Presenter Adrian Goldberg and journalist Chris Lepkowski discussed all of the latest West Bromwich Albion news on the most recent edition of Baggies-focused podcast The Liquidator and during the show, they spent some time discussing a potential West Brom takeover.
The Telegraph have reported that West Brom have held talks with an American consortium who are said to be interested in either fully taking over West Brom or becoming a minority shareholder in the West Midlands club.
As per The Telegraph, this consortium already had a takeover bid rejected by current Baggies owner Guochuan Lai earlier this year, but they are allegedly prepared to table another bid if Lai lowers his asking price, with the current Baggies owner said to value his stake in the club at roughly £150m, which is around £50m less than the businessman allegedly paid to purchase his stake in West Brom back in September 2016.
Lepkowski shared his thoughts on the possibility of a Baggies takeover happening during this recent edition of The Liquidator podcast and he shared some optimism about the likelihood that the Baggies’ ownership will change hands, with the journalist indicating that another potential buyer, in addition to this American consortium, may be in talks over potentially investing in the club.
He said: “At least two [firms are involved], is my understanding. I suspect there are more – but there has certainly been two who have been in discussions.
“One thing I have heard – and this is applying throughout football at the moment – there is a lot of interest coming from America towards English football clubs and I think it’s going to be one to watch.
“I don’t think it’s something that we’ll have an update on necessarily next week or the week after, this could rumble on because takeovers aren’t overnight issues and they don’t just happen.
“There’s a process that needs to be gone through, there are hurdles and certain governance issues that need to be ticked off, but if, as we’re hearing, there are discussions taking place and there are other potential suitors out there who are discussing matters with the club’s owners, then it certainly makes me think that somewhere along the line, maybe even this season, we might see West Bromwich Albion go through some kind of takeover.”
Do you think a West Brom takeover will happen this season?
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TIF Thoughts on what Lepkowski had to say about a potential West Brom takeover…
It would seem that Lai is happy to cut his losses and end his involvement with West Brom, seeing as he is allegedly prepared to make a loss by selling the club and if Lepkowski is right in saying that at least two, and potentially more, consortia are in discussions about taking over West Brom, then perhaps the journalist is right to share some confidence over the possibility of a change in ownership happening at The Hawthorns at some point.
Given that the American group that The Telegraph discussed are seemingly not interested in taking over the Baggies at Lai’s current valuation, perhaps they don’t seem like the most likely buyers at the moment but if their interest in taking over West Brom is strong, then could the presence of other potential buyers result in them meeting Lai’s valuation?
It remains to be seen how many consortia are interested in taking over West Brom and at which price each potential buyer may be willing to purchase the club but if West Brom are in discussions with multiple parties, then seeing as though Lai is seemingly a willing seller, then perhaps a change in ownership isn’t very far away for the West Midlands club, as Lepkowski suggested.