Huw Jenkins: Ex-Swansea City chief moves closer to Newport County takeover
- Published
Huw Jenkins was chairman of Swansea City from January 2002 until February 2019
Huw Jenkins has been named the preferred bidder in a proposed £500,000 takeover of Newport County.
The fan-owned League Two club had been considering two rival offers of investment after weeks of talks.
Former Swansea City chairman Jenkins has been confirmed as the recommended choice of the club's board.
The 60-year-old businessman will take a controlling 52% stake in the club, if proposals are passed by supporters in a vote next week.
Jenkins offer - which includes him taking full responsibility for the running and financing of the club in a 'hands-on' role - was chosen ahead of a bid from a US-based consortium including Dan Donoghue and current Newport director Jon Pratt.
Details given to supporters also stated further investment could follow the initial injection of cash.
A club statement read: "The board of directors at Newport County AFC is pleased to announce that the preferred bidder to become the new majority shareholder of the football club is Huw Jenkins.
"We are grateful to both bidders for coming forward and for the interest they have shown in our football club."
Jenkins, who oversaw Swansea's rise from the bottom division to European football, is due to present his bid to members of the club's Supporters Trust in a special general meeting on Thursday 28 September.
Newport County has been fan-owned since 2015 and the Trust currently have a 79% stake in the club, with three quarters of members present at the meeting needing to approve the deal before being passed to the EFL to sanction the takeover.
Details of the proposal given to Trust members also included:
The Trust would retain 27% shareholding in the club and two places on the board with the aim of raising an extra £1000,000 a year in return.
The potential of further investors or directors to be brought in with the agreement of the Trust.
The process could take a further two months before the deal is rubber-stamped, with Jenkins currently completing final due diligence on the club's finances.
If the deal goes through it would mark the return of Jenkins to a senior football role for the first time since resigning as Swansea chairman in 2019 following 17 years at the helm. The period saw Swansea win four promotions and the League Cup, with Jenkins earning widespread praise for his role.
Part of a local group that rescued Swansea in 2002, Jenkins cashed in on some of his shares in a controversial takeover by an American consortium in 2016.
The Exiles have been seeking a cash boost from new investors after posting losses of £1.2m in their most recent accounts.
Fans had been warned they faced an "urgency to secure the financial future for 2023-24 and the longer term", external and could have to find £500,000 to fund ongoing losses and pay creditors.
Speaking on the vote, Exiles boss Graham Coughlan said: "It's a big, big decision. The football club is at the heart of the community, the fans absolutely love it.
I hope whatever decision is made, I hope it's the right decision which I trust it will be because there is enough quality around about the place and there is plenty of care and love for the football club.
"It is not something any manager can get drawn on or players can get drawn on., We are asked to do a job on the grass and the training ground. All the political side is out of our remit.
"But I am the same as any other person I hope the right decision is made - and I trust it will be because there are enough good people who care and love this football club."
The proposals also mention improvements to recruitment - an area in which Jenkins won praise for at Swansea - as well as looking to secure "a solution to a long-term and first-class training facility".