Bolton chairman in takeover talks
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Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside is in Thailand and discussing a possible takeover of the debt-ridden second-tier English club.
A source at BEC Tero, the Thai entertainment company believed to be preparing a joint bid with Siam Sport Syndicate to take over the English Championship club, confirmed when contacted by The Nation yesterday that Gartside had a meeting with the company’s executives in Bangkok.
According to sources, the 62-year-old Englishman spent the weekend watching BEC Tero Sasana, the Thai Premier League club owned by the company, play their final league match of the season at Chiangrai United.
However, when asked about what Gartside discussed with the BEC Tero management, the source declined to answer.
Gartside, whose cash-strapped club announced it was more than 160 million pounds in debt last December, stated earlier this month that he would welcome potential buyers.
“If you want to go and put a for-sale sign outside, do it,” he said in an interview with the Bolton News. “Every club is for sale. If someone knocks on the door and says they want to buy the club, we’d listen.
“It’s not for want of putting that message out that we haven’t changed ownership. But you have guard against who you sell it to.
“Hopefully, Eddie [Davies, Bolton owner] is not going to sell it to just anybody. It’s the same with me; anyone who walks through the door will get an audience, but having done that it’s about due diligence that they do on the football club and that is done on them.
“Eddie would want to sell it to someone who is responsible, who has belief in it. He would want to know it’s not a property strip,” Gartside was quoted as saying by English media.
