Takeover Completed

[briggcov]

COVENTRY CITY today announced that the club's £20 million takeover is complete

Chairman Ray Ranson and his SISU backers, now known as Sky Blues Sports and Leisure Ltd, finally gained control of the 90 per cent of shares they needed this week, well ahead of their April 11 deadline.

"I would personally like to thank all fans and shareholders for their support and understanding throughout this challenging period," said Ranson, who has formed a new board of directors that includes Joe Elliott, finance director Mal Brannigan and Coventry-born Barclays vice-chairman Gary Hoffman.

"With the successful completion of the share purchase, Coventry City Football Club (Holdings) Limited now has financial stability and a platform to achieve its commercial and sporting aspirations."

Elliott, a hugely popular figure at the club after helping save the club from administration with his efforts to secure the takeover during his short chairmanship, said: "The deal is done and this is a momentous week in the history of the football club.


"We can now look forward to a great future and I believe we now have a young dream team in place, including Ray Ranson, the new manager Chris Coleman, SISU and ACL, all working together.


"I am personally over the moon to be on the board and working with such a visionary chairman who, I am sure, will ensure there are great times ahead.


"It is an incredibly exciting day. SISU have invested heavily and the future of the club is in very safe hands.

The deal was never done until we got over the 90 per cent, but we are there now and that is thanks to an awful lot of people."

Elliott paid tribute to the club's outgoing board members Geoffrey Robinson, Sir Derek Higgs and Mike McGinnity who suffered huge financial losses to make the deal happen, as well as the smaller shareholders for playing their part.

"The club originally issued 55,000 shares and we have had them come back in from those who own just one, to 50 or 100," he said.

"It has been a hectic time since Christmas trying to get them all in and it has been a very emotional process for people, many of whom have had shares handed down over generations - people like Pat Able who got her grandchildren to give up their shares for the love of the club.

"Important figures from the club's history like Jimmy Hill, Bobby Gould and Gordon Milne all gave up theirs, as did former chairman John Poynton.

"But special thanks goes to the John Lucas family who gave up their 1,000 shares to get us over the line with that last two per cent."

Company law dictates that SISU can now claim back the remainder of any outstanding shares.