West Brom takeover news as Crypto investor Fred Chesnais makes £60m offer
West Brom are in talks with crypto investor Fred Chesnais over a potential £60million takeover of the club, according to the Daily Mail.
The outlet reported (25 July) that the French investor is willing to make a cash offer for the Baggies and all its assets, including the stadium and training facilities. Current owner Guochuan Lai is reportedly open to offers for the club, the Mail said.
Chesnais is the founder and chief executive of blockchain service Crypto Blockchain and has submitted the first offer to buy West Brom.
Too early to tell
Not a lot is known about the Baggies’ new prospective owner. Crypto Blockchain is described by the Mail as a company “who invest in blockchain-based services across the sport and entertainment industries”.
Their website claims their “goal is to unlock value by investing in blockchain-based services across multiple industries, either as sole operator, in partnership with co-founders or as financial investors”, while Chesnais himself has “extensive experience in the space, having created the Atari Token, a cryptocurrency whose goal is to become the token of reference for the videogame industry and with a market capitalization of billions of US dollars” [CBI].
Specific details remain slim at this stage, but if Chesnais were to be successful then he would be looking to provide funds for a promotion push at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies came unstuck last season under Carlos Corberan, falling three points shy of the playoff spots. West Brom being the new Championship season against Blackburn Rovers on 5 August.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Campbell shares his delight about the Baggies utilising their “really important” young players next season.