The owners of League Championship side Barnsley "agreed to a takeover led by a duo of investment groups," telling fans that the deal is in their "best interests," according to Katie Martin of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The club said that the deal led by NewCity Capital and Pacific Media Group "meant the new shareholders had already taken up their board positions." The deal also involved Billy Beane, the U.S. baseball exec behind the stats-heavy "Moneyball" approach to sporting success. Financial terms were not disclosed, "but people briefed on the talks beforehand" said that the transaction would "likely be worth" between £10M ($13.4M) and £20M ($26.8M) (
FT, 12/19). The PA reported the takeover was ratified by the English Football League and the consortium "has assumed control from the club’s long-time owner, Patrick Cryne, who in September revealed he has terminal cancer." Beane "used statistical analysis to indentify undervalued talent" during his time as GM of the MLB Oakland Athletics.
Barnsley said in a statement, "The Cryne family have been in discussions regarding a potential takeover of Barnsley Football Club for the last few months with an investor consortium led by Chien Lee of NewCity Capital and Pacific Media Group, which is led by Paul Conway and Grace Hung" (
PA, 12/19). REUTERS' Shrivathsa Sridhar reported Cryne said that the new ownership has "all the synergies, skills and resources needed to make a success of the future" (
REUTERS, 12/19).
