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Canadian no to Owls takeover
A CANADIAN group which has been linked with Sheffield Wednesday have ruled themselves out of the running for a Hillsborough takeover.
Top officials from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment met the Owls, Southampton and Reading on a recent trip to England.
They also watched matches at Spurs and Chelsea and attended a football business convention.
It started a wave of speculation in England and Canada that Maple Leaf, who own Toronto FC, could be launching a bid for an English club.
But the company, said from the outset that their trip was a fact-finding mission and it was premature to link them with an English takeover.
It is understood that they have now decided that English football is not for them.
The Owls' financial advisors, Deloitte and Touche, will focus on other potential targets and use the lure of possible Premier League status as a selling point in their bid to find a buyer of the club.
The timing of the Owls' announcement that they have directed the firm to launch a search for new investment is understood to be closely linked to the sealing of Championship safety.
The club did not know until Sunday that they were definitely staying up.
Now they can be marketed as a Championship outfit - one with good potential and with a stadium and fan base suitable for the Premier League.
This is bound to be more attractive to some potential investors than the prospect of taking over a League One club, though it understood that consortium leaders Geoff Sheard and Jon Sotnick would both have continued their takeover bids even if the team had gone down.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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