May 5 – Reading have announced an agreement in principle with US investor Rob Couhig’s company, Redwood Holdings Ltd., to acquire the club.
The deal includes the Select Car Leasing Stadium and the Bearwood Park Training Ground, though financial details were not disclosed in the Saturday statement. Redwood Holdings is a subsidiary of Dogwood Football LLC, which is owned by Couhig and Todd Trosclair.
In a statement, the club said: “The formal completion of the transaction is subject to final legal technicalities but is fully expected to be completed shortly.
“Based on the agreement between the parties, the EFL has agreed to extend its deadline for the divestment of Mr Dai Yongge’s shareholding until its next Board Meeting on 8 May.”
Bloomberg previously reported that a group led by Couhig had been in talks to purchase the club for around £30 million ($40 million) before negotiations collapsed last year.
Current owner Dai Yongge was facing a deadline next week to sell his stake after being disqualified by the English Football League as a director under the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test. Following this new agreement, the EFL has extended the deadline for Dai to complete the sale until May 8.
Under John Madejski, Reading were a stable Championship club, but the club’s decline began when, in 2012, he decided to sell to Thames Sports Investments, led by Russian businessman Anton Zingarevich, before a Thai consortium took over. The threat of administration was never far away.
In 2017, Yongge took over, but under his ownership, Reading have been deducted a total of 18 points for multiple financial breaches, including late payment of wages, failure to deposit required funds into a club account, and delays in payments to HMRC.
In 2023, a six-point deduction led to the club’s relegation from the Championship. Under Yongge, the club have reportedly lost more than £190 million.
Reading supporters had established a fan group ‘Sell Before We Dai’ to pressure Yongge into selling.
“As fans, all of us can only control what we can control. Making a noise about our situation, keeping it in the media spotlight and pushing for a sale remains the number one priority. We can’t force a sale over the line ourselves…More importantly, this is YOUR club. Not Dai Yongge’s, not Dai Xiu Li’s. Yours,” said a statement on their website.
Reading finished the current season one place outside the League One play offs.
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