, after which the club would have been able to buy it. Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, remains under third party control, with Leeds Utd still in place as tenants.
PREVIOUSLY-unseen documents have shed new light on the collapse of Leeds City Council’s bid to buy Leeds United’s Thorp Arch training ground.
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows the council wanted to know exactly who it would be dealing with if the purchase went through and so asked for “full details” of United’s shareholders.
It is not clear if the details were forthcoming – but just over a week after October 2009’s request, the deal fell through.
E-mails from United to the council also indicate some reluctance to offer up the shareholder information.
In a message to council officials, Leeds’s then chief executive Shaun Harvey says he “can not [sic] see the justification for shareholders under 30 per centas they cannot exert influence which is surely the point”.
Mr Harvey then raises the council’s role in the sale of Leeds Bradford Airport to private equity group Bridgepoint.
He says: “On a separate but related note how did you get yourself comfortable with all the ‘members’ of the fund that bought the airport from the consortium of local councils. Surely you didn’t enquire about every member in the same way as you are seeking here?”
Leeds sold Thorp Arch to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler for £4m in 2004 but remained tenants. They had a £6m buyback option that expired in October 2009.
If the council purchase had gone ahead, the site would have been leased to United for a fixed period, after which the club would have been able to buy it. Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, remains under third party control, with Leeds Utd still in place as tenants.
