Venky's Completes Purchase of English Football Club
GLOBAL - Venky's London, part of India's Venky's poultry company, has completed the purchase of the English Premier League football club, Blackburn Rovers.The Blackburn Rovers deal that made Venky's the first Indian company to own a Premier League club is worth £54 million pounds (US$86.31 million), the poultry giant has said.
According to Economic Times of India, the company's statement said: 'The total value of the deal is 54 million pounds.
'Out of this, £20 million is for purchase of shares of the club and the rest consists (of) partly the debt taken over and partly the investment to strengthen the operations of the club.'
The club trustees announced on 19 November that the Indian owners were buying 99.9 per cent of the shares at 17.17 pence per share and making an equivalent unconditional offer to the minority shareholders holding the remaining 0.1 per cent.
Urging Indian soccer lovers to rally behind the 135-year-old club, Venky's said: "The present management of the club is doing a good job and it will be fully supported...any decisions that may be taken in future will be taken in the best interests of the club."
Blackburn are 14th in the 20-team Premier League with 15 points from 13 games, added Economic Times.