Blackburn taken over by an Indian family for £43mil.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Blackburn have been purchased by the Rao family from India for about £43m.

Under the deal, BBC Sport understands Rovers' shares have been acquired for £23m with a debt in the region of £20m also taken on by the new owners.

The trust set up by late former owner Jack Walker to own the club has sold its 99.9% holding to the newly-formed company Venky's London Limited.

Trust chairman Paul Egerton-Vernon said: "We're very pleased to be passing on the Rovers to the Rao family."

He continued: "We have been impressed with their enthusiasm and their plans and ideas for investment as well as their wish to preserve the legacy of Jack Walker."

Venky's chairman Anuradha J Desai said they were "delighted, proud and humbled to be associated with Blackburn Rovers".

He added: "We will absolutely respect the Jack Walker legacy and will be actively supporting the organisation to ensure that Blackburn Rovers remains one of the best-run clubs within the Premier League.

"We are particularly pleased that the deal has the full support of the Walker Trust, the chairman and the management team, who will of course remain in place with our full support."

The deal make Rovers the first Indian-owned Premier League club, and the new owners believe their experience of the Asian country means they will be able to open a huge new market for the Lancashire outfit.

Venky's director Balaji Rao said the firm intends to "exploit our in-depth knowledge of the Indian market in particular, and beyond that, the whole of Asia" to develop the club's fan base.

Speaking on Friday before the deal was confirmed, Rovers boss Sam Allardyce welcomed the takeover and said he hoped it would lead to funds to buy new players as Rovers battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

"The best way to improve a football club in the early stages is the first-team results," he said.

"We all know we have been short of a bit of investment in the last few years.

"Since the trust has tried to sell the club they haven't been willing to fund the sort of transfers needed to keep the club improving.

"That's put it in danger of maybe being in the throes of selling your best players and threatened with relegation."

According to its website Venky's was established in 1976, mainly to produce chicks for the Indian poultry market, before diversifying into other areas including nutritional health products for humans, pet food and other healthcare products.

The Jack Walker Trust put Blackburn up for sale two years ago in the hope of attracting buyers willing to invest.

Blackburn are 14th in the Premier League, only two points above the relegation places after picking up four victories in 13 games.

[TEOL]

*waits for 9 to 5 and RW to see this*

[R.W.]

Won't make any difference at all I think, as long as Williams is staying in charge of the day to day affairs.

[9 to 5]

Been on the cards for ages now. It will give us a bit more money and such but not really a big change. We won't turn into Man City MKII or anything.

[cmb211087]

At least we may actually be able to make a transfer this time though

[HailtotheYo]

68m US for Blackburn ?

Interesting. Franchise fee for the MLS is 40m. Nice piece of perspective on club values with the current state of things over there right now.

Any Blackburn fans know what the approximate value would be without debt/etc ?

[Colly]

Radio 1 just reported that the new owners will be happy if Allardyce can manage top 12. He must be shitting it, thats his 'anything above 17th' policy out the window...

[cmb211087]

68m US for Blackburn ?

Interesting. Franchise fee for the MLS is 40m. Nice piece of perspective on club values with the current state of things over there right now.

Any Blackburn fans know what the approximate value would be without debt/etc ?

£25m with £20m debt paid, roughly.

Edited November 19, 2010 by cmb211087

[brenchill]

There's enough cowboy owners in the Premiership.

Might as well have an Indian .

[R.W.]

Radio 1 just reported that the new owners will be happy if Allardyce can manage top 12. He must be shitting it, thats his 'anything above 17th' policy out the window...

Yes, because Allardyce hasnt frequently finished in the top 10......oh.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

£25mil valuation seemed really low for a Premiership football club but I guess I must have an inflated sense of team worth.

[9 to 5]

It is a really low figure, surprising and a bit humbling.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

I bet even this year Burnley would fetch more than that.

[9 to 5]

Not a hope.

[-A-]

Can't just say £25m, though. They paid £45m - the debt paid/taken over counts as well. That's the valuation of the club.

[Lord Nibbler]

Radio 1 just reported that the new owners will be happy if Allardyce can manage top 12. He must be shitting it, thats his 'anything above 17th' policy out the window...

Sam Allardyce is a world class manager who would win the league every single year with Manchester United or Real Madrid, so if anyone can do it...

Edited November 21, 2010 by Lord Nibbler

[stokeriño]

I don't think the price is that weird/low. I think that people have become too used to the ridiculous valuations that are placed on the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool.

When you're buying a business that doesn't make a profit (as 99% of football clubs don't), you're essentially valuing its assets. Not that they could actually cash in most of those assets, of course, so really they're just buying into a cash sinkhole. And since those assets are usually coupled with sizable debts, I find it quite astonishing that people are willing to pay much (or anything) for most football clubs.

We should see more deals like Ken Bates' purchase of Chelsea. "Here, you can have the club for a quid, but YOU have to deal with the fucking debts and the financial suicide that is professional football. Good luck mate."

[HailtotheYo]

That is quite interesting. While I know that the ManU/Arsenal/Chelsea/Barca/Real types aren't the norm, I'd have guessed a "solid" EPL club would be a bit more than that.

[stokeriño]

I imagine part of the issue is how reliably they can expect to continue securing Premier League (or, for the highest teams, Champions League) money.

For example, if you buy Liverpool and really, really balls it up one year, you probably have enough latent quality in the club/squad to expect to still survive in the Premier League until next season (whereupon you can sort out whatever the hell went wrong). If you buy a team like Blackburn (...or West Ham ) and really, really balls it up one year, you're relegated and may never get back.

[-A-]

It's quite interesting that MLS franchises are worth more, though. I guess that's because they actually have a decent chance at turning a profit, unlike Premiership clubs. The value of the assets and the potential upsides are bigger, but they're not actually going to make you money.