Flowers Ends Leeds United Takeover Bid

Andrew Flowers has pulled out of talks to buy Leeds United.The managing director of Enterprise Insurance withdrew from the battle after making a last-ditch effort to take charge of the club before Italian businessman Massimo Cellino completed his own takeover. Flowers was part of a failed attempt by the Sport Capital consortium to secure a 75 per cent stake in Leeds last month but he attempted to put a fresh offer together over the weekend.Enterprise Insurance - United’s shirt sponsor since 2011 - withdrew its support of the club on Friday evening and has also issued a winding-up order on the club over a loan paid to Leeds in 2012. In a statement, Flowers said: “I entered discussions in good faith to buy this club for the simple reason that I am a lifelong supporter and sincerely believed that I could make a real contribution towards the goal of promotion to the Premier League and at the same time provide the stability and sound financial governance the club desperately needs. “However, the emergence of Mr Cellino’s bid, and the nature of the transaction, seems to have crystallised the attitudes of both GFH and the Leeds United board, enabling them to dispose of the club with no consideration for its ultimate security and wellbeing. “In effect, it is a ‘fire sale’ transaction which is not in the interests of Leeds United, its players, staff or loyal supporters. “Both myself and my company, Enterprise Insurance, have been enormous financial supporters of the club for the last few years and while we may understand the commercial expediency which leads the owners to accept the superficially attractive Cellino offer, we remain firmly convinced this deal will not give the club the stability or investor commitment it badly needs. “Despite our serious misgivings, we wish the team, the manager and fans well for the future and I remain a very enthusiastic Leeds supporter. “I have no other comment to make at this time about outstanding financial and legal issues between us and the current owners.”

Leeds United face winding up Order

According to a report in the Financial Times Leeds United's shirt sponsors Enterprise Insurance have made a move to wind up the company.Enterprise, whose managing director Andrew Flowers is a failed bidder, has filed a winding-up petition for the Championship club over an alleged unpaid debt. It will be heard in the High Court in March.The Gibraltar-based insurer issued the petition on January 29, a day after talks with Sport Capital, a consortium including Mr Flowers, a life-long Leeds fan, and David Haigh, managing director of Leeds, collapsed.The move appears designed to prevent a sale to Massimo Cellino, owner of Cagliari, the Italian top flight club, who clinched an agreement to buy 75 per cent of Leeds on Friday. Since then, the manager, Brian McDermott, has been sacked and reinstated, and Mr Cellino’s lawyer, Chris Farnell, has been asked to leave Leeds’ Elland Road base. GFH Capital, the Bahraini investor seeking to sell the bulk of its stake in the club, has reiterated that it remains in charge. In debt proceedings, courts potentially have the power to reverse the sale of assets, freeze bank accounts and even order an administration or liquidation. Leeds, which has had a difficult financial history, entered administration in 2007, with £35m in debts. Mr Cellino has applied to the Football League to pass its “fit and proper person” test required of club owners. Leeds city council, which owns the club’s training ground, has also written to the league calling for a “thorough vetting” of Mr Cellino.Enterprise has apparently scrapped its shirt sponsorship of the club. In 2012 it lent Leeds £1.7m at 7 per cent interest for repayment in 2015. Mike Smith, a corporate insolvency expert from Jameson Smith, said the insurers’ move was “risky”, since the debt must be proved in law or costs could be awarded against it. Unless settled, the petition must also be advertised in the London Gazette. “Other creditors can use the same petition to pursue their own debts so I suspect it is solely being used as a bargaining chip to apply pressure to the board of Leeds United,” he said. Mr Flowers has reportedly joined a third bidding consortium, which includes Adam Pearson, former Hull City chairman, Mike Farnan, ex-Sunderland marketing director, and Gary Verity, who runs Welcome to Yorkshire, a tourism promotion agency. They are understood to be offering around £30m in staged payments. GFH bought Leeds in December 2012 for £17m from Ken Bates, the former Chelsea owner.