Saturday 7 November 2015 20:04, UK
United States private equity investors are poised to take a 25 per cent stake in Premier League club Bournemouth.
Sky News understands that Chicago-based investors Peak 6 have completed negotiations for a quarter-share of the south-coast club, with the deal expected to be announced on Monday.
The deal will see the Americans take an influential role alongside current owner, Russian petrochemicals trader Maxim Demin, whose substantial investment in recent seasons helped Bournemouth's unexpected rise to the Premier League.
Demin, who has shunned publicity since he bought into the club in 2011, is expected to remain involved.
The fresh investment comes after Bournemouth suffered their fourth consecutive league defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, and they have just one win in their last seven games.
Eddie Howe's side are third-bottom of the Premier League having won just two games all season as they struggle to acclimatise to the demands of the competition.
Fresh investment may give Howe more funds to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window, but Peak 6 are likely to take a long-term view of investment in a club that faces a struggle to avoid relegation.
Peak 6 was founded in 1997 by Matt Hulsizer and Jenny Just, both former commodity traders, who describe themselves as "entrepreneurs at heart".
On its website Peak 6 says: "We operate with a focused, entrepreneurial drive and push ourselves to think differently. This ambitious, visionary approach has helped us become the diverse range of successful businesses we are today.
The American investment is another chapter in Bournemouth's remarkable rise from near-bankruptcy in 1997 to English football's top division.
The position was so perilous 18 years ago that it took a bucket collection at the towns Winter Gardens to help keep the club afloat. It was re-formed as a community club and began the long process of rebuilding.
Investment by local businessmen stabilized the club before the arrival of Demin, who was introduced to the club after contracting then chairman Eddie Mitchell, a builder, to work on the construction of his house.
Demin's involvement was followed by an unlikely but hugely popular promotion to the Premier League under Howe's leadership.
They may struggle to stay up, but there can be no greater symbol of the Premier League's global reach than the alliance of Chicago private equity investors and a Russian energy trader on the south coast.
Neither Bournemouth or Peak 6 had responded to requests for comment at time of publication.
