It looks as if leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings is close to securing control of Preston North End. He now has just over 68 per cent of the shares and only needs 7 per cent more to delist the club and take it off the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). London-based shareholder and fan Paul Wilkinson who owns a 12 per cent block of shares has accepted his 5p a share offer.
It looks as if leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings is close to securing control of Preston North End. He now has just over 68 per cent of the shares and only needs 7 per cent more to delist the club and take it off the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). London-based shareholder and fan Paul Wilkinson who owns a 12 per cent block of shares has accepted his 5p a share offer.
There are a large number oif small shareholders who are fans of the club, but they have been urged by the current chairman to sell up. At one time floating clubs was seen as a way of raising capital while also giving fans a notional stake in the club, although they could usually be outvoted by bigger shareholders. However, clubs found that even staying on AIM cost a lot of money and when more injections of cash were required they had to come from wealthy investors who like to have complete control.