>From The Guardian: Bates could face legal challenge after takeover
Matt Scott Tuesday June 5, 2007 The Guardian Ken Bates's takeover of Leeds United was approved yesterday after a recount of last Friday's creditors' vote that had been too close to call. However, angry creditors said they were taking legal advice with a view to challenging the outcome of the ballot in the high court. One individual who had been present at Friday's meeting said: "There were about 120 people in that meeting on Friday and 115 of them were against Ken Bates's offer. Major creditors are taking independent advice as to whether to mount a high-court challenge. There are 28 days to consider that option." Complainants believe issues arising in the creditors' meeting might have affected the voting had they been disclosed beforehand. According to sources, there was an admission by a director of the new company set up by Bates as the club's parent company, Leeds United Football Club Limited, that the major creditor, Astor Investment Holdings - whose votes were critical in carrying the Bates proposal - had historically been connected to Leeds United's previous owner, Forward Sports Fund. The administrator, KPMG, stated during Friday's meeting that it had received affidavits swearing that this connection had been severed approximately six months ago. Mark Taylor, who along with Bates and Shaun Harvey is a director of the company that took control of Leeds yesterday, did not believe that any challenge could succeed in court. "To overturn the decision, they would have to prove that the administrator had been unreasonable," said Taylor. "But KPMG acted very professionally throughout." _______________________________________________ the Leeds List is an unmoderated mailing list and the list administrators accept no liability for the personal views and opinions of contributors. Leedslist mailing list [email protected] http://list.zetnet.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist Join The Leeds United Supporters Trust at www.lufctrust.org
