Jim O’Toole and James Sandford’s Atlas consortium have been named as the new owners of Worcester Warriors after their bid for the club, land and ground was accepted by administrators Begbies Traynor.
O’Toole, former CEO of the club, and Sandford will now lead Atlas Worcester Warriors. Contracts have been officially exchanged, according to Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor, allowing the sale of Worcester Warriors and its assets to Atlas Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club Limited to proceed.
However, despite Wasps and Warriors being taken over, their futures still remain in doubt with their places in the Championship still not confirmed.
It said in a statement: “The RFU has informed the new owners of Wasps RFC, and the administrators of WRFC Trading Limited (the main operating entity of Worcester Warriors RFC) that they have until 14 February to conclude their negotiations and provide evidence that they have met the relevant conditions set.
“This is a significant extension to the original mid-December timeline to provide the clubs with the best possible chance of being in the Championship next year. However, a final deadline must be set to provide certainty to the Championship and National League clubs, players and other rugby stakeholders over the format of next season.
“In the case of Wasps, the RFU board conditionally approved the takeover, but not all the conditions set have yet been met, including the lodging of a bond and the signing of an agreement which commits the new club to the relevant conditions. Both would need to be done by the deadline for the approval to remain in place.
“The proposed buyers of Worcester Warriors had informed the RFU that they were not prepared to meet the conditions set, which included commitments not to dispose of land around Sixways Stadium without approval and were unable to satisfy the RFU of the sources and sufficiency of funding.
:The RFU was not able to confirm the suitability of the prospective owners. Therefore, the RFU board was unable to approve their application. If that position changes within the deadline, the RFU will be able to reconsider whether the application can be approved, but if not, then unfortunately the RFU decision will remain the same.”
Two clubs in trouble:
Harlequins
They wrote: “They borrowed £48m in FY21, maybe through £50m on the back of FY22. If you look at operating profit per employee, they are paying £60,000 per employee and going backwards. It’s the structure of the business – big property investments, borrowings.”
