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Aussies in new Stags takeover bid


At least 3 groups in football club buyout race

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Published Date: 03 January 2008
Email Tim Morriss

AUSTRALIAN businessmen are back in the race to buy Mansfield Town - and Chad can reveal that at least three different parties are considering new bids for the football club.
Sydney-based Steve Dolheguy and Gary Wall have teamed up with a group of local businessmen currently bidding for the Stags to create a joint venture.

The new partners have been in deep discussion over a takeover bid throughout the Christmas period.

Now the Australians hope to fly to England early in the New Year for further talks with the group as they try to put together a new takeover package for the Stags.

The Australians were originally rebuffed in their initial efforts to buy the club in the summer after winning major support from the fans.

But they have always kept in contact with the takeover saga at Field Mill. They remained interested in concluding a deal before the James Derry consortium seemed to have clinched a buyout - and now they have made contact with a group of local businessmen to try to form this new joint venture.

However, they face competition from a rival Mansfield-based bid - known to Chad and whose members have asked to remain anonymous for now - which has emerged over recent days and is believed to have already tabled an offer. There has also been a tentative enquiry from a third local organisation, while rumours persist of another interest from outside the area.

The sale of the Stags is being handled by new chief executive Stephen Booth, appointed when owner Keith Haslam rejected a £3m-plus offer from the James Derry consortium late last year.

Mr Derry has remained at Field Mill as chairman and made it clear that he still hopes to gain control at the Stags in the future while working with Mr Booth to secure the troubled club's future.

Mr Booth, brought in to stablilise the day-to-day running of the Stags and find a buyer, declined to comment other than to tell Chad: "Discussions are taking place. It is vitally important that we end up with a situation that is best not only for Mansfield Town Football Club, but also for Mansfield itself."

The Australians' plans for the Stags in the summer included creating a strong football academy, re-invigorating the marketing side of the business and, aside from wages, taking no money out of the club for three years.

At the time Mr Dolheguy, whose bid won major backing from supporters on chad.co.uk - Aussie bidders want your views - told Chad: "This was an opportunity to develop a club into something more than it may currently be."

When Mr Haslam, who insists that he wants to sell the Stags and will not return to the club, rejected the Derry consortium offer he then installed Mr Booth as chief executive - ending his day-to-day involvement at Field Mill.

  • New Stags chief executive gets to work


Mr Booth has said recently that one of his major roles is to find a buyer quickly and that the door was open to any 'serious offers - offers that can prove they have the funds to buy and inject working capital into the club'.

News of the latest bidders comes just a few weeks after a new fans group was formed, Mansfield Town Fans Together, with the intention of launching its own buyout bid.

As first revealed in Chad, MTFT wants fans to buy shares at £1,000 to fund a takeover package and then have a say in the running of the club.

  • Fans launch new group to try to buy Stags



The full article contains 631 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 04 January 2008 2:30 PM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Mansfield
 
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1

dot,

04/01/2008 14:31:28
If only this could be sorted out quickly! There is clearly interest in buying the club. C'mon Mr haslam, sell now and give us a chance of staying up!
2

dot,

04/01/2008 14:38:15
If only this could be sorted out quickly! There is clearly interest in buying the club. C'mon Mr haslam, sell now and give us a chance of staying up!
3

Adamr999,

04/01/2008 14:50:19
If a takeover is to suceed i think atleast 2 of these groups has to combine and have money to takeover and money to invest
4

George,

Gonerby 04/01/2008 14:58:08
The anonymity could that these people are serious bidders or that they don't necessarily have the finances needed to buy the club. I do hope that it is the former and that the club is going to be bought local people who care about the club. My only sadness would be if Mr Thorpe is not involved with the successful buyout as he has struck me as a very competent and professional person who would bring great credit to our club.
5

Amber Rob,

04/01/2008 16:24:50
Echo the thoughts from above, however, what does concern me is that the Australian bidders say that apart from wages they will take no money out of the club for three years. Does that mean after three years we'll be back to square one with directors helping themselves to the clubs money - a situation not so far from where we are now?
6

Adamr999,

04/01/2008 16:48:30
I also wondered if thats what they were implying by the 3 years without taking money
7

Stagette,

Tuxford 04/01/2008 17:35:36
I'll believe it when I see it.
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