Indian poultry company plans takeover of UK football team

The Venky’s group, which specialises in poultry farming and pharmaceuticals, has had several talks with UK Premier League football club Blackburn Rovers with the aim of taking the club over.

According to Blackburn Rovers the deal should be completed in November. If it is successful it would make Rovers the first Indian-owned Premier League club.

Rovers chairman John Williams said both parties were “hopeful” the deal would be completed in November.

The club said detailed discussions had taken place with the Indian group.

Williams said there had been an extensive period of due diligence, where the club’s finances are studied.

In a statement on the Blackburn website, Venky’s chairperson Anuradha J Desai said: “We expect to be the first Indian company to acquire a Premier League team. We are particularly delighted that the team is Blackburn Rovers, with whom we believe we have many shared values and ambitions.”

Venky’s, formerly known as Western Hatcheries Ltd, was established in 1976, mainly to produce chicks for the poultry markets of north India.

It is a VH Group company that has diversified into manufacturing nutritional health products for humans, pet food and other healthcare products.

The VH Group was founded in 1971 and is based in the western state of Maharashtra. Its flagship company is Venkateshwara Hatcheries, which it says was transformed from “a backyard activity into an organised, promising industry, ranking amongst the best in the world”.