Exeter Chiefs are looking to pay off debts with the sale of one of their ‘non-rugby assets’.
However, speaking to the BBC, Rob Baxter has revealed they are “incomparable” to the debts faced by Wasps and Worcester.
The south coast club are looking to sell a non-rugby related asset in order to pay back loans taken out during the last couple of years.
Those included a Barclays Covid-19 loan of £5m, a Sport England loan of £6.8m and a NatWest loan of £6.6m.
The Chiefs have not stated which ‘non-rugby asset’ they are planning to sell although the club currently hold a 75% share in the company that operates the Sandy Park Hotel, which is worth close to £40m.
“It’s a decision to keep the club moving forward, that’s what it’s about,” Baxter told BBC Sport.
“It’s not in as pleasant a circumstances as some other decisions we’ve made, but it’s only the same as when we asked if we could invest the CVC money in a hotel or build a new grandstand on the other side of the field.
“This is in the board’s mind the most sensible way forward.I f they reject it, the only thing to do is you have to find another way.
“If it hadn’t been for what’s happened at Wasps and Worcester we probably wouldn’t have even made a comment because no-one would have been searching for a story, it would have just been going on and it would have been a decision that was made, and it would just probably have come out afterwards.
“It’s just putting our ducks in order with regards to the yeses and nos that have to happen for the directors to act in the way they see the business going forward.”
PREMIERSHIP CLUBS RANKED BY TOTAL DEBT:
#13. Gloucester – £27m
#12. Northampton Saints £26.5m
#11. Worcester Warriors – £26.5m
#10. Exeter Chiefs – £28.2m
