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Friday, June 29, 2007
The directors of Southampton Leisure will be at the highly charged meeting which will range the interests of local businessmen, non executive directors and long-time supporters of the South Coast club Leon Crouch and Patrick Trant against executives Ken Dulieu and Jim Hone, brought in by the club's previous power broker Rupert Lowe.
Internecine warfare on the board is understood to be the sticking point delaying the takeover by Allen, whose interest - exclusively revealed by the Evening Standard - forced Southampton Leisure to admit it had received a takeover approach two months ago, sending the shares rocketing.
The Evening Standard understands that Allen remains prepared to make an offer of around 65p a share for the club which has debts of nearly £25m relating to the construction of its St Mary's stadium and which, under Dulieu and Hone's regime, has dived into the red and racked up further debts.
City investors remain convinced Allen will make a £50m offer. The club's stock opened today at 58½p.
Southampton failed to win promotion to the Premiership last season and recently lost star teenage defender Gareth Bale, pictured, for £5m to Tottenham Hotspur, but Allen is understood to see massive upside to investing in the club.
