Bolton Wanderers have announced that the Sports Shield consortium has completed its takeover of the club.
Sports Shield, fronted by former the Bolton striker Dean Holdsworth, and Inner Circle, owned by Ken Anderson, have taken control of Eddie Davies’ 94.5% controlling share of Burnden Leisure. The remaining 5.5% of the shares will remain with individual shareholders.
A statement on the club’s website said: “Bolton Wanderers Football Club is delighted to announce that a deal between Sports Shield, Inner Circle and Eddie Davies to transfer ownership of the club has officially been completed. All documentation has been signed, submitted and ratified by the Football League.
“Dean Holdsworth and Ken Anderson will both join the board of directors at Bolton Wanderers, with details on further roles to be announced in due course.
“In acknowledgement of his contribution to the club, Eddie Davies, who initially joined the board of directors at Bolton Wanderers in 1999 before then becoming majority shareholder in 2003, will become honorary president of the club.”
Holdsworth, who becomes Bolton’s chief executive, hopes the deal will give the club a lift and he has not given up on Neil Lennon’s team in their battle against relegation, despite Wanderers being bottom of the table and 10 points from safety with 10 matches remaining.
“On behalf of Sports Shield I would like to thank Mr Davies for his dedication and contribution to Bolton Wanderers over many years,” said Holdsworth in a statement. “We are of course pleased that Eddie will remain as honorary club president of Bolton Wanderers.
“We would also like to thank the staff, fans and club sponsors for their continued support during what has been an incredibly difficult period for all involved. Securing the club’s future was of paramount importance. This is a great day for Bolton Wanderers football club and Sports Shield.
“We very much hope that we can build on the continued support of a club steeped in history for many years to come. We will not give up the fight of maintaining our Sky Bet Championship status. We believe we have a group of excellent players to work with and we hope that today’s news will give everyone a lift, both on and off the pitch.
“The performance and atmosphere against Ipswich Town was excellent and we hope that the fans will join us for an important game at the weekend against our local rivals Preston North End. Up the Trotters!”
Davies is thought to have written off a sum in the region of £170m owed to him by Bolton, who were in the high court on Monday for a winding-up order issued by HMRC.
The hearing over an unpaid tax bill approaching £3m was adjourned for 14 days to provide Davies with extra time to complete the sale of the club.
