Tuna tycoon takes over Owls

Thai tycoon Dejphon Chansiri has purchased Sheffield Wednesday.   His family controls Thai Union Frozen Products, the world’s largest producer of canned tuna and one of the biggest worldwide general seafood producers.   It owns the John West brand in the UK.

The value of the deal was reported to be about £30m.   The club lost £3.7m in the 2012-13 season, which is quite a low figure compared with some Championship clubs, on turnover of £15m,  It had £11m in debt.

Thai tycoon Dejphon Chansiri has purchased Sheffield Wednesday.   His family controls Thai Union Frozen Products, the world’s largest producer of canned tuna and one of the biggest worldwide general seafood producers.   It owns the John West brand in the UK.

The value of the deal was reported to be about £30m.   The club lost £3.7m in the 2012-13 season, which is quite a low figure compared with some Championship clubs, on turnover of £15m,  It had £11m in debt.

The takeover brings an end to Milan Mandaric’s four-year stint as owner of the club, and although he is set to step down as chairman and as a director, he will remain at Hillsborough in an advisory role.

Mandaric agreed a deal to sell the Owls to Azerbaijani businessman Hafiz Mammadov last summer, but after that deal fell through in September, he said Chansiri had stood out as a potential buyer.   He said that the new owners would be more aggressively financially in pursuing the goal of promotion to the Premiership.