In his recent interview with the Coventry Telegraph, Coventry City chairman Ken Dulieu has claimed there is nothing sinister about Otium Entertainment Group Ltd. (OEG) which has three club board members on their board of directors.
The CT asked Mr Dulieu to explain the reasoning behind the need to set up OEG and why club directors Leonard Brody Onye Igwe and and Dulieu are on its board and why the two companies have the same offices in Hanover Street, London.
OEG now makes three companies involved with the ownership of Coventry City FC, Sky Blues Sports and Leisure and Coventry City Holdings. OEG appears to sit between the other two companies in the hierarchy.
The addition of a licenced insolvency practitioner, Adam Bradley on the board of OEG has led to fears among many City fans that the new company has been formed to prepare for administration.
The CT asked if OEG, which was established in April 2011, are now the new owners of the club and if they are paving the way for administration and why did they keep its creation a secret after promising the fans in March that they would be more open and transparent?In his written reply Mr Dulieu’s said, “The group structure was changed to include Otium Entertainment Group Limited in April. OEG was placed into the ownership structure as a result of the fund-raising that took place at the time.
“For the avoidance of doubt, OEG was set-up as a vehicle to allow the ultimate shareholder of Coventry City FC to provide the football club with working capital at a time when such an injection was vital.
“At no time has OEG been viewed as anything other than a vehicle for raising new money for Coventry City. Otium is not a ‘mystery’ company. The ownership structure was disclosed in CCFC’s regular filings to the Football League and the FA in June.
“The directors are the same as those at the ultimate holding company Sky Blue, including the corporate secretary who also acts as secretary to the whole group of companies, including Coventry City Football Club Limited and Coventry City Football Club (Holdings) Limited.”
Source: FOOTYMAD
