Venky’s adds two directors to Blackburn’s board
THE Indian poultry business that bought Blackburn Rovers Football Club in November has added two of its representatives to the board.
The club was sold by a trust owned by the family of the late steel magnate Jack Walker for £23m to Venky’s London Ltd, a newly-created vehicle which also took responsibility for the club’s £15m debt.
In a brief statement the club said: “Blackburn Rovers wish to announce that two representatives of Venky’s, Mr Gandhi Babu and Mr Mahesh Gupta, have been appointed directors of the club.”
Papers filed at companies house show both men are based in India. Mr Babu, 47, is listed as a director while Mr Gupta, 44, is a general manager. Neither are listed as board directors on the Venky’s website.
Venky’s, short for Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group, is a £1bn business founded and owned by the Rao family. It has a diverse range of interests including poultry exporting and pharmaceuticals.
The deal marked the end of a two-year process by the trust to find new buyers for the club. The last filed accounts for Blackburn Rovers show that in the year to June 30, 2009, it made a profit of £3.6m on turnover of £50.9m.
