Lineker consortium to negotiate Leicester bid
Administrators at Deloitte & Touche are in negotiations with Gary Lineker's consortium to secure a bid for first division club Leicester City.
Link: Deloitte receives bids for Leicester City
Deloitte & Touche today confirmed it was in exclusive talks with the consortium saying it offered the best prospect of securing the future of the Club, although the club has not been yet been sold.
The Nationwide League club went into administration last October after a struggle which featured a last-minute attempt to renegotiate players’ salaries with the Professiona Footballers’ Association.
A spokeswoman told AccountancyAge.com: ‘A deal has not been made yet but we are now working exclusively with Gary Lineker’s consortium to negotiate a deal.’
But administrator Nick Dargan warned: ‘There is a lot of hard work still to be done and a successful conclusion is by no means certain. The first and most obvious requirement is for the consortium to finally secure their funding and they require the full support of the Leicester public to achieve this.’
According to Deloitte, the agreement must include the terms of usage of Walkers Stadium. Once this is achieved the Football League, the Fooball Association, the FA Premier League, the Professional Football Association and the rest of the club’s creditors and the Crown creditors also have to give their consent to the proposal.
Dargan added: ‘Whilst we continue to develop the proposals and discuss them with the major creditors, the consortium will be outlining their plans to Micky Adams, the club’s manager, to ensure both he and the players are fully aware of their intentions and progress being made.
Speaking on behalf of the Lineker consortium, Greg Clarke said: ‘We aim to conclude a deal that will result in a broad based ownership of the club by the people of Leicestershire as soon as possible.’
The Big Four firm said it expected to conclude the deal ‘early in the New Year.’