Bradford Bulls Administrator Sets Friday Deadline for Bids

Brendan Guilfoyle, Bradford Bulls administrator has set a deadline for rival bidders looking to acquire the club.

Guilfoyle, partner at The P&A Partnership and administrator at the Bradford Bulls, has set a deadline of 12pm tomorrow (Friday 10 August) for any further unconditional offers for the club.

He said the deadline has been set following a flurry of interest from potential buyers this week. It emerged today that Bradford City FC are behind the latest bid for the beleaguered club.

“There could now be up to five interested purchasers for the Bradford Bulls,” said Guilfoyle.

“It’s in everyone’s interest that we get a deal over the line as quickly as possible. Therefore, we have set this deadline of noon tomorrow for unconditional offers from anyone who can show that they have funds in place and a business plan.

“In addition to the offer from Super League (Europe) Ltd and an unconditional offer the Rugby Football League (RFL) considered yesterday, I understand that the RFL may have other parties interested in buying Bradford Bulls. The ABC consortium has reluctantly withdrawn. I have another group from Bradford still considering whether to make an unconditional offer.”

Guilfoyle stressed that any offers must be unconditional and advised potential bidders to consider a number of factors.

“Any purchaser is taking a chance on whether the club will be continuing in the Super League or playing in the Championship next season. If it’s the latter then the owner will still be paying Super League wages for up to 20 players for the next year.

“As well as paying rent to the RFL for Odsal any new owner will probably have to make capital investment in the ground before the next round of Super League franchise bids in 2015.”

At the time of its offer, SLE said it had taken “decisive action” to secure the future of Bradford Bulls by tabling an offer on behalf of the Super League clubs.

Earlier, a conditional bid for the Bulls by the ABC consortium was rejected by the RFL on the basis that the nature of its offer was unacceptable.

Bradford Bulls entered administration in June and are reportedly £1.5m in debt.