League Championship side Nottingham Forest has been "thrown into fresh turmoil" after the £50M ($61M) takeover by U.S. investor John Jay Moores was scrapped on Friday night, according to John Percy of the London TELEGRAPH. Moores, the former owner of the MLB San Diego Padres, "abandoned his bid to take charge at the struggling Championship club after failing to reach agreement" with Chair Fawaz Al Hasawi. Nottingham Forest has been in talks with Moores' consortium since the summer but "negotiations have broken down over a number of factors to leave the double European Cup-winners facing a battle to avoid relegation to League One." It is believed that Al Hasawi and Moores "were in conflict over certain financial details and Forest's players have been resigned to the takeover collapsing for the past few days." It is alleged that Moores was "attempting to drive the price down" to as low as £15M ($18.3M) -- "which his camp strongly dispute" -- and there were similar accusations during his takeover bids at Premier League sides Everton and Swansea City. Al Hasawi is "now expected to remain" as owner and chair (TELEGRAPH, 1/13). In London, Sam Morshead reported Al Hasawi released a statement on Friday "confirming that discussions have broken down." The statement read, "It is with great regret and disappointment that the club announces today that, despite much speculation in the media, all negotiations in regard to a partial sale of the club to US owners have come to an end." Earlier this week, Moores was reportedly flying into the U.K. to "complete his partial purchase" of the club (DAILY MAIL, 1/13).
