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Takeover Set for Confirmation - Ipswich Town News

Town's shareholders will rubber-stamp Marcus Evans's takeover at an EGM at the Corn Exchange this evening. Evans, who will not be attending the meeting, will take an 87.5% stake in the club.

The conferencing billionaire will pump £12 million into the club, which is to be used to spend on transfer fees and players' wages, and will purchase £32 million of Town's debt, which will be repayable once the club is established in the Premier League.

On Friday, the club announced the names of the three new directors who will represent Marcus Evans on the Town board. They are Martin Pitcher, Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds.

Chairman David Sheepshanks explained the boardroom developments: "If all is approved, there will be changes at board level.

"The existing directors will remain as shareholder representatives as directors of Ipswich Town plc, which will in future hold 12.5 per cent of the shares of the football club.

"Importantly, they will continue to be ambassadors for the club and they will be invited to attend club board meetings, helping to provide further continuity.

"The football club board will look rather different though, and will effectively become more of a management board.

"It will comprise six directors, with three representatives each from Ipswich Town and the Marcus Evans Group. Derek Bowden as chief executive, Kevin Beeston as a non-executive director and myself as chairman will continue, together with Martin Pitcher, Ian Milne and Jonathan Symonds as new directors."

Pitcher, who is joining both boards, qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, working for them in London and New York in their audit and transaction services divisions.

The 40-year-old moved on to the Marcus Evans Group three years ago and is currently their director of corporate development, which means he is responsible for start-ups and acquisitions.

Ian Milne, a 55-year-old qualified solicitor, is joining the club board. Previously he was with drinks giant Diageo and Revlon International, joining the Marcus Evans Group in 2000.

Jonathan Symonds, the chief information officer of the Marcus Evans Group since 1996, will be joining the club board. The 37-year-old is responsible for the strategy and the delivery of IT solutions for the Marcus Evans Group. He has a degree in Business Information Systems and was previously in management roles with Apple Computers, Bacon and Woodrow and Global Communications.

David Sheepshanks will start this evening's meeting with a short introductory speech prior to questions being taken from the floor.

Shareholders will be asked to approve the proposed refinancing from Marcus Evans Investments Limited with the result made public after a short interval.

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