Portsmouth takeover expected later this week

19 August 2009 12:54
Storrie, who has been at the club for seven years, is understood to have put the consortium together in the last two weeks after becoming frustrated with Sulaiman Al Fahim's stalled attempt to buy the club. Storrie is thought to have secured the support of a number of wealthy individuals, but their identity remains uncertain while the deal is put together. On Wednesday night the club said the group were confident that a deal can be completed. Telegraph Sport understands they hope to close a deal with current owner Sacha Gaydamak by the end of this week, but there is no firm timetable. The new consortium will have to pass the Premier League's fit-and-proper persons test and declare any individual holdings larger than 10 per cent. Storrie's consortium spells the end of Al Fahim's hopes of becoming the majority owner of the club. He announced his intention to buy the club in May, signing an exclusive negotiation deal with Gaydamak, but has been involved in an increasingly desperate search for financing ever since. He was installed as chairman last month but is unlikely to keep that post if the new deal goes through. There remains a chance that Al Fahim will take a stake in the club but he will have to produce evidence of genuine financing that he has so far failed to provide. Gaydamak remains desperate to get out of the club but he is keen for the new owners to inject fresh capital. His priority this season has been to reduce debts of more than £45 million, with the proceeds from recent transfers of Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch being used to reduce the liabilities to around £20 million. In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the club said: "A new consortium led by chief executive Peter Storrie is in negotiations with the owner of Portsmouth FC to buy the Premier League club. The group is very positive about the talks and are confident that the deal can be completed. Sulaiman Al Fahim may partner the new consortium through Al Fahim Asia Associates."

Source: Telegraph