Hibs encouraged by SFA hearing on billionaire investment plan - latest

Foley bid for minority stake moves forward a stage

Bill Foley is hoping to take a minority shareholding at Hibs.

Hibs hope they’ve persuaded the SFA board that billionaire Bill Foley’s investment in the club will be good for Scottish football – after positive Hampden talks today. The Hibs delegation, led by Ian Gordon and CEO Ben Kensell, took part in a “positive meeting” with board members, according to a club statement.

As Bournemouth owner Foley broke his silence to explain how Hibs needed “help” to shake up the Scottish Premiership’s established order, head coach Nick Montgomery described the potential minority investment as a “positive” for the club. And Hibs are banking on the SFA looking favourably on their written submission outlining the proposals.

In a statement issues this evening, the club said: “Hibernian FC can confirm that the club met with the Scottish FA board on Thursday 14 December, 2023 to discuss a minority investment proposal. The positive meeting saw Ian Gordon and Ben Kensell outline the proposal and discuss the benefits for Hibs and Scottish football moving forward.

“The club looks forward to the next stage of the process, which is submitting a formal request for the approval of dual interest dispensation against article 13. There will be no further comment at this time.”

Speaking on radio station TalkSport this morning, Foley - whose interest in Hibs was first reported here six weeks ago - emphasised the benefits of the Easter Road club being part of Bournemouth's ambitious recruitment and player development programme. The American, who owns the Premier League club, also holds a stake in FC Lorient and has just been granted a licence for a new A-League franchise.

He said: “We're going through the process with the Scottish Premier League (sic) and the Scottish Football Association to ensure that we're doing things properly and that we're doing them in a way that they're happy with our participation. 

“We're not going to be a controlling shareholder; we're going to be an investor but we certainly want to coordinate acquisition and disposition of players with Hibs and I know they can use the help.”

Head coach Nick Montgomery spoke for the first time about the potential investment this afternoon, the Yorkshireman giving the news a guarded welcome as he said: “It’s good to hear for any manager, any club, to get any sort of investment. That’s always positive. There is a lot of talk around it but, until it’s confirmed, nothing changes here. That’s stuff above my remit. I don’t really need to know. But hopefully things go well on that front."

Hibs hope to win shareholder approval for the investment in the new year, once the SFA have given written clearance for the deal to go ahead.