Dunfermline remain in the hands of current owners Pars United after it was revealed the club’s German investors have delayed their proposed takeover.
DAFC Fussball GmbH acquired 30 per cent of the East End Park club in September 2020 and had committed to taking their stake up to 75.1 per cent by December 31 last year.
However, instead, the Hamburg-based consortium have decided to pump in an increased investment as an interest-free and unsecured loan that still allows the Pars to go ahead with their planned youth academy in nearby Rosyth but without acquiring any more shares.
The decision of chairman Ross McArthur to resign at the end of the current season and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has restricted the investors’ ability to spend time in Scotland have contributed to the decision to amend the agreement.
DAFC Fussball now have five years in which to translate the ‘convertible loan note’ into a combined 80 per cent majority shareholding - otherwise Dunfermline can then redeem the loan by issuing those shares to the German group.
A club statement read: “It is to GmbH’s great credit that they remained keen to provide the further investment capital but now prefer, at this stage, to do that without immediately acquiring control of the club.
"In reaching that conclusion, GmbH felt that, as a club focused on its local community, it was important that the entity controlling the club should be properly represented locally, certainly for so long as the current restrictions are in place.
“Accordingly, it has been agreed that the option agreement be cancelled. Instead, GmbH has provided new capital to DAFC, for a sum greater than that provided for in the option agreement, by way of a convertible loan note (CLN).
“The revised investment arrangement means that Pars United CIC Ltd’s (PUCIC) shareholding in DAFC (currently 66.22%) will continue to give PUCIC control of DAFC until such time as the CLN is converted.”
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