Quinn consortium complete Sunderland takeover

Niall Quinn’s consortium today confirmed they have reached an agreement on a £10m (€14.41m) cash offer for Sunderland.

The Drumaville company, shared by the former Irish international striker, are seeking a 90% ownership of the club, meaning they need to buy a significant number of shares on top of the 56.8% owned by former chairman Bob Murray to complete a takeover.

“I am personally delighted on behalf of my consortium company Drumaville to be in a position to present this offer to the shareholders and fans of SAFC,” said Quinn.

“We believe this heralds a new beginning for Sunderland, but it is only going to happen if everything comes together in a joint effort.”

Quinn, who announced that season ticket prices will be frozen, will technically not take over as chairman until 21 days have elapsed, but Murray has allowed him to start work early.

His first task will be to appoint a new manager, although he admitted that despite thinking long and hard about it, that process will only begin in earnest today.

He said: “The journey starts today, and although we are in a 21-day period where I’m not in total power, Bob Murray had kindly agreed that I can set about the task of getting a manager, so that task starts straight away.”

After much speculation as to the identities of Quinn’s backers, the offer document revealed that they are Patrick Beirne, Patsy Byrne, Charlie Chawke, Louis Fitzgerald, John Hays, Paddy Kelly and Jack Tierney.