Owner of Bournemouth Bill Foley will make a visit to Hibs before to the end of the season after his offer of a minority stake was approved at the club’s annual general meeting earlier this week.
Before engaging in urgent negotiations with the Scottish FA to guarantee that Foley’s proposal to purchase a quarter of the club would be approved, Easter Road officials had been in negotiations with the US billionaire for almost a full year. With the approval of the club’s shareholders, the 79-year-old will now travel to Edinburgh and—more importantly—Hibs.
“A journey is scheduled. There is a planned trip between now and the conclusion of the season, though the dates haven’t been finalized yet,” chief executive Ben Kensell stated at the AGM on Tuesday.
“He is totally dedicated. He’s had dinner with the Gordons. This has been nine months – longer than some girlfriends! But this is more than a simple transaction—this is a legitimate relationship. It’s a collaboration.We expect representatives and/or Bill to be on the board. The Black Knights are a sizable group that participates in numerous sports. However, we are aware that Bill intends to play a major role and will.
“He truly loves playing football. If you’re not a football lover, you don’t buy Bournemouth, or any portion of Lorient, or Auckland. He will so be involved. As we have done since the beginning, Ian Gordon will take the lead in that connection along with me.”
Kensell is also relishing a bigger slice of the UEFA solidarity money pie, with Hibs set to benefit to the tune of close to £1 million next season.
“Solidarity payments for the Scottish game, as well as European football, are huge,” he said. Being a part of this league is really exciting because it allows us to have many teams in Europe through the coefficient.
Additionally, it allows us to try it out, even during the qualifying stages. Take a look at what we accomplished this year—three rounds. We had a trip to Lucerne and a showpiece game against Aston Villa.
“If we hadn’t drawn Aston Villa, I genuinely believe we had a proper opportunity of getting into the group stages of European football for the first time in the club’s history.”
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