Sunderland need £10m for legal costs, says owner Stewart Donald
Friday 22 June 2018 15:27, UK
New Sunderland owner Stewart Donald says the club need to find an extra £10m to cover the cost of unexpected legal disputes.
Donald had said the club was "debt-free" after his consortium completed a £40m takeover from Ellis Short last month.
Following their acquisition, Donald and his business partner Charlie Methven told the media the Black Cats will have a big budget in the third tier and appointed Jack Ross as manager from St Mirren.
But Sunderland, relegated to Sky Bet League One last season, are now exploring options of further loans should they not be able to cover the outstanding costs without external finance.
Donald said: "As is common knowledge, the club has a huge cash flow requirement in the next couple of months - but in addition to this there is around £10m in potential liabilities that have emerged, mainly around legal disputes that were not expected. But, some of these hopefully may not materialise."
"We are discussing these currently and hope to get them resolved without the need for external finance. Subject to sensible dialogue with the relevant people, we are very hopeful any loan arrangement is a precautionary back up position, and indeed will not be required.
"The actual likely outcome is that the current and previous owners will settle these liabilities between them, resulting in no external finance being taken.
"We will of course keep the fans updated, and in the next few weeks we will be able to confirm either way the outcome of these conversations and their financial implications."
