Peterborough United: Darragh MacAnthony sells half Posh stake to Canada-based duo

Darragh MacAnthony took over from Barry Fry as Posh owner in September 2006

Peterborough United owner Darragh MacAnthony has sold half of his stake in the League One club.

Canada-based investors Dr Jason Neale and Stewart Thompson have become co-owners with immediate effect.

"This is banner news for the football club, its staff and for the city of Peterborough," said MacAnthony.

"When Jason and Stewart were introduced to me several months ago, I was so impressed with their creative energy and brilliant business minds."

Thompson and Neale, who have been actively looking at ownership of an EFL club for the past two years, have both joined the Posh board.

They will hold their shares through a Canadian business, Kelgary Sports and Entertainment.

Dublin-born MacAnthony was the youngest owner of an English club, at 30, when he took Posh over from Barry Fry in September 2006.

He had previously tried to buy Woking and AFC Wimbledon, after earning his fortune through property development in Spain.

Peterborough appointed Steve Evans as their new manager on Wednesday following the sacking of Grant McCann.

Tuesday's 2-1 win over Walsall, watched by Evans, took them eighth in League One and within three points of a play-off place.

Who are the new co-owners?

Boyhood Southampton fan Neale, who is originally from the UK, has a PhD in Electronic Systems Engineering from the University of Essex and a joint EMBA from the Columbia and London Business Schools.

"We looked at several clubs before deciding to partner with Darragh," he told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"This is a club that's probably in the wrong league and there's a real opportunity to get into the Championship.

"I'm involved in a range of businesses and while I love all of them, football is almost like my wife, it's a great thing for me on a personal level."

Canada-born Thompson is the founder and chief executive of Calgary-based Valhalla Private Capital.

He said: "Football as a business, just in my early dealings with it, is very much like start-ups. It's dynamic, it changes every day, it need you to be on your toes, it needs your best.

"It fits really well with a lot of the companies we coach and cultivate and grow, but they shrink sometimes too.

"We're under no illusion that this can expand and contract like an accordion, and you have to be ready to play both sides of that accordion."