Mark Ogren rules out Dundee United sale but admits club could follow in the footsteps of Hibs and Hearts
Mark Ogren has made it clear Dundee United is not for sale although he would be open to possible new investment.
The American owner has ploughed nearly £13million in during his six years at the Tannadice club. It has been something of a costly rollercoaster ride, taking them up from the Championship and into Europe before they were relegated, won promotion again and are now firmly re-establishing themselves back in the Premiership under Jim Goodwin. Ogren said: “We are not for sale. We are not listed for sale and we don’t have a broker out there trying to sell us.”
Fans might have expected the tycoon to try and cut and run to minimise his losses but he continues to fund United. Thanks to the hard work of chief executive Luigi Capuano the club’s costs have been slashed and are edging towards break-even point. United have held talks with Brighton and Brentford over potential partnerships and Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen has also been linked with a possible investment.
Ogren admitted there has been a lot of interest throughout his time at the helm. And he added: “There have been numerous conversations with people who are interested in investing. That has been happening since day one, really, we’ve had people asking if we’d sell a piece or if we’d be open to investment.
“We have had conversations with people who have shown an interest but there’s nothing in the works right now. I don’t want to talk about anyone specifically but we have spoken to multiple people. Would I be open to that? Given certain parameters then possibly yes.”
Brighton and Brentford have both looked at potential partnerships as more English clubs look across the border. Ogren confessed the modern game is moving that way.
“It’s kind of the way some of these clubs are going so it would be natural,” the United chief said. “That would be a situation which could emerge but there’s nothing in the works in that regard.”
Ogren is not going anywhere and neither are Dundee United. Dundee chief executive John Nelms has again put a possible groundshare on the agenda at their proposed new stadium.
United has dismissed that out of hand and at yesterday’s AGM Ogren said: “One of the things I want to do is start a Tannadice fund to ring fence investment in the stadium. For major projects.”
