Florida medical technology investor Shilen Patel is buying English championship football club West Bromwich Albion. Bloomberg writes about this.
► Subscribe to the Telegram channel “Ministry of Finance”: main financial news
Bilkul Football WBA LLC, controlled by Shilen Patel and his father Kiran K. Patel, will acquire 87.8% of the shares of West Bromwich Albion Group Ltd. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Since 2016, West Bromwich Albion has been owned by Chinese businessman Lai Guochuan.
According to independent estimates, the American businessman paid £30-35 million for 87.8% of the club and will repay about £30 million more. debts.
The takeover has been approved by the English Football League and the agreement will be closed next week, the club said.
Shillen Patel founded Healthaxis Group, a healthcare technology and services company. He was a co-owner of Visionary Healthware Group, an electronic health records software provider acquired by CompuGroup Medical SE in 2010.
Shilene Patel also has a minority stake in Serie A team Bologna since 2014.< /p>
West Bromwich Albion is in fifth place in the championship, which gives the team a chance to be promoted to the lucrative Premier League.
At the same time, the club has a difficult financial situation due to debts, accumulated for the Chinese owner.
VBA won the English Championship once back in 1919-1920 and won the FA Cup five times and won the Super Cup once. However, the team’s last achievement dates back to 1968.
