Int'l Entertainment Corp. Set To Take Over Wigan Athletic

A Hong Kong-based consortium is "poised to complete a takeover" of recently-promoted League Championship side Wigan Athletic after the club's owner, the Whelan family, agreed to a deal in principle, according to Hardik Vyas of REUTERS. Wigan Chair David Sharpe said that the agreement to sell the club's majority stake to Int'l Entertainment Corp. "is now subject to approval from the English Football League and the Hong Kong stock exchange." IEC confirmed in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday that the £22M ($29.6M) deal includes a majority shareholding in Wigan's DW Stadium and the training grounds (REUTERS, 5/21). The BBC reported the IEC said that it paid a £1.5M ($2M) deposit on the deal. The corporation plans to appoint two U.K.-based individuals "who have knowledge and experience of the English game" to help run the club. It added that investment in the playing staff is "central to its business plan" (BBC, 5/21).