Far Eastern investors take stake in Tranmere Rovers

Tranmere Rovers

Indonesian investors are to buy a minority stake in League One side Tranmere Rovers.

The club’s chairman and vice-chairman Mark and Nicola Palios have agreed to sell a minority stake to investment specialists Santini Group.

Santini is owned by brothers Wandi, Lukito and Paulus Wanandi.

The deal will see Lukito take a seat on the board of the League One club.

The Birkenhead team have had back to back promotions in the past two seasons from the National League and League Two.

Mark Palios said: “This is an endorsement of what we’ve done at the club.

“They understand the ethics of what we’re trying to achieve, in terms of a community based club, and they’re very much behind that.

“They have a minority stake so we’ll run the business on a day-to-day basis. The initial investment they make will help us to repair some of the damage done to the balance sheet in terms of the three years we spent in non-league.

“There’ll also be a small improvement in the playing budget for the next couple of years, which will help us to get stable in League One.”

He added: “Santini Group is a very significant family-owned Indonesian headquartered business.

“The group has many investments ranging from automotive products, real estate development, financial services and infrastructure.

“It also partly owned an automotive battery factory in Brisbane, Australia.

“The group is run by three brothers, Wandi, Lukito and Paulus Wanandi. Nicola and I have spent time with them both in Wirral and in Indonesia to understand each other, but most importantly, to ensure that the investors gained an understanding of the Club.”

The investment means the club can press ahead with a number of projects while reducing debts.

Close