Blackburn sale to Indian firm confirmed
The sale of English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers to
Indian poultry firm Venky's has been completed, the club announced
in a statement on Friday.
The statement on Blackburn's official website said the club's
holding company had sold its 99.9 percent shareholding in Rovers to
Venky's London Limited, a newly formed company owned by the Rao
family of India.
"The board of Blackburn Rovers Football and Athletic plc today
announces the sale by BRFC Investments Limited (a company
indirectly wholly owned by the Jack Walker 1987 Settlement) of its
99.9 per cent shareholding in BRF&A to Venky?s London Limited,"
the statement said.
Venky's had completed the deal for 23 million pounds or 17.17
pence per share, the statement said.
"We are very pleased to be passing on the Rovers to the Rao
family," Paul Egerton-Vernon, chairman of the Jack Walker
Settlement Trustees said.
"We have been impressed with their enthusiasm for the club, and
their plans and ideas for future investment to develop it further
as well as their wish and commitment to preserve the legacy of Jack
Walker.
"We are particularly pleased that the club will continue in
family ownership and that the existing management team at the
Rovers led by John Williams will continue unchanged."
Asia's largest poultry group, Venky's is part of the
290-million-dollar worth Venkateshwara Hatcheries (VH) group, which
has diversified from poultry products to pet foods, nutrition for
humans and healthcare products.
Headquartered in the western city of Pune, it produces chicken
nuggets, chicken meatballs, kebabs and Vienna sausages.
Established in 1875, Blackburn were one of the founding members
of the Football League.
They were also the last club from outside the established big
four of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool to win
the Premier League, lifting the title in 1995.
AFP