Consortium finalises Leeds bid
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Your support makes all the difference.Members of a second Yorkshire consortium hoping to buy Leeds United will meet tomorrow to finalise their plans for an eight-figure bid for the club. A formal offer is expected on Thursday, 24 hours before the latest extension to the "standstill agreement" between Leeds and the club's principal creditors expires.
The consortium comprises up to a dozen wealthy, prominent Leeds-based investors including the former Huddersfield chairman Terry Fisher. Richard Hughes and Ian Currie, the co-founders of Zeus Capital, a corporate finance firm, are also involved, as are two hitherto unidentified "major players" in the local business world.
"We're due for another meeting with the consortium members on Wednesday and we hope to be putting forward a proposal to the club on Thursday," said Currie, who is a director at Leeds' Premiership rivals Bolton Wanderers. "It's looking positive," he added.
The group's bid can only serve to help the Leeds chief executive, Trevor Birch, in his battle to save the club. Even if it ultimately proves unsuccessful, the interest in the club will assist in Birch securing further extensions to the standstill agreement.
Another Yorkshire consortium, which has been in talks with Leeds for more than a month, has already submitted a bid for the club, understood to be worth around £20m in repayable loans. It has been persistently rumoured that that group involves the former Bradford chairman Geoffrey Richmond, who has denied the claims. The group has evidently hit some stumbling block, however, with Leeds making no positive noises about any deal being close.
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