Portsmouth on brink of new takeover

13 March 2010 21:00
Lloyd hopes to enter into a confidential and exclusive arrangements with the club's administrator, Andrew Andronikou, on Monday ahead of a potential £30 million buy-out before attending Portsmouth's Premier League fixture with Liverpool at Anfield. [LNB]The 46 year-old, who appeared on Channel 4's Secret Millionaire programme in November 2008, will meet supporters' groups at Fratton Park on Sunday to gauge their feelings about a potential takeover. [LNB] Related ArticlesPortsmouth fans set to eye Lloyd with cautionLiverpool v Portsmouth: previewPeter Storrie steps down at PortsmouthPortsmouth administrators investigate missing millionsHMRC accepts Portsmouth administrationStorrie stays as Portsmouth sack 85 staffShould Lloyd's takeover — subject to the Premier League's fit and proper persons test for owners — go through, he will assume the position of club chairman, backed by a consortium including a New York hedge fund and a 'major investor', believed to be the South African investment firm Old Mutual. [LNB]It is understood the group will place £3 million into an 'escrow' account as a deposit and are prepared to make around £15 million available upfront to cover the club's running costs. Portsmouth announced last week that 85 employees, including catering staff and cleaners, would be sacked in an attempt to cut expenditure. [LNB]Lloyd, who runs both the Eatonfield property group and Rob Lloyd Racing from his base in Tarporley in Cheshire, on Saturday told The Sunday Telegraph he intended to return 'honesty, credibility and stability' to Portsmouth after a campaign in which the club have lurched from one crisis to the next. [LNB]Though the club's new owners are more than likely to have to start rebuilding Portsmouth in the Championship, Lloyd maintains his priority is to 'take the club back to where it deserves to be,' while supporters are likely to be pleased to hear his view that it is not, simply, a 'business transaction'. [LNB]The success of Lloyd's takeover rests on his ability to put together a deal acceptable to the club's creditors former owner Sacha Gaydamak, current owner Balram Chainrai and Her Majesty's Revenues and Customs. [LNB]

Source: Telegraph