FAN group Wednesdayite have received a written offer from takeover front man Geoff Sheard for their 10 per stake in the Owls.
It is set to lead to a ballot of Wednesdayite members and is another twist in the five-month saga. It is understood that the offer is 20p a share - the same amount agreed by Dave Allen in a deal already lined up.
Wednesdayite chairman Darryl Keys said: "First we have sought advice from our lawyers to ensure that we adhere to legal procedures and subject to that we are happy to ballot our members and hopefully get the go-ahead for a sale.
"Obviously It would have to be part of an overall deal that gives control to another party; if someone was just acquiring our shares and nobody else's then we would just be shuffling deckchairs."
Moves by Sheard to finalise the Allen deal and try to buy the 10 per cent stakes by Geoff Hulley and Keith Addy appear to be on hold until the Wednesdayite issue is resolved.
Rumours that Sheard held a meeting at Hillsborough with Hulley and Addy have been strongly denied. Former chairman Geoff Hulley told The Star that the claim was "balderdash", adding: "I have not spoken to him or met him; nor, I believe, has Keith."
Wednesdayite's leadership, before receiving the offer, had already submitted a list of questions to Sheard. Keys explained: "These are certainly not preconditions; they are various questions that we believe our members would want to ask.
"We have asked him to attend a meeting of members, which he has agreed to do, and he has also agreed to attend a final meeting at which members will be able to debate before the ballot is closed."
He said that it will take around a week to get paperwork to members; followed by the 14-day period stipulated in the group's rules before the ballot is closed.
Keys added: "No-one can accuse us of delaying matters. The procedure that we would have to go through has been well known right from the start. We also offered to organise a ballot at an earlier stage, but were told there was no requirement by the other party for us to do so."
He said that some of the questions raised by Wednesdayite have been answered in the offer letter, though not all: "I don't know what questions he will be prepared to answer at a meeting. I think there's a mood for change. I'd like to think that members will get enough information from him for him to achieve his objectives."
Meanwhile, Wednesday have confirmed the six-month loan signing of Chelsea midefielder Jimmy Smith.
What do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORE Football headlinesMore BladesMore OwlsMore SpireitesMore RoversMore RedsMore MillersMore Ice HockeyMore rugby leagueMore rugby unionMore boxingSports columnistsAll sport categoriesThe full article contains 507 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
