Wycombe Wanderers takeover: Rob Couhig deal approved by Trust vote
- Published
Rob Couhig unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1980 and 1999 and finished fourth in the 2006 and 2010 New Orleans Mayoral races
The takeover of League One side Wycombe Wanderers by American lawyer Rob Couhig is set to go ahead after members of the club's Trust voted to sell a 75% stake in the club to him.
More than three-quarters of members needed to approve Couhig's bid for his firm Feliciana EFL Ltd to take over.
Couhig's company will invest £2.2m to settle Wanderers' existing debts and make an additional £1m available.
They will also fund a new 15-year lease on Adams Park at £150,000 a year.
Under the deal, two directors will remain on the club's board from the Wycombe Wanderers Trust, while Couhig, his wife Missy, nephew Peter and financial consultant Mark Palmer will become directors.
"This is a hugely significant step forward for the club and we are delighted that the Legacy Members have followed the Trust board's recommendation to welcome Rob Couhig and his team into the club as majority shareholders," chairman Trevor Stroud said.
"Rob has demonstrated real expertise, determination, integrity and ambition over the past four months since the Trust nominated him as its preferred partner going forward, and we believe that those attributes, coupled with his financial contribution, make him the ideal person to build on the progress that the club has made under supporter ownership in recent times."
Couhig, 70, and his firm had agreed a deal to buy Yeovil Town in February, but he pulled out after they were relegated to the National League.
The New Orleans-based lawyer runs his own legal firm and twice stood unsuccessfully for election as mayor of the city.
He has previously owned the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball team which plays at triple-A level, one rung below Major League Baseball.
"Wycombe Wanderers Trust have been immensely proud to be custodians of the football club for the past seven years, but I believe we have reached the upper limit of what we can achieve in terms of the sustainability of the club going forward," added Stroud.
"We are extremely grateful to the contributions of all supporters and volunteers throughout that time, who have committed immeasurable time and effort, and I know that that very culture will continue to play an integral role in the club under Rob's stewardship."