Coventry City takeover bid “no closer”

The Chairman of Coventry City says he has still received no formal offer to buy the club, despite a meeting today with the man behind a takeover bid.



Ken Dulieu has confirmed he was had several meetings with former Vice Chairman Gary Hoffman.

A few weeks back he revealed he wanted to buy the club and invest 30 million pounds to solve the club’s money problems, buy a share of the Ricoh Arena and bring in more players.

Mr Dulieu says he expected to meet some of Mr Hoffman’s investors today but that did not happen and there is still no formal bid on the table.

He released the following statement:

“There have been several meetings with Gary Hoffman on this matter. He and Joe Elliott attended along with four other people. We had been led to believe by an e-mail from Gary on August 8 that this would be a meeting with his principal investors.

“We were therefore surprised and disappointed to learn that no principal investors were present and there is still no transparency as to their identity.

“There was a frank exchange of views. No formal offer was put on the table, which is what we had been asking for. Gary’s previous indicative offer of a pound for the club is totally unacceptable.

“I can fully understand people being frustrated at the outcome of this meeting as it is becoming a long and drawn-out saga.

“It cannot go on forever because it is not fair on our supporters who have been led to believe that something concrete will happen.

“We have a business to run and want to put 100 per cent of our efforts into supporting Andy Thorn, Steve Harrison and the team, and turning the club around. “Therefore the position remains the same – SISU continue to fund the club.”

It comes as a group of supporters plan a protest against current owners SISU after the home game with Watford tomorrow.

The Sky Blues are currently at the bottom of the Championship with three straight defeats so far this season and a long injury list.

Boss Andy Thorn has had to rely on youngsters to fill the gaps with little cash for new players – three 17-year old’s played in the midweek defeat at Crystal Palace.