The Bord’s group’s takeover of Sheffield Wednesday has collapsed. Differences between the group’s offer for the Owls and a subsequent valuation, along with significant unknown costs to upgrade its historic Hillsborough home, have been blamed.
Wednesday, relegated to League One at the weekend, are now effectively back up for sale with others ready to step in.
Last week, Daily Mail Sport revealed that the group, led by former professional poker player and Dunfermline Athletic co-owner James Bord, had provided a tranche of new documents to the Independent Football Regulator.
It can now also be revealed that the offer from the group, which also includes German crypto casino owner Felix Romer and Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil, a member of the Jordanian royal family and sports investor, was thought to have been around the £40m mark, and not the £32.5m figure previously reported.
Sheffield Wednesday have already been relegated from the Championship after suffering two separate points deductions this season
Manager Henrik Pedersen now faces the unenviable task of steering the club’s thread-bare, young squad through the rest of the season
A spokesperson for the consortium said: ‘Unfortunately, we have regretfully decided that we must withdraw from the process. Our initial bid had constraints applied on our ability to renegotiate – which is crucial as the figure we offered is significantly higher than that justified by the findings of a lengthy due diligence process.
‘Our Consortium has a strong track record of restoring football clubs through financial stability, disciplined management and robust governance. We genuinely believed we could play a positive long-term role as custodians of one of the greatest clubs in English football and wanted to help guide Sheffield Wednesday towards a brighter future.
‘While we leave this process with a sense of regret, our admiration for the Club and its supporters remains undiminished, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.’
Bin Jamil added: ‘Unfortunately the consortium has to withdraw from the process. Sheffield Wednesday is a super historic club. We were very excited to acquire the club. We have quite a good experience in turning around clubs and were looking forward to doing that with football club royalty.
‘Unfortunately, the dream cannot continue. We have completed detailed due diligence of the club, the final conclusion is that the value of the club is significantly lower than the figure we are mandated on via the exclusivity agreement.
‘We don’t blame the administrator or on anyone’s. It’s just not justifiable. We are very upset. We felt it was a perfect match. We have pumped significant money into the club there’s a lot of sunk costs but the sheer difference between the value of the club and what we have bid means unfortunately we are unable to continue.
‘One was the stadium – and we employed a structural specialist to assess it. That happened by this Monday. We have been wrestling with it to try and find a way to proceed.’
The Bord group gained preferred bidder status with the South Yorkshire giants, who went into administration after previous owner Dejphon Chansiri called time on his disastrous regime in October, on Christmas Eve.
Other interested parties included the former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley.
Earlier this week another interested party, led by the American entrepreneur David Storch, told BBC Radio Sheffield that his group ‘remain incredibly passionate about the opportunity’ and adding that they ‘are ready to step in should the opportunity present itself again’.
The Bord group provided a non-refundable £2.5m bond and funding to see the now-relegated Owls through to the rest of the season.
Wednesday’s relegation was confirmed with defeat at neighbours Sheffield United on Sunday. With a squad decimated by departures they are on minus seven points following a combined 18-point deduction.