Villa agree £62.6m takeover by US billionaire Lerner

English Premier League soccer club Aston Villa said yesterday they had agreed a 62.6 million pound cash takeover by a group led by US billionaire Randy Lerner.

Lerner's Reform Acquisitions Ltd (RAL) said it would gain control of the club after securing a 57 per cent stake in it, and its 547 pence per share cash offer was recommended by the board of the Birmingham side.

"The board of Aston Villa believes that RAL's offer not only fairly values Aston Villa, but that RAL will also provide the potential for the club's future on-field success," Villa said.

The deal will see long-standing Villa chairman Doug Ellis leave the club, with the 82-year-old agreeing to sell the American his 36 per cent stake in the side.

The other key man in the deal is former owner of recently promoted Premier League team Watford, Jack Petchey, who has also agreed to sell Lerner his 21 per cent holding in the club through his Trefick Limited investment vehicle.

With a personal fortune of around 1.4 billion pounds Lerner is some way behind fellow American Malcolm Glazer, who paid around £800 million for Manchester United last year.

Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, has spent more than £300 million on players alone to transform the west London club into Premier League champions.

"There are elements of deja vu in this announcement, with a billionaire US tycoon with a keen interest in sport acquiring a UK Premiership club," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Richard Hunter.

"At 57 per cent acceptances and with an offer which, at 10 per cent higher than Friday's closing price, is likely to be a knock-out bid, it seems that the deal is likely to go through unopposed," he added.

The 44-year-old Lerner, former chairman of credit card issuer MBNA and owner of the Cleveland Browns American football team, said he planned to get the team back on track.

"It is my belief and the basis for my bid to acquire Aston Villa Football Club that it can compete at the highest level within the Premiership and in Europe," the American said in a statement.

Ellis is to exit the club after two spells as chairman, from 1968 to 1975 and his current stint since 1982.

"It has been my sincere pleasure to have been involved with Aston Villa these many years, both as chairman and as a substantial shareholder," Ellis said in a statement.

"The Club has been an enormous and immensely enjoyable part of my life. I wish to thank the many staff at Aston Villa over the years for making the club what it has been and what it is," he added.

The move is likely to cheer a large section of Villa fans who have singled out Ellis for criticism, angered and frustrated by a lack of financial investment in the 1982 European Cup winners.

Villa have been stalked by a number of potential bidders, all attracted by the club's large fan base, land around its stadium with the potential for development and a recent bonanza television and media deal expected to boost Premiership clubs' coffers by around 20 million pounds a year.

Apart from Lerner, who studied at Cambridge University for a year, other bidders reported to have had discussions with Ellis and the board include a Middle Eastern businessman, a group led by British barrister Nicholas Padfield QC and a consortium headed by Villa fan Michael Neville.

Villa, who recently appointed former Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City and Celtic boss Martin O'Neill as the club's manager, are being advised by Rothschild.