Rich Energy Drinks CEO William Storey has confirmed he has lodged a bid for Sunderland as he looks to take over from Stewart Donald.
The Black Cats ownership issues have rumbled on for a year or so now, with Donald recently stepping down as chairman and stating his intention to sell the club. A deal fell through last summer, with an inadequate season of football following in fan’s eyes.
Now they’re gearing up for a third successive season in League One and Donald is still eager to sell, with the controversial Storey wanting to take the reins. He tweeted his latest move last night, stating: “To respond to the queries from fans and media: My fully funded bid has been legally submitted to the club & welcomed by the board. Still under NDA & deal currently in the hands of lawyers. My partners & I are working very hard for a successful outcome.”
Donald wants around £37m for the club he bought two seasons ago, and Storey has already committed to putting £50m in should his takeover succeed. Whilst it looks great on paper, fans do have reservations about their potential new owner. Storey’s involvement with Formula One team Haas ended badly when a sponsorship deal thought to be worth around $60million per season collapsed last year.
It looked set to be a lucrative deal for the team, but only six months into the deal Rich Energy tweeted claiming that they had pulled out. Oddly, the social media output was blamed on an errant employee, untilHaas later confirmed the deal had been terminated. Rich Energy later claimed that they had pulled out due to Haas’ ‘poor performance’ and the ‘politics and PC attitude’ involved with Formula One.
Sunderland fans are doubtless wary of the current situation, and have had plenty to say in response to Storey’s tweet last night:
Have you taken our latest Sunderland sticker quiz? How many players can you name from 13 years ago?
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