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FORMER top-flight star and ex-Bolton Wanderers director of football Dean Holdsworth is understood to be negotiating a takeover of Worcester City.
Droitwich-based Holdsworth, 49, famed for his scoring exploits with Wimbledon, met with chairman Anthony Hampson and director Mark Wilcox at Tuesday’s home match with Rocester.
Hampson remained tight lipped on the nature of the get together but the Worcester News understands it was with a view to Holdsworth taking control and sourcing the finance required for a new stadium at Parsonage Way.
“Dean came to the game on Tuesday and chatted about the football club,” said Hampson.
“He has had past associations with Worcester City and has the interests of the club at heart like we all do.”
When asked about the nature of the meeting and the prospect of a takeover, Hampson politely declined to comment.
Sources suggest assurances over cash injections will be made by overseas investors with the club’s hierarchy cautiously optimistic over Holdsworth’s intentions despite his acrimonious ownership wrangle at Bolton.
Holdsworth’s company, Sports Shield BWFC, defaulted on the £5million loan took out with Blu Marble to purchase a stake in the Trotters and was liquidated as a result.
While being co-owner, Holdsworth was also employed as director of football but his time in that post lasted less than a month.
A long-running dispute over that termination was settled in March 2017 when Holdsworth was paid £50,000 plus legal fees according to figures declared in Bolton’s accounts for the year ending June 2017.
It is understood there have been tentative talks over investment with at least one unrelated party but any takeover will not be simple.
City’s current constitution bars any individual from owning more than one per cent of the shareholding. For anyone to gain a controlling stake, the board would have to call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to instigate necessary changes.
Standard company law requires 75 per cent or more of the shareholding to give the green light for special resolutions of this nature with votes weighted by the number of shares owned.
In 2016, Worcester City Supporters’ Trust failed in a four-pronged bid to lift the one per cent cap, prevent unallocated shares being offered to existing shareholders first, allot unsold shares to the trust and allow existing shareholders to gift their shares to the trust.
That prospect had seemed set to be revisited recently with the trust sanctioning an independent financial review as part of due diligence but the report is unlikely to be completed after the trust and club failed to settle on the terms of a non-disclosure agreement.
Holdsworth was unavailable for comment.
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/16187166.EXCLUSIVE__Dean_Holdsworth_preparing_Worcester_City_takeover_bid/
Droitwich-based Holdsworth, 49, famed for his scoring exploits with Wimbledon, met with chairman Anthony Hampson and director Mark Wilcox at Tuesday’s home match with Rocester.
Hampson remained tight lipped on the nature of the get together but the Worcester News understands it was with a view to Holdsworth taking control and sourcing the finance required for a new stadium at Parsonage Way.
“Dean came to the game on Tuesday and chatted about the football club,” said Hampson.
“He has had past associations with Worcester City and has the interests of the club at heart like we all do.”
When asked about the nature of the meeting and the prospect of a takeover, Hampson politely declined to comment.
Sources suggest assurances over cash injections will be made by overseas investors with the club’s hierarchy cautiously optimistic over Holdsworth’s intentions despite his acrimonious ownership wrangle at Bolton.
Holdsworth’s company, Sports Shield BWFC, defaulted on the £5million loan took out with Blu Marble to purchase a stake in the Trotters and was liquidated as a result.
While being co-owner, Holdsworth was also employed as director of football but his time in that post lasted less than a month.
A long-running dispute over that termination was settled in March 2017 when Holdsworth was paid £50,000 plus legal fees according to figures declared in Bolton’s accounts for the year ending June 2017.
It is understood there have been tentative talks over investment with at least one unrelated party but any takeover will not be simple.
City’s current constitution bars any individual from owning more than one per cent of the shareholding. For anyone to gain a controlling stake, the board would have to call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to instigate necessary changes.
Standard company law requires 75 per cent or more of the shareholding to give the green light for special resolutions of this nature with votes weighted by the number of shares owned.
In 2016, Worcester City Supporters’ Trust failed in a four-pronged bid to lift the one per cent cap, prevent unallocated shares being offered to existing shareholders first, allot unsold shares to the trust and allow existing shareholders to gift their shares to the trust.
That prospect had seemed set to be revisited recently with the trust sanctioning an independent financial review as part of due diligence but the report is unlikely to be completed after the trust and club failed to settle on the terms of a non-disclosure agreement.
Holdsworth was unavailable for comment.
http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/16187166.EXCLUSIVE__Dean_Holdsworth_preparing_Worcester_City_takeover_bid/