Walsall owners Trivela set to purchase majority stake in Danish Superliga side

After purchasing the Saddlers in summer 2022 - the US firm made the move to buy Irish side Drogheda United in November 2023.

Since then, they took over grassroots outfit Trivela FC, in Togo, and now it has been announced that Trivela have reached an agreement with the board of directors at Danish side Silkeborg IF, to acquire 80 per cent of the club.

The proposal from the Saddlers' owners will be put before shareholders of Silkeborg Invest for a vote at an extraordinary general meeting in December.

Walsall and Drogheda co-chair, and Trivela managing director Ben Boycott explained how he is excited to be adding another well run club to the portfolio.

He said: "I’m pleased with Trivela’s potential move into Denmark, with the proposed acquisition of Silkeborg IF.

"The management at Silkeborg has done an outstanding job running a competitive and profitable club these past many years, and it has been a pleasure to get to know them as we’ve sketched out this proposed transaction. 

"The club is financially successful, debt free, and experiencing good sporting success of late as well. 

"I have a great deal of respect for the club, the town, and the local culture, and am very hopeful to be invited in to be a part of it, if the Silkeborg Invest shareholders deem to approve us as owners.”

The side currently sits fourth in the Danish Superliga, are the reigning champions of the Danish Cup and have competed in Europe this year.

The club has also earned plaudits for being in the top ten most financially sustainable top flight clubs in Europe.

In the joint statement between both clubs, it has been confirmed that Trivela has already completed a full due diligence of the club and they have already been approached by Danish league officials.

Boycott goes on to explain that he hopes the move will benefit the other clubs under the Trivela umbrella - and has cited examples where Walsall and Drogheda have been able to work closely.

He added: "As I’ve always said to our supporters in Walsall and Drogheda, if and when we acquire more clubs, it will have to be of benefit to all parties – we won’t do it just to do it.

"I hope that our supporters can see and feel the shared benefits thus far, with player collaboration on the likes of Evan Weir and Douglas James Taylor benefitting both DUFC and WFC, and shared supporter experiences such as this summer’s Trivela Cup and the recent FAI Cup Final, which a number of Walsall supporters attended. 

"We believe that these benefits will be felt even more as we add Silkeborg to the Trivela family, with the potential for mutually-beneficial player movement between clubs, potential technical and administrative staff career advancement and development opportunities inside the group, shared commercial sponsorship deals, and even more shared supporter experiences between clubs.

“I’d also honour the work that has been done at Silkeborg in the areas of operational efficiencies and player development through the domestic academy there.

"Adding this club to the Trivela Group is adding some real knowledge and experience in areas where we want to improve across the board. There are many things they do very, very well that we can learn from and implement throughout the group."

Later this week, Boycott and Walsall chief executive Ben Sadler will release a video message regarding the takeover and what it means for the Saddlers.