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Funds now in London to finance Sheffield Wednesday takeover
THE man behind a proposed bid to buy control of Sheffield Wednesday acknowledges he did provide proof of funding from an offshore bank in Dominica – but insists the money behind the takeover was always based in a Swiss bank account.
Geoff Sheard, who denied the Dominica connection in Saturday's Yorkshire Post, said he produced a letter from the Private Capital Bank as a means of getting a "foot-in-the-door" to open talks. He said a friend owns the bank.
Dismissing the Dominica link as "irrelevant", Sheard said: "I think a lot of things have happened since that document came out – that was a get a foot-through-the-door document but it has nothing to do with the purchase of the football club and nothing to do with the source of funding. The money is from a Swiss bank."
The Lancashire-based businessman said funding had been moved from Switzerland to a branch of the HSBC bank in London to complete the takeover this week.
The Yorkshire Post has learnt that – along with fans group Wednesdayite and former chairman Dave Allen – club officials were also provided with a letter from the Dominican bank in January, stating 100m of Euros (80m) was available to fund a buyout of the shareholding, clear debts and invest in players.
Officials, including chief executive Kaven Walker, have been in regular contact with Sheard since then but there are conflicting accounts about the club's contacts with the bid's mystery backers and what contact Sheard has had with Wednesday's bank, the Co-op, a key power-broker in any takeover.
Sheard said that the investors, who have remained anonymous, have spoken to both finance director Bob Grierson and Walker. The club is remaining tight-lipped on the takeover but according to one Wednesday source, officials are frustrated they have been unable to meet the investors. A planned meeting in Switzerland involving the investors, Walker and director Geoff Hulley was cancelled.
Sheard also said: "I've spoken to the Co-op on a couple of occasions and we plan to have a meeting with them either this week or early next."
He added that a specialist financial advisor from the US was being brought in to negotiate with the bank which is owed in excess of 20m.
A club source said two previous planned meetings with the Co-op had also been cancelled.
Sheard said he had spoken directly to Wednesday manager Brian Laws to reassure him his job was safe in the light of speculation about Alan Shearer being approached to take charge.
He said he has been friends with the former Blackburn striker since the early 1990s through his previous management role with kit manufacturer ASICS, who provided Rovers' kit.
Fans group Wednesdayite – one of the four main shareholders to have agreed in principle to sell to Sheard – have pressed him to conclude a deal quickly.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
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