An Indian consortium has pulled out of a takeover deal to buy Northampton Town

Northampton chairman David Cardoza said the club was in advanced talks with an alternative buyer after an Indian consortium pulled out of a takeover deal.

A London-based Indian consortium looked set to takeover at Sixfields in June after signing an initial agreement, but on Monday announced it had withdrawn its offer for the club after carrying out due diligence.

Cardoza told the club's official website: "I'm not surprised by the announcement, my only surprise is the timing of it.

"We moved on to talk to other parties some time ago. The Indian consortium had a few months to move things forward and conclude things but it became apparent they were not progressing matters.

"There are a number of other interested parties and as it became more and more apparent things were not proceeding with the Indian consortium, then we began talking with these other parties.

"We have made significant progress in these talks to a position where things are now well advanced.

"Northampton Town is a wonderful football club with huge potential, that is why there are other parties interested in buying the club and while the Indian consortium remained in the background, in reality we moved on some time ago.

"Their announcement (on Monday) concludes matters in that area but they had given up pole position a while ago. This simply concentrates our efforts on concluding a sale of the club to one of the other interested parties."

The Indian consortium said in a statement released to local media that it had been willing to invest heavily in the club.

"However, during the process of due diligence, which is integral to any business deal, it became apparent that there were a number of complications surrounding the proposed acquisition," the consortium said.

"Sadly, at a very late stage in the process we concluded that these problems were insurmountable and, with great reluctance, decided we had no option but to withdraw our offer for the club."

Northampton Council last month gave the club a three-week deadline to pay back a B#10.25million loan in full after the Cobblers had missed two repayments.

The money had been loaned to the club for ground improvements and it now has until Thursday to avoid legal action.