Salford Red Devils received great news last week as a change of ownership was finally announced. After a saga that rumbled on through the winter, the Super League club were finally in a position to provide more detail on the takeover, fronted by Dario Berta.
Berta, who heads the consortium taking control of the club, is the CEO of an investment bank that specialises in real estate investment. Further down the line, the group is expected to acquire the Salford Community Stadium though for now, it is just the club.
Crucially, there is still some work to be done to ensure the takeover is ratified and completed for good. This was acknowledged by Salford in the statement they released in which they confirmed it was subject to RFL approval.
As it stands, that still hasn't been forthcoming and while there's no reason to believe it won't be, it is a time-sensitive matter given the Super League season begins for the club on Saturday and as it stands, they are still working under the restrictions of a sustainability cap that has only allowed them to register a squad to the value of £1.2 million, meaning they can't currently field a number of their players.
All Out Rugby League has discovered the process that must now be completed to finalise the takeover, and it will require a significant amount of liquidity being pumped into the club this week to give the Rugby Football League assurances that further financial issues are not going to arise.
That begins with the club needing to pay back the £500,000 central funding advancement that they received late last year. As per the conditions of the agreement at the time, Salford will remain under special measures, which includes the sustainability cap, until that has been returned to the governing body. It is important to stress that the club acknowledged that in their statement last week, as they stated it would be lifted in time for their trip to St Helens.
Furthermore, the new investment group will need to satisfy the governing body that other immediate financial issues have been covered too. They include revenue money that is owed, with sources indicating that was a six-figure fee at the time of the takeover being completed. It has been well documented that the club has accrued further debt over time and it is alleged the club had to take out a loan in the region of £160,000 to ensure they could cover last month's payroll.
Given that, the RFL also want cash flow assurances for the next 12 months. In essence, there will need to be significant financial input this week before anything is completely signed off.
There is also the process of the new investment group completing the fit and proper owner's test. The documentation has now been submitted and no issues are anticipated in that regard. There is believed to have been some hold-up in the RFL receiving that submission, though it has been received now.
The RFL issued a statement on Friday saying: "As with all changes in club ownership, the RFL Board will need to give approval. Arrangements have been put in place for this process to be conducted as swiftly as possible, when the necessary documentation is submitted."
There is no reason to believe that the process won't be completed this week, however, it's set to be a very expensive week for the new investment group!
However, it's going to cost the new consortium a lot of money this week!
www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk
www.thesun.co.uk
