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ULTIMATUM: Michael Ezra
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By Vision Reporters
Tycoon Michael Ezra was locked in a meeting with Leeds United yesterday and
emerged saying he had given the English Premiership club up to Wednesday to
take his bid or leave it.
“Money is no longer the issue, that has been sorted,” Ezra told
The New Vision after the meeting.
“Leeds know that I
have the £60m ($110.8m, sh200b). My board would also spend an extra £30m to
strengthen the team.”
Reuters reported yesterday that shares in the debt-ridden club had bounced
14% after newspapers reported that they were in talks with Ezra.
On Friday the club’s shares had slumped 25% after shareholders were
warned they could lose out completely in any rescue deal. But the stock shot
up 14.3% at three pence by 11:30am yesterday following the Ezra link.
Ezra, referred to as a property tycoon in the international media, said he
and the club had so far failed to agree on the composition of the board.
“The six-man board that I presented doesn’t have any Briton and
they don’t find that acceptable. They also feel that my board lacks the
technical expertise to bolster the club,” he said but would not divulge
details of his proposed board.
When The New Vision called Leeds for a comment, Neil Robson, the club’s
financial director, was said to be in a meeting (supposedly with Ezra). When
Neil was finally put on line, he had nothing to say about the meeting.
“I can neither deny nor confirm that it took place ... and that’s
the answer I will give for every question you ask,” Robson said.
Leeds is more than £80m in debt after
over-spending on players. The club, currently bottom of the Premiership, has
up to Friday to convince creditors they can stay afloat until the end of the
season. Last Friday, the club secured £5m to run temporarily.
A successful Ezra bid to purchase Leeds means the philanthropist, recently voted second man
of the year behind President Yoweri Museveni by The New Vision readers, will be the only
African to own a club in Europe.
El Saad Gadhafi, son to
Libyan president Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, owns shares
in Serie A outfit Perugia.
Sheikh Abdulrahaman bin Mubarak
al-Khalifa and a Yorkshire consortium are some of the other bidders for the
debt-ridden side.
The latter’s credentials have recently been questioned while the Yorkshire group are said to be willing to take
over Leeds at £20m though they were said to have
recently increased their bid.
Ends
Published on: Tuesday, 10th February, 2004
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