Former Newcastle United and Sportsdirect chief Mike Ashley has held talks with Wasps as he eyes a £50m takeover, with negotiations underway between the parties involved.
According to the Daily Mail, Wasps Holdings have sounded out Ashley about buying the club and the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Ashley, who also previously held a stake in Rangers, has reportedly offered to refinance £35million worth of bonds taken out by the club’s owner, Wasps Holdings, to fund their move to Coventry in 2014.
Wasps have until Monday to find £2million to avoid a winding-up petition deadline set by HM Revenue and Customs.
Premiership clubs and the RFU met on Monday afternoon to decide whether Wasps would be automatically relegated under regulation 5, should the West Midlands club fall into administration.
It’s been reported that Ashley would accept relegation as long as the club retains it’s ownership stake of the Premiership.
All 13 Premiership Club Owners Ranked By Their Net Worth
See where Mike Ashley would rank, though four clubs have no clear owner:
The full list is made up of data from talkSPORT, The Mirror and The Sun.
Exeter Chiefs: N/A
Club states that it remains owned by 700 members, the shares held by John Lockyer, Bob Staddon, Paul Derbyshire and Ian Pugsley acting as trustees.
Leicester Tigers owner: N/A
Most recent annual return notes a large number of individual shareholders; club states that no person owns 50% or more of the club shares.
Saracens: N/A
No overall controlling party following the purchase of the club from Nigel Wray.
Northampton Saints owner: N/A
No overall controlling party.
Now, take a look through the gallery to reveal the estimated net worth of the Gallagher Premiership’s owners and top shareholders.