Cellino’s deal delayed further but Charlton owner is proof things can be settled quickly
Yorkshire Post 26/2/14
THE most recent club owner to pass the Football League’s Fit and Proper Persons’ Test last night described the process as “quite straight-forward” as Massimo Cellino’s protracted takeover of Leeds United suffered another delay.
Yesterday, the League revealed that they had asked the Italian for more information over his proposed purchase of a 75 per cent stake in the Elland Road club through his company, Eleonora Sport Ltd.
Cellino exchanged contracts with Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based investment bank that bought United from Ken Bates towards the end of 2012, on February 7 and is keen to push the £25m deal through as quickly as possible.
The 57-year-old, who was at United’s draw with Middlesbrough last Saturday, needs the League’s approval to ratify the deal, but that will not happen until March 13 at the earliest – which is when the body’s next board meeting takes place.
A League spokesman said: “There are still a number of outstanding matters that will require further submissions from the two parties.”
The new delay is not only frustrating for Cellino, who is believed to have twice injected funds into the club to help cover the monthly wage bill, but also supporters who are desperate for some clarity.
United’s protracted takeover saga is in stark contrast to the last League club to have been bought by a foreign businessman.
Charlton Athletic were taken over last month by Belgian businessman Roland Duchatelet, who made his fortune in electronics.
He owns a number of clubs across Europe including Standard Liege. Duchatelet, who bought the London club outright, passed the League’s Fit and Proper Persons’ Test just four weeks after first showing concrete interest in Charlton.
To gain an insight into the process that Cellino and Leeds are currently embroiled in, theYorkshire Post spoke exclusively to Duchatelet about his own experiences of satisfying the criteria laid down by the governing body.
Fresh from his club’s impressive FA Cup win at Sheffield Wednesday on Monday, the Charlton chief last night said: “The process was actually quite straightforward, as long as you have the answers to the League’s questions. None of them were particularly difficult. They (the League) just want to understand whether you have got the money to finance the club’s business plan, as they don’t want their clubs to end up in administration a few months after they have approved a takeover as it would be very embarrassing for them.
“Nearly all Championship clubs need extra funding to help them balance their books. So, the League doesn’t sign off any takeovers unless you can show them that you have got enough money to meet the club’s financial commitments, as well as showing them where that money has come from.
“This meant us providing financial details of all the companies involved in the group so that we could prove that we could meet the financial projects we gave to the League.
“We also had to provide letters showing that we could call upon that funding, as and when the club needed it. You have obviously got to meet the fit and proper persons’ test too, but that’s essentially self-certification against published criteria.
“As long as you haven’t got anything in your background that would lead to you being disqualified, it is relatively simple.
“In our case, we could supply everything the League asked for pretty much straight away and the takeover was approved in around a month.”
In contrast to Charlton’s relatively smooth takeover, the Leeds saga looks set to rumble on after the League made clear yesterday that, while progress has been made, they require further documentation before a decision can be made over Cellino’s bid to take charge.
A spokesman said: “A significant amount of the requested information has been supplied by GFH and Eleonora Sport, but there are still a number of outstanding matters that will require further submissions.
“The Board is next scheduled to meet on March 13 where it will receive an update on the matter from the League’s executive, unless all the remaining issues can be resolved satisfactorily in advance of this date.”
THE most recent club owner to pass the Football League’s Fit and Proper Persons’ Test last night described the process as “quite straight-forward” as Massimo Cellino’s protracted takeover of Leeds United suffered another delay.
Yesterday, the League revealed that they had asked the Italian for more information over his proposed purchase of a 75 per cent stake in the Elland Road club through his company, Eleonora Sport Ltd.
Cellino exchanged contracts with Gulf Finance House, the Bahrain-based investment bank that bought United from Ken Bates towards the end of 2012, on February 7 and is keen to push the £25m deal through as quickly as possible.
The 57-year-old, who was at United’s draw with Middlesbrough last Saturday, needs the League’s approval to ratify the deal, but that will not happen until March 13 at the earliest – which is when the body’s next board meeting takes place.
A League spokesman said: “There are still a number of outstanding matters that will require further submissions from the two parties.”
The new delay is not only frustrating for Cellino, who is believed to have twice injected funds into the club to help cover the monthly wage bill, but also supporters who are desperate for some clarity.
United’s protracted takeover saga is in stark contrast to the last League club to have been bought by a foreign businessman.
Charlton Athletic were taken over last month by Belgian businessman Roland Duchatelet, who made his fortune in electronics.
He owns a number of clubs across Europe including Standard Liege. Duchatelet, who bought the London club outright, passed the League’s Fit and Proper Persons’ Test just four weeks after first showing concrete interest in Charlton.
To gain an insight into the process that Cellino and Leeds are currently embroiled in, theYorkshire Post spoke exclusively to Duchatelet about his own experiences of satisfying the criteria laid down by the governing body.
Fresh from his club’s impressive FA Cup win at Sheffield Wednesday on Monday, the Charlton chief last night said: “The process was actually quite straightforward, as long as you have the answers to the League’s questions. None of them were particularly difficult. They (the League) just want to understand whether you have got the money to finance the club’s business plan, as they don’t want their clubs to end up in administration a few months after they have approved a takeover as it would be very embarrassing for them.
“Nearly all Championship clubs need extra funding to help them balance their books. So, the League doesn’t sign off any takeovers unless you can show them that you have got enough money to meet the club’s financial commitments, as well as showing them where that money has come from.
“This meant us providing financial details of all the companies involved in the group so that we could prove that we could meet the financial projects we gave to the League.
“We also had to provide letters showing that we could call upon that funding, as and when the club needed it. You have obviously got to meet the fit and proper persons’ test too, but that’s essentially self-certification against published criteria.
“As long as you haven’t got anything in your background that would lead to you being disqualified, it is relatively simple.
“In our case, we could supply everything the League asked for pretty much straight away and the takeover was approved in around a month.”
In contrast to Charlton’s relatively smooth takeover, the Leeds saga looks set to rumble on after the League made clear yesterday that, while progress has been made, they require further documentation before a decision can be made over Cellino’s bid to take charge.
A spokesman said: “A significant amount of the requested information has been supplied by GFH and Eleonora Sport, but there are still a number of outstanding matters that will require further submissions.
“The Board is next scheduled to meet on March 13 where it will receive an update on the matter from the League’s executive, unless all the remaining issues can be resolved satisfactorily in advance of this date.”