Blackburn Rovers sale completes
THE OWNERS of Blackburn Rovers Football Club have finally agreed the sale of the club to the owners of Indian poultry business Venkys for £23m.
The club has been sold by a trust owned by the family of the late steel magnate Jack Walker to Venky’s London Ltd, a newly-created vehicle which has also taken responsibility for the club’s £15m debt.
Venky’s which is short for Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group, is a £1bn business with a diverse range of interests including poultry exporting and pharmaceuticals.
Paul Egerton-Vernon, chairman of the Jack Walker Settlement Trustees, said: “We are very pleased to be passing on the Rovers to the Rao family. We have been impressed with their enthusiasm for the club and their plans and ideas for developing it further. We are particularly pleased that the club will continue in family ownership and that the existing management team at the Rovers led by John Williams will continue unchanged.
“We would like to express our gratitude and admiration for the great job John and his team have done for the club whilst it has been part of the Trust.”
Anuradha J Desai, the Chairperson of Venky’s, said: “We are delighted, proud and humbled to be associated with Blackburn Rovers, a team with whom we share many values and ambitions.
“Going forward we plan to focus on leveraging the global influence in establishing Blackburn Rovers as a truly global brand. We absolutely respect the Jack Walker legacy and will be actively supporting the organisation to ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best run clubs within the Premier League.”
The deal marks 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, the club made a profit of £3.6m on turnover of £50.9m.
The vendors were advised by investment bank NM Rothschild and Addleshaw Goddard, whose Manchester-based team was led by corporate partner Dan Hart.
Law firm Hammonds acted as advisors to the Rao family. Its team was led by corporate partner David Hull, who has previously advised on a number of football club takeovers, including Manchester City.
