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Americans succeed in Wednesday bid

 A group led by American businessman David Storch has been named as the preferred bidder for Sheffield Wednesday, who will start the 2026-27 season in League One with a 15-point deduction.,The winning bid is not high enough to ensure that all of the club’s unsecured creditors receive at least 25 per cent of what they are owed, hence the points deduction.

The Storch group’s bid of just under £20million beat rival offers for the south Yorkshire-based club from English retail tycoon and ex-Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, a group led by former Charlton Athletic and Sunderland executive Charlie Methven and two undisclosed U.S. syndicates that made late bids.   Ashley was seen as the favourite at one stage but did not bid high enough.

Storch, 73, retired as chief executive of aircraft maintenance firm AAR Corp in 2018, before spending another five years as the chairman of the multinational’s board of directors. He is now managing partner of Illinois-based investment firm Arise Capital Partners, where his son Michael is a managing director.

They have been looking to invest in British football for over two years, having previously looked at Blackpool, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle and Reading. They and their co-investor Tom Costin, the managing partner of investment firm Owl Ventures, were outbid by Bord’s group in December but have waited in the wings to see if they would get a second chance.

The upshot of all this is that the minimum price for Wednesday was about £16m, with at least twice that needed to avoid a points penalty next season. Having seen Bord’s group fail to close the deal, it seems that all parties have decided to use their cash to get the club moving in the right direction again next season, as opposed to giving Chansiri any money.

Fans, however, will be greatly concerned about the prospect of a second straight relegation. The average points total needed for survival in League One over the last five season is just over 45 points. That means Wednesday would effectively need a mid-table season to survive.

The process is not over as the EFL needs to be satisfied that Storch has the required funds and the independent football regulator will watch what happens closely.  A settlement under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US involving the bidders is not thought to be a major obstacle.


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