Consortium pull out of Derby County takeover race after offer rejected

The Binnie family have revealed that they have pulled out of the running to buy Derby County after the club’s administrators turned down their offer this week.

Brothers Adam and Colin Binnie, who are part of private equity firm Carlisle Capital in the United States, made a formal offer in January according to the Daily Mail of £28 million for the Rams.

That offer was increased to £30 million, which included purchasing the Pride Park Stadium that has money attached to it thanks to a loan previous owner Mel Morris took out from MSD Holdings.

However Quantuma, the club’s administrators, turned down the Binnie family’s latest offer on Tuesday and they are now officially out of the running to be the next owners of the relegation-threatened Championship side.

The Binnies have told the BBC that in their latest discussions with Quantuma they were informed that the administrators no longer wanted to speak to them unless they increased their offer for the club.

With that now being the case, the likes of Andy Appleby and Mike Ashley could be set to battle it out for the right to become preferred bidder.

The Verdict

With the Binnie family now no longer in the running, this could potentially clear the path for Mike Ashley to take charge of proceedings.

The administrators are said to want around £50 million for the club and the stadium, but the Binnies clearly felt that that was too much.

With Ashley apparently still interested in becoming the new Derby owner, you’d imagine that he does have a bid on the table and with the interest from elsewhere dwindling, it could only be a matter of time before he is named the preferred bidder.

The Binnie family dropping out of the race may be worrying to some Rams fans as they may feel that the