A consortium led by Australian businessman Justin Rees has finally completed a takeover of Southend United.
Contracts between the group and former owner Ron Martin were exchanged in December, nine months after he put the National League club up for sale.
The sale had been drawn out over months because of issues surrounding housing development plans relating to Fossetts Farm, a site where Martin had previously hoped to relocate the Shrimpers.
The consortium, COSU (Custodians of Southend United), had previously confirmed the club will remain at Roots Hall, their home since 1955.
“The consortium is delighted to announce that the purchase of Southend United Football Club has been successfully completed,” said a statement.
“The process, which began in July 2023, was complex and as a result has taken longer than any of us anticipated.
“Completing a complicated deal such as this requires hard work and compromise on all sides.
“With that in mind, we would like to extend our thanks to Ron and Jack Martin, who have acted with integrity and professionalism throughout our dealings, aiming to find solutions as quickly as possible to the many complex and challenging changes that arose along the way.”
The statement added: “We now turn our attention to the start of the new season and hope that the Southend community will unite behind Kevin Maher and the Blues squad.
“There remains much work to be done but with the support of the city, we are confident of a bright future for the Shrimpers.”
Rees, who co-founded an IT consultancy in Australia, is expected to be the new chairman, though the day-to-day running of the club will continue to be done by chief executive Tom Lawrence.
He has been in post since May 2021 and said at the start of the 2023 that financial problems had left the club with an annual funding gap of about £2m.
The other consortium members are John Watson, Gary Lockett, Tom Arnold, David Kreyling, Paul Redbourn, Ian Redbourn, George Taylor – the son of former Southend East MP Sir Teddy Taylor – Jason Brown and Lawrence.
COSU have effectively running the club since the contracts were exchanged and Rees told BBC Essex in May that they had already spent £3.5m.
The following month, however, they were ordered to provide a £1m bond by the league who were concerned about Southend’s “ability to fulfil its financial obligations” for the coming season.
But the latest in a series of winding-up petitions the club has faced was dismissed on 26 June leading to the lifting of a second transfer embargo imposed in May, just five months after the previous one ended, having been in place for over a year because of the club’s financial situation.
The Fossetts Farm development is now subject to a second due diligence exercise by Southend-On-Sea Council
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