 Thursday, 9th Aug 2012 21:35 by Tim Whelan Leeds United issued an official statement this afternoon which suggested that a buyout of the club is still possible, though they will no longer be exclusively talking to the Bahrain group who were on the verge of buying the club, and they will now listen to other offers. The club granted the Bahrain consortium an “exclusivity period” at the end of June, which allowed them to perform due diligence on the accounts at Elland Road. According to the Yorkshire Post they were on the verge of concluding the deal nearly three weeks ago, and the potential investors were also involved in the efforts to persuade Robert Snodgrass to sign a new contract rather than leave the club. But time dragged on without the parties involved signing on the dotted line, and yesterday Shaun Harvey flew to Monaco to discuss the situation. This morning the Supporters Trust reported that they had been informed that deal had collapsed following that meeting, but this afternoon the club issued a statement suggesting that a buyout could still happen. “Leeds United announces that the exclusivity period granted to a potential investor as mentioned in the statement of 26 June has ended. The club remain happy to continue discussions, but not on an exclusive basis, so as not to prevent other options passing. The first priority must be to ensure that the credibility of any future investor or ultimate owner is such, that the Leeds legacy and its future is in safe hands, back in the Premiership. “The club will continue to be receptive to approaches from potential new partners who can establish that they have the necessary credentials. Meanwhile, it is encouraging that there is a new spirit at the club under the management of Neil Warnock and his ten new signings. The club will making no further comment at this stage.” The statement doesn’t give any clues as to what the problems have been, but LUST have issued and update of their own, saying that that urgent discussions are now taking place in the light of this deal’s apparent collapse. So perhaps it could yet happen, though it’s intriguing that the club are saying that they want to make sure that they want to keep other options open. Does this mean that alternative investors are waiting in the wings? Has any other group or groups been in touch to say they will step in if the club aren’t able to seal the deal with the Bahrainis? This does give us a glimmer of hope that we may yet see the back of Bates some time soon, though if the Bahrain group didn’t manage to resolve their difficulties with Bates, then why should anybody else? Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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