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The Football League faces a dilemma over whether to approve a proposed purchase of Reading by the American businessman Robert Platek amid concerns from other clubs over a potential conflict of interest.
The League One club announced on Monday they had entered a “period of exclusivity with a potential purchaser”, who the Guardian has established is Platek, the owner of the Portuguese club Casa Pia. The 60-year-old sold his controlling interest in the Serie B club Spezia this month and previously owned the Danish club Sønderjyske.
Platek is the co-head of global credit at BDT & MSD Partners, the investment vehicle of the technology billionaire Michael Dell. The company, previously known as MSD, became major lenders to several EFL clubs during the Covid-19 pandemic in commercial arrangements that continue to this day.
MSD has lent tens of millions of pounds to the EFL clubs Burnley, West Brom, Derby and Sunderland and to the Premier League club Southampton. Several of the loans are understood to give MSD security over the stadium of the club in question in the event of a missed repayment.
One executive at another club told the Guardian: “MSD became major lenders during the pandemic and have effective control of several club’s cashflows. Platek has been at the company for over 20 years, runs their credit operation and will become chairman at the end of the year. At best it doesn’t look good, at worst it’s a huge conflict of interest.”
The EFL declined to comment, but is understood to be aware of other clubs’ concerns. It has held talks with Reading about their prospective buyer and made clear they must comply with its regulations.
Platek said when buying his other clubs that they were personal investments with no link to MSD. Given the sensitivity of the issue to other clubs he will have to demonstrate a clear separation of funding to the EFL, and may have to prove he has no knowledge of other EFL clubs’ financial arrangements with MSD.
The issue is particularly problematic for the EFL given the longstanding financial problems at Reading, who were put up for sale 18 months ago by their Chinese owner Dai Yongge, and shut down their historically successful women’s operation last summer. The Guardian revealed last October that a loan taken out by Dai from a state-backed Chinese bank was one of many complexities holding up a sale, but that matter has been resolved.
Platek is the fifth potential buyer to enter exclusive talks with Reading in the past 12 months after offers from the former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig, the former Reading chairman Roger Smee and two proposals involving the property magnate Paul Taylor. Significantly, the Platek offer involves buying Dai’s stake, Reading’s stadium and the training ground, returning all of the club’s assets to one company.
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Platek has had mixed fortunes with his other football ventures. Sønderjyske were sold after two years shortly after relegation from the Danish top flight in 2022, and Platek had Spezia for four years during which they were relegated from Serie A. Casa Pia are sixth in the Portuguese top division.
Reading declined to comment on Platek, but expressed confidence the deal could be done quickly. “Whilst timelines cannot be guaranteed, the structure of the deal should allow for a quick completion, which would be for the benefit of all concerned,” the club said.
Platek was unavailable for comment.
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