Aston Villa have revealed that they are the subject of a takeover bid.
The Premiership club are treating the proposal as “speculative” because they say that the group involved has yet to make make any financial guarantees.
Weekend reports suggested Michael Neville, a lifelong Villa fan, was fronting the bid on behalf of Irish brothers Luke and Brian Comer, who own the Comer Homes Group.
A statement to the Stock Exchange on Monday from Aston Villa plc’s board said: “The directors of Aston Villa plc have noted the weekend press comment and confirm that they have received a preliminary approach from Mr Michael Neville on behalf of a consortium group, which could lead to an offer for the company.
“However, the board have not met with any other members of the consortium group nor received any confirmation of the availability of sufficient funding to support any potential offer and so they can only treat the approach as speculative at this stage.”
“Your board will continue to look at maximising shareholder value and also ensuring that the club is sufficiently funded for the future.”
According to reports, the Comer brothers will spend £64.5m buying out the 58% of the club owned by 81-year-old chairman Doug Ellis and the former Watford chairman Jack Petchy.
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