09 May 2019
Bolton set for administration as takeover talks collapse
BY Tom Walker
Bolton Wanderers Football Club (BWFC) is set to enter administration after talks to find a new owner collapsed.
Current owner and chair Ken Anderson had been in advanced negotiations to sell the club to entrepreneur and former Watford FC owner Laurence Bassini, but the takeover failed at the eleventh hour.
The deadline for any deal was set for yesterday (8 May), when BWFC representatives appeared in the High Court over a £1.2m unpaid tax bill.
As no takeover deal was secured, Anderson filed a notice of intent to appoint an administrator for both BWFC and Bolton Whites Hotel – a property located at the club's stadium.
In a strongly-worded statement posted on the BWFC website, Anderson blamed Bassini for the failure of the talks – and the resulting filing for administration.
"Mr Bassini has failed to provide any adequate and acceptable proof of current and future funding to the English Football League, the other secured creditors or me despite him keep telling the media, and anyone else that listens, that he has the ability to perform since early March – when first discussions were held with him and his advisors," Anderson wrote.
"His failure to perform has actually caused far greater hardship to the staff than would have occurred if he had not given undertakings he clearly cannot honour.
"For this I am deeply sorry and offer my apologies to the hard-working staff of both the football club and Whites Hotel.
"Mr Bassini, regrettably his continued time wasting and empty promises have caused a great deal of heartache and frustration for the staff and supporters alike and now leave the Eddie Davies Trust and me with little or no choice other than for one of us to place the businesses into administration, as any likelihood of finding any resolution the High Court hearing not possible.
"This had been a massive disappointment to me as I understand the serious implications administration will bring to the businesses."
The High Court has now given the club until 22 May to find an administrator.
Administration will result in BWFC having a 12-point penalty imposed on them next season. The club was relegated to League One this season, following a disappointing season off and on the pitch.
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