Sheffield United on verge of US takeover worth over £100m
Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah has agreed terms to sell the club to a US consortium led by Steve Rosen in a deal worth more than £100 million.
The final parts of the deal still need to be signed off by the EFL but there is confidence of Rosen taking control of the club after progress was made in the last few weeks.
It is understood that the deal will be worth £105 million, with Rosen also set to buy the hotel adjacent to Bramall Lane. The US businessman may look to attend this weekend’s Steel City derby but travel plans have not been finalised.
Sheffield United have been subject to takeover talks over the last few seasons with different parties, with talks taking place while they were in the Premier League. Prince Abdullah had previously been in talks with Nigerian businessman Dozy Mmobuosi but a takeover never materialised.
They are currently in the automatic promotion places in the Championship under Chris Wilder, who says the takeover talk has not distracted him from his mission to get the club back into the top flight.
“I’ve not been involved in the takeover at all,” Wilder said recently. “I’m not part of it and I’m head down and on with preparing the team for the next game. That’s for the chief exec or the owner, not for me. I’m focusing on the group. Nothing has affected me so far, it’s been going on for a while and it hasn’t affected me. Because we wouldn’t have had the results we have had if I had been affected.”
Should the new consortium be successful in gaining control of the club, they would add to the number of clubs under American owners in English football.
In the Premier League, Chelsea were the latest to be taken over by owners from the United States, while Liverpool are owned by Fenway Sports Group, although the Glazer family have sold some of Manchester United to Sir Jim Ratcliffe. In the Premier League last season, half of the clubs were either owned or partly owned by investors in the U.S.
American investment group 49ers Enterprises bought Leeds United last year, with the club getting to the Championship play-off final but losing to Southampton.
