Middle East bid emerges for Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic is on the verge of a takeover after the latest bidder’s proof of financial stability was verified by the English Football League (EFL).

A Bahrain-based business is behind the latest move to rescue the League One side from administration after it was plunged into administration on July 1, 2020.

Less than a month previously it had transferred to new ownership following the sale of the majority shareholdings of the Wigan Athletic Group from International Entertainment Corporation (IEC) to Hong Kong-based Next Leader Fund LP.

A Manchester-based holding company, Phoenix 2021 Limited, has been registered at Companies House.

It is owned by Gibraltar firm Europa Point Sports and comprises a board of Wigan’s finance director Richard Bramwell, Mal Brannigan, Oliver Gottman, Thomas Markham and chairman Talal Mubarak Al Hammad. Abdulrahman Aljasmi Ubo is listed as a ‘person with significant control’.

The deal to rescue the Latics from administration is reportedly £3m, verified by the EFL.

In early December last year, the EFL blocked a potential takeover by a Spanish bidder following its due diligence on the party. It said in a statement: “The EFL has in recent weeks undertaken significant due diligence on the relevant parties in accordance with its regulations and, based on the information that has been made available, the board confirmed it was not in a position to agree to an application to transfer membership in the EFL to the proposed purchasers as the League’s requirements have not been satisfied.”

Following the blow, joint administrators Begbies Traynor invited interest from new bidders and last month said they were in discussions with six different parties.

They said: “There has been movement this week in the number of interested parties and we currently have six active parties that have provided proof of funds.

“A new party has joined the process this week and proved funds, a further party has provided proof of funds and we have lost one during the week.”

They said they had also had a joint meeting with the EFL and one of the parties as part of the process and had been informed that two parties had held discussions with the EFL in respect of their interest.

To proceed with a bid parties must provide proof of funds of £7m, of which £3m is required to meet the purchase price and £4m to convince the EFL that there are sufficient funds to run the club until June 2022.

No-one from the joint administrators was available for comment.

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