Bates back in control

Ken Bates has won back control of Leeds after administrators KPMG announced his consortium had bought the club for an undisclosed sum.

Former Hull chairman Adam Pearson and the SRMorris group had also been in the running to buy the troubled League One side but KPMG decided that Bates' unconditional offer "represents the best result for creditors".

Joint administrator Richard Fleming said:  "We received several offers for the business which we considered carefully. The approved deal represents the best result for creditors in the circumstances and we believe provides the club with the best chance of survival."

Leeds were put up for sale by KPMG last Friday after the Inland Revenue launched a legal challenge to Bates' original plans to buy back the club from administration.

Bates raised his first offer of paying back creditors from one pence for every pound owed to eight pence per pound and had threatened to sue if another bid succeeded.

Rival bidder Simon Franks - who had teamed up with property developer Simon Morris - admitted he was "gobsmacked" to miss out.

He said: "Obviously I'm very disappointed. It's been a torturous process and we put together what we thought was a very brave bid.  I'm gobsmacked that we appear to have not won the club.

"We have to remember that in the last bidding, almost a month ago now, that our bid was significantly more than Mr Bates'.

"I think we provided proof of funds of £10million against his £350,000 and we still lost by the vagaries of the process that we're in.

"I cannot believe that anybody outbid us but, in administration, the process is very vague and obviously we're looking forward to seeing the documentation to what we lost to.

"I dare say that many people will cry foul, but I don't want to do that until I've seen what has gone on."

Bates paid tribute to the club's beleaguered fans after gaining control at Elland Road and insisted the club was "in a good position."

Supporters have snapped up nearly 10,000 season tickets for the coming season despite the uncertainty over the club's future ahead of their first season outside the top two divisions.

Bates said: "I'd like to pay tribute to the Leeds fans because after everything that has gone on - and people making innuendoes about season ticket money and that sort of thing - they just kept on paying the money for the tickets.

"Last year we sold 11,000 season tickets in all but as of last night we had sold 9,950 with another 6,500 members. They're just fantastic people."

Bates admitted that the delay over the deal had been frustrating but called for unity around the club.