The recently demoted team will be fully owned by the American investment group that owns the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL.
Andrea Radrizzani, the chairman of Leeds United, has reached an agreement to transfer his majority ownership of the team to 49ers Enterprises.
As a result, the American investment firm, who has been a minority shareholder in Leeds since 2018 and is the owner of the NFL team San Francisco 49ers, will acquire full ownership.
According to a release, "Leeds United can confirm that Aser Ventures and 49ers Enterprises have reached an agreement for the purchase of the club."
"Both sides are still working out the details; new information will be supplied soon.
"A prompt return to the Premier League remains our sole goal,"
In 2021, 49ers Enterprises raised its ownership of Leeds to 44% with the option to acquire Radrizzani's remaining 56% before January 2024.
The United States had been eager to complete a full takeover of Leeds this summer, but that deal, which valued the team at almost £400 million, was conditional on the team staying in the Premier League.
Due to Leeds' relegation last month, both parties were forced back into protracted negotiations, and a valuation of about £170 million has been reached.
With this agreement, Radrizzani's six-year ownership of Leeds comes to an end. In 2017, he successfully ousted fellow Italian Massimo Cellino, and at first, he was quite well-liked.
When 49ers Enterprises acquired its first 10% holding in Elland Road Stadium in 2018, Radrizzani repurchased the stadium, which had been under private ownership since 2004.
Leeds received promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 16 years as a result of Marcelo Bielsa's appointment shortly after, which turned out to be a brilliant move.
When Bielsa was fired in February 2022, Radrizzani's relationship with the Leeds fan base started to deteriorate, and 49ers Enterprises has progressively grown their ownership.
Jesse Marsch, Bielsa's replacement, helped Leeds avoid relegation on the penultimate day of the 2021–22 campaign, and Radrizzani pledged that the team wouldn't engage in another struggle for survival.
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