
Castleford Tigers have released a statement to update fans on the progress of Martin Jepson’s proposed takeover.
The club announced in October that Jepson had struck a deal to take sole ownership of the Tigers, purchasing the shares owned by Janet and Ian Fulton. It was an option agreement that saw Jepson take up the chairman reins and take charge of the day to day running of the club with immediate effect.
However, the agreement had to be triggered on or before January 31, with due diligence and other necessary work taking place in order to finalise the deal. With the purchase of the club yet to be completed, though, Castleford have announced that all parties have agreed to push the deadline back until the end of the April.
The hope is that the extended deadline will allow Jepson to finalise the work that needs to be done in order to rubber stamp his purchase.
A statement released on the Tigers’ website read: “Today was the proposed deadline for Martin Jepson to take up the option to complete the purchase of Castleford Tigers.
“A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes since October to complete the due diligence necessary to achieve that, however there are some areas that required deeper investigation and took longer than expected, which have meant completing the option agreement today, has not been possible.
“As a result, both parties have agreed to extend the option agreement deadline to the end of April, to allow that work to be fully completed.
“It is important to note this does not affect anything in the day-to-day running of the club. Martin Jepson still retains full operational responsibility for Castleford Tigers and will be attending the match as planned tomorrow.”
Castleford host Hull FC on Saturday afternoon in a pre-season friendly that will act as Joe Westerman’s testimonial.
