Sat, 29 Jun 2013 | BUSINESS SALE
Paul Appleton, the administrator handling Coventry FC, has confirmed that the club has been sold to Otium Entertainment Group.
The club was initially put into administration as the result of a long-running dispute with the owner of its Ricoh Arena home ground, Arena Coventry Ltd (ACL). The issue has gone on for over a year and revolved around disagreements over rent.
Matters are a step closer to being resolved now with Otium taking the reigns. The buyer was founded by three former directors of Coventry, all of whom have a connection to outgoing owners Sisu. Onye Igwe, Leonard Brody and the club's ex-chairman Ken Dulieu founded the group but the current registered directors at London-based Otium are chief executive Tim Fisher and Coventry City director Mark Labovitch.
Mr Appleton has issued a statement regarding the business sale, in which he confirmed: “Otium has purchased the right and title to certain assets possessed in CCFC Limited, including the shares in the Football League and the Football Association."
He explained that one of the most pressing issues at the moment is to organise where the club will play its matches next season. ACL has offered the club the option to play at the Ricoh rent-free but this was dependent on the club remaining in administration. Mr Appleton added that the offer was further troubled by the fact that it was “based on the mistaken belief that Limited had the ability to field a team … as I've stated on many occasions, it is Holdings which employs the players and, consequently, Limited was never in a position to take up the offer”.
It is clear that this has been “no ordinary football administration”, as the administrator phrased it. The club has been plagued by the disagreements with ACL but Mr Appleton is hopeful that a deal has been reached that will allow the Sky Blues to “compete in all the next season's competitions".
While the sale has been confirmed the club is set to remain in administration until a CVA can be issued and agreed between all parties.
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