Peter Lim overcomes banking hurdle in Valencia takeover: Salvo
Peter Lim is set to complete his takeover of Spanish club Valencia.
Despite winning a bidding contest in May to snap up 70.4 per cent of the club's shares from the Foundation of Valencia CF, the Singaporean billionaire has had to endure a lengthy wait to finalise the buyout of the La Liga side after encountering difficulties with Spanish bank Bankia, the club's main creditor.
However, the barriers preventing the deal from going through had been lifted after Lim's company Meriton Holdings reached an agreement with Bankia, according to Valencia president Amadeo Salvo, who flew to Singapore on Thursday to meet Lim.
Salvo told Reuters: "We are in the final stage, fortunately yesterday Meriton Holdings, Mr Lim’s company, and Bankia, the main creditor, they arrive in agreement at the (final) three points.
"We are in the last step and we hope that in a few weeks they can sign the final transaction.
"We start the new season on Aug 23 against Sevilla, it's not possible to sign before but what's important is that the deal is very close to being signed. It's very positive for the club."
While no terms on the deal were disclosed, Lim's purchase of the club is said to be the costliest in Spanish football and third in the world to the Glazer family's £800 million ($1.66b) buyout of Manchester United and the £300m shelled out by Fenway Sports Group for Liverpool.
Source: Reuters
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