Shilen Patel outlines Premier League ambition after completing West Brom takeover
New chairman Shilen Patel outlined his ambition to take Albion back to the Premier League after completing his £60million takeover of the club.
The proposed buy-out of the Baggies by Bilkul Football, a company owned by Florida-based Patel and his father Kiran, was formally rubber-stamped on Wednesday afternoon.
They have acquired Guochuan Lai’s 87.8 per cent majority shareholding, with Patel describing himself as “in awe of the opportunity” ahead.
He said: “I am delighted and humbled to become the new custodian of West Bromwich Albion Football Club.
“Today marks the beginning of an exciting project for the club to regain its standing as a consistent Premier League presence.
“Success does not occur overnight, but it is my ambition to build on the club’s current and historical strengths and surround West Bromwich Albion with high quality stakeholders at home and globally.
"I am also fortunate to be inheriting and continuing the great work of The Albion Foundation at home and abroad.
“I am in awe of the opportunity to help write the next chapter in Baggies history and am committed to being a responsible, respectful, and effective steward of the club.”
Patel’s takeover brings to an end the near disastrous reign of Lai, who paid around £200m for Jeremy Peace’s shareholding in 2016.
The Chinese businessman will now initially receive a sum of around £10m for the same stake, with the majority of the money involved in Patel’s buy-out package used to pay off the club’s debts, which are believed to total around £40m.
Albion borrowed £28m from US firm MSD Holdings since the start of last year to help with day-to-day running costs and the takeover has ended the very real threat the club would run out of cash.
Patel is a serial investor with a background in healthcare and has owned a minority shareholding in Serie A club Bologna FC 1909 since 2014.
The 43-year-old made his first appearance at The Hawthorns earlier this month for the Championship clash with Southampton after news of his proposed takeover first emerged.
