Wigan Athletic takeover: FOURTEEN parties now 'active'!

In the longest statement issued so far, the admins also confirmed offers have been received and rejected for prize assets Kyle Joseph and Tom Pearce, and highly-rated youngster Sean McGurk.

They also clarified the situation regarding their Progress Report, which has been submitted this week to Companies House, and hit out at ‘Fake News’ stemming from social media reaction to recent radio appearances by Gerald Krasner and Paul Stanley.

But the most pressing matter – the sale of the club – was afforded the bulk of the release, which hinted at positive developments hopefully being just around the corner.

“Following the failure of the Spanish Bid, at the beginning of January, we have had 38 enquiries from interested parties,” read the statement.

“Each party has had the same information and has been provided with an overview of the transaction including assets available, the price, required funding and other conditions.

“Proof of Funds of £7m has been requested, of which £3m is required to meet the purchase price and £4m is to convince the EFL there are sufficient funds to run the club until June 2022.

“We have 14 active interested parties. Of these, we have four that have supplied us with certified proof of funds and are proceeding to the next stage of the process.

“The other 10 parties are at different stages in carrying out their due diligence and we continue to communicate with them on a daily basis. No exclusivity has been granted to any party and we have set no final date for offers.

“We have continued to liaise with the EFL on the process and had discussions with the Supporters Club. Once the EFL approve any of the bidders, we hope to then move quickly to agree final contracts and move to completion.

“We believe the last week has seen the process move in a positive way, although there is still a way to go.

“In the last week, there have been messages on social media with a story that one of the bidders pulled out due to difficulties and barriers put up by the Administrators.

“This is patently untrue as all bidders have been treated equally. The fact is this bidder sent what purported to be his Proof of Funds. Because we wished to verify its authenticity, barriers were put up and when we insisted the bidder then pulled out.”

The admins also sought to draw a line under the backlash created by recent radio appearances by first Stanley and then Krasner

“Since our last update there has been a substantial increase in the traffic on social media coupled with separate interviews by Paul Stanley and Gerald Krasner on talkSPORT,” the statement continued.

“Unfortunately there has been a lot of mis-reporting and understanding of the situation which has led to Fake News being circulated.

“We would remind staff and fans that because an item appears on social media it does not make it true especially where anonymous sources are quoted. We hope here to put the record straight.”

They also addressed recent criticism following the publication of their latest Progress Report, covering the period July 1-December 31.

“At the beginning of the week we filed our Progress Report to 31 December at Companies House,” the statement continued.

“Included in this Report is a section on Time Costs and Remuneration together with an estimate of future time.

“Unfortunately parts of the media and some fans looked at the Report and took these figures out of context without reading all of the relevant information.

“Had they done so they would see that none of the Administrators fees will be paid by the football club. The facts can be summarised as follows:

*In July 2020 when the deal was done with Mr Yeung and his advisers it was agreed he would not claim a dividend from the football club on his £25m claim. This reduced the creditors from £30m to £5m on which a 25p dividend would have to be paid to save a further points deduction. In addition, the Administrators fees and disbursements would be paid from his property companies. If there are insufficient funds in these companies to pay them then the balance would be written off and not charged to the football club.

*As of 31st December no fees on account have been drawn from any of the companies. At no time has any bidder been told they have to pay any of the Administrators fees.”

The Supporters Club were quick to respond to the administrators’ update, confirming they have been ‘promised further information regarding bids before any exclusivity agreements are entered into’.

“Having made a number of enquiries on this matter over the course of the administration, we have been advised that the administrators are working in line with current regulations,” read their statement.

“On several occasions we have voiced the supporters’ views that there are serious flaws in those regulations regarding administration in football – particularly relating to the manner in which the club was placed into administration from the outset.

“We are also aware of the worry caused this week, following reports of an interested party exiting the bidding process.

“We must reiterate the Supporters Club is unable to comment on the details of any individual party or bid. However, since the administration period began, we have been aware of interested parties who have withdrawn or failed to proceed with bids for many different reasons.

“Every one of these has been a blow to our hopes for progress in the purchase of the club, but the Supporters Club has always kept the same determination to help find a bidder who is credible and fully committed to completing a bid to secure the future of our football club.

“Having been in contact with the administrators throughout the week, we are encouraged by today’s update regarding progress with bids and proof of funds, and can confirm we are aware of the interested parties who remain in talks.

“We have been promised further information regarding bids before any exclusivity agreements are entered into, and we expect further updates from the administrators in the coming days.

“As shared in previous statements, we are also continuing to work with local investors and stakeholders to progress the ‘Supporters Solution’.”

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