Consortium set for Leeds bid

Leeds extend deadline

Bolton businessman Ian Currie says his consortium hope to launch a bid for Leeds United "by the end of the week".

Currie's consortium also includes ex-Leeds star Trevor Cherry and former Huddersfield chairman Terry Fisher, and has emerged as a potential buyer.

Its main rival is the Yorkshire-based consortium which has been negotiating with Leeds for weeks.

Currie told BBC Radio Leeds: "We are all very interested in making sure Leeds survives."

He added: "The group includes a number of Leeds businessmen and we are working towards a timescale of the end of the week. None of us are in the business of wasting our time."

The group has spent the last few weeks working with corporate finance experts Zeus Capital to put together a rescue package.

The men involved in Currie's group are all Leeds fans and wealthy individuals.

We have the funding in place and we are not far off from making a bid Richard Hughes, co-founder of finance experts Zeus Capital

Currie added: "The figures we've been hearing are around the £25-30m mark to take care of the existing creditors and provide some working capital going forward.

"The people we have got involved have a track record of being very successful in business and can assist the club.

"There's been a lot of sleepless nights and we're not doing that for the fun of it. We're all interested in making sure that Leeds survives."

Richard Hughes, co-founder and a director of Zeus Capital, believes their funding is "100% equity and not repayable".

"We are extremely serious about finding a solution that is in the best interests of the club and providing sufficient funding for it to go forward rather than backwards," added Hughes.

"We are looking at the process of what the funding requirement is, but we have the funding in place and we are not far off from making a bid.

"We know it is in our interests to do something sooner rather than later."

Further extension

Leeds chief executive Trevor Birch has spent the last two-and-a-half months trying to find a buyer for the troubled club, whose debts have reportedly risen to over £100m.

In that time there have been five extensions of a 'standstill agreement' negotiated with the principle creditors.

Discussions with the Yorkshire-based consortium have now been ongoing for four weeks and are at an advanced stage.

But providing the second group can prove its credibility, the creditors could again offer Birch and Leeds a further extension on the 27 February deadline in order to push forward a takeover.

There were reports that a member of Bahrain's ruling Al-Khalifa family - Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa - would make a bid for the club, but this appears unlikely to happen now.

And last week Ugandan business tycoon Michael Ezra claimed he was confident he would be able to buy Leeds, but the club have been reluctant to confirm any talks have taken place.