Swansea's American owners put plans to increase shareholding on back burner

Swansea City's American owners have announced
plans to increase their shareholding in the
Premier League club have been shelved.
A consortium led by businessmen Steve Kaplan
and Jason Levien purchased a 68 percent
majority shareholding in 2016.
They had planned to increase their stake by
purchasing shares from the Swansea City
Supporters Trust -- who own 21.1 percent of the
club -- but those talks have now been put on
hold amid the Swans' relegation battle.
"In the aftermath of the change in ownership at
the football club, we entered into a variety of
discussions with the Trust designed to build a
stronger and more workable relationship between
the two parties," said a statement released on
behalf of Kaplan and Levien.
"Part of those discussions centred on a proposed
percentage sale of the Trust's shareholding which
would be purchased by us. The offer would have
seen the Trust shares purchased on terms more
preferential than those accepted by the previous
shareholders in July 2016.
"However, we understand there are still areas of
concern amongst members of the Trust board
and the membership as a whole over the offer."
The statement added: "At this stage, we do not
want the proposed share deal to become a
source of antagonism between ourselves and the
Trust, especially when the club finds itself in such
a challenging position on the pitch.
"Neither ourselves nor the Trust should allow any
other issue to overshadow the club's fight to
maintain its Premier League status and the
upcoming transfer window. Therefore, discussions
have been put on hold while we devote all our
time, energy and resources into addressing the
immediate challenges facing the club."
The 2016 takeover share sale provoked a furious
response from fans and the Trust, who have
consistently claimed they had been unfairly kept
in the dark about the club's change of ownership.
Swansea's owners have also been heavily
criticised for failing to adequately invest in the
squad following the summer departures of Gylfi
Sigurdsson, Fernando Llorente and Jack Cork.
"We have been advised by the majority owners of
Swansea City that they intend to put discussions
around the sale of some of the Trust's shares to
the owners of the club on hold," said a Trust
statement.
"When informing us of this, the owners of the
club cited the ongoing concerns among some
Trust and Trust Board members about aspects of
the share sale, and also the majority owners' own
desire to concentrate on on-field matters.
"The mandate from Trust members to sell shares
was given in July 2017 and there will now be a
further delay in fulfilling that mandate. The Trust
Board can confirm that a further members'
consultation will take place to ensure the Trust
Board is acting on the current views of its
membership on how we proceed from this point."
Swansea are currently bottom of the Premier
League with 16 points from 22 games and last
month sacked Paul Clement -- the fourth
manager to be fired at the Liberty Stadium in just
over two years.
The owners' announcement comes less than a
week after the Trust called for the removal of
club chairman Huw Jenkins, who was among
existing shareholders to sell shares to the
Americans in 2016.