Second consortium in running for Leeds bid

A SECOND Yorkshire-based consortium are "not far off" making a bid for debt-ridden Leeds as a potential battle looms for control of the club.

The group have spent the last few weeks working with corporate finance experts Zeus Capital assembling a rescue package.

Leeds chief executive Trevor Birch has spent the last two and a half months trying to find a buyer for the troubled club, who have gross debts of more than £100million.

In that time there have been five extensions of a 'standstill agreement' negotiated with the principle creditors, & who are owed a combined £82m.

Discussions with the first consortium have been ongoing for four weeks and are at an advanced stage, however, due to the many parties involved, those talks have been painfully slow.

They remain in pole position as they have already bid an "eight-figure sum" which representative Gerald Krasner confirmed just under two weeks ago, but it would appear they now have a serious rival.

The men involved in the second group are all Leeds fans and wealthy individuals, to an extent their funding understood to be in the region of just over £20m is "100% equity and not repayable," according to Richard Hughes.

Hughes, co-founder and a director of Zeus Capital who are the financial advisors putting together the rival bid, told PA Sport: "We have been looking at Leeds for quite a while.

"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."