TWTD understands Town’s US-backed takeover could happen as soon as next month.

As reported yesterday, speculation regarding a takeover at Portman Road has been circulating for a couple of weeks but is more advanced than has previously been suggested.

We understand the deal which would see the club change hands to a US-based group is worth £30 million.

Current owner Marcus Evans, who is set to write-off his debt, which will now have climbed to around £100 million, is understood to be keeping a five per cent stake in Town, presumably so he could potentially profit from a future sale if and when the Blues reach the Premier League.

It’s also believed that Evans will keep hold of some of the training ground, some or all of the Bent Lane side of the facility, with development having long been eyed for a small section of the field between already existing housing close to the road.

The ownership of that part of the training ground was transferred to another Evans company, London & Merchant Properties Limited, previously known as Marcus Evans (Guernsey) Ltd, in 2011 largely for tax reasons.

While Brett Johnson, from Phoenix Rising and FC Tucson, has entered the spotlight after following Town’s Twitter account in recent days, we understand the 51-year-old is just one of a number of investors.

TWTD understands that much of the cash will come from the pension fund for the fire and police services of a so-far unnamed US state.

Bristol City chief executive Mark Ashton has been strongly linked with the same role at Town as part of the takeover, and Robins head of operations/club secretary Luke Werhun is also believed to be wanted by the new set-up. However, there is no confirmation that either will be leaving Ashton Gate.

It’s believed that the consortium will look to bring in a new manager with The Athletic reporting that Paul Cook will be the man to replace current boss Paul Lambert.

Cook, 54, has been out of work since resigning from Wigan Athletic in the summer, having previously had spells in charge of Southport, Sligo, Accrington, Chesterfield and Portsmouth.

TWTD reported in January that Cook had been sounded out by Evans about taking over at Town should there be a vacancy.

Compensation will be due to the Latics' administrators with Cook still in contract with the Lancastrians when he departed.

Lincoln boss Michael Appleton was believed to be a target having previously worked at Oxford United with Ashton and Mike O’Leary, who along with Johnson is a director of Gamechanger 20, a company which was formed last year and is believed to be the vehicle for facilitating the takeover. Ashton is not among the directors.

However, Appleton yesterday signed a new four-year deal with the Imps and may have been less keen to move on from the division’s second-placed side even prior to penning his new contract.

Also among the directors of Gamechanger 20 is Berke Bakay, principal owner, governor and co-chairman of Phoenix Rising, who made his money from Kona Grill, a restaurant chain.

Like Ashton, O'Leary, who appears to be the driving force behind the consortium, has a background at West Brom having been the chief executive officer at the Hawthorns for two years in the early 2000s.

The takeover, which is not yet signed and sealed, would see a summer of great change at Portman Road, both on the field and off it.

Photo: Matchday Images

RobsonWark added 20:45 - Feb 26 Why would a pension fund want to invest in ITFC? Let's just hope they don't asset strip the club and then sell the club for £1. They could easily sell of our young players and the rest of the so called pros and sell the training ground to a housing property developer. Although this takeover sounds exciting this could in fact be the death of Ipswich Town. Look what Philip Green did to BHS!!

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htb added 20:57 - Feb 26 Firstly I wouldn't give Evans too much credit for writing off the debt. Some of it he bought at a reduced cost when he took over the club the rest has accumulated as ITFC is a loss making business. He has no realistic chance of ever getting this money back unless he was to invest again significantly and Ipswich were to become successful something he has shown he is not capable of. As others have said it is not that unusual for US pension funds (which can be huge) make what look like unusual investments. The good thing as I see it is the football club have very few assets so if they want a return on their investment there is nothing to strip. So the only way they will be successful is by investing in the team and club and making it a successful therefore majorly increasing the value. At that time they would probably look to sell and cash in on the investment, but why would we care as at that time we will be in a far better position than we are now and would have enjoyed the ride. Surely nothing an be worse than the last ten years!!

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eddiespearitt03 added 21:06 - Feb 26 A large wad of cash will be needed to pay up contracts . Hopefully, this will signal the end of the road for all the "hanger-ons" this club has.
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Gcon added 21:27 - Feb 26 I really don't get the 'careful what you wish for' brigade. A 4 yr old kid would have more success running this club than Marcus Evans. You would be extremely hard pushed to do a better job of running a club into the ground than he has over the last 14 yrs.
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leroy2488 added 21:40 - Feb 26 I'm sure if I were in the Police or Fire dept in any US state, I'd be hoping it's not money from my pension pot being invested..... Although, it's a move which could really boost our US fanbase, with thousands of US public servants become desperate for an ITFC revival!!
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blueboy1981 added 21:54 - Feb 26 Ever heard of ‘being careful what you wish for' ??? - not getting carried away with too much of this like some loose heads. Would much prefer to hear of a similar deal with a reasonably local consortium - this smacks of ITFC completely losing it's identity .... !!!!
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blueboy1981 added 22:06 - Feb 26 Loose heads will always be loose heads. Others - will, and have, seen the pitfalls of such a deal, which could so easily be the final chapter of Ipswich Town Football Club. Tread with Caution ..... !!!!
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BcarefulwhatUWish4 added 22:09 - Feb 26 All depends upon intention, and we won't have any idea about that for a while.
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tetchris added 22:11 - Feb 26 We currently being managed by a buerk now we may up being partly owned by one 😂🤣
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fifeblue added 22:25 - Feb 26 "from an unnamed US state" ? I didn't know any of the states were unnamed. Joking aside, are we really happy at the prospect of Ipswich Town being a foreign-owned club? It's a serious question. What would the implications be? After all, everyone of us who contributes to this website is a stakeholder in the club. It raises the fundamental question: what IS Ipswich Town Football Club exactly? Why does it exist? For whose benefit? What are its true, underlying objectives, goals, targets, visions?

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ArnieM added 22:29 - Feb 26 I'm amazed at all the comments in this thread talking about the supposed impending take over when there's another earlier thread to these posts which now states Evans is not selling . Am I missing something here ?
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richardpaul added 22:31 - Feb 26 The cynics amongst us can now understand why the team has had much better performances over the past two games They must have had insider knowledge of the new supposed owners/manager and were playing to impress to keep their places in the team and possibly their places at the club Just a thought!
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braveblue added 22:34 - Feb 26 Can't believe the praise for Evans. A complete disaster. The debt he writes off is purely down to his incompetence. The only stability he has brought is downward. He keeps the development land that was moved to another company and 5%.
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Bert added 22:46 - Feb 26 Bearing in mind the statement from the club that Evans is not actively trying to sell, it would be helpful if TWTD could reveal the source of the claim that a US consortium is about to take over the ownership. There is considerable detail in this story so if fans are to make judgements on this can we know how reliable the source is or is it just newspaper talk or fake news ? Only asking.

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BonchosBicycle added 23:25 - Feb 26 @ArnieM Evans is reiterating he is not "actively" looking to sell but has long said he would entertain serious offers. I guess this is looking like it might meet that threshold.
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kalamazoo added 00:44 - Feb 27 Am I being simple?? If Marcus is prepared to write off £100 million in this deal why isn't he prepared to stay, pay off Lambert, engage Paul Scott, buy a few very decent players and still have change for a pie at half time? Please can anyone explain this to me? Thanks. Kalamazoo [previously Zebra - had to change my avatar for security reasons],
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kalamazoo added 00:44 - Feb 27 Am I being simple?? If Marcus is prepared to write off £100 million in this deal why isn't he prepared to stay, pay off Lambert, engage Paul Scott, buy a few very decent players and still have change for a pie at half time? Please can anyone explain this to me? Thanks. Kalamazoo [previously Zebra - had to change my avatar for security reasons],
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kalamazoo added 00:47 - Feb 27 Paul Cook - not Scott [Lambert has apparently got to me!!]
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BonchosBicycle added 01:01 - Feb 27 I'd imagine Evans might have some kind of clause saying the debt would be partially repaid if the club became X successful. Didn't I also read he's going to retain 5% or something? So IF we were to get back into the Premiership he would stand to gain there. And this way the club is just another investment for him and not something he has to think about on a daily basis.

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bobble added 04:38 - Feb 27 never trust yanks when it comes to money.
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Westy added 07:26 - Feb 27 Why have I got a bad feeling about this.
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 09:16 - Feb 27 I am very uneasy about this potential development. Having seen the shenanigans that have gone on in some other clubs with foreign owners who have no roots or connection with the clubs they buy, I think we are heading on a journey into the crass world of international finance that has no empathetic connection at all with our club and its values. I'd much rather our centre of gravity was in East Anglia rather than Arizona! It's a pity ME missed a trick more than once at crucial times when a little extra investment would probably have seen us over the line.

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gosblue added 09:33 - Feb 27 Now would be a good time to buy. The value of our best players is dramatically depressed due to the level at which they are playing. If we were to reach the championship, whether this time or next season, one of our £2 - 3m prize assets suddenly becomes worth £5 - 10m. We probably have 3 or 4 young players who would fit into that category with another 3 or 4 knocking on the door.

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Bluearmy_81 added 09:42 - Feb 27 Staggered by the 'careful what you wish for' attitude of some. The only way a consortium is going to profit is by seeing ITFC do well and at least get promotion to the championship. The club presently is a joke and a laughing stock and under the current status quo is destined for division 4 within a few years imo. Its just biazzare that some of you have such an aversion to such a clean break and way out of the death spiral we are currently in, you blow my mind!

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Northstandveteran added 09:45 - Feb 27 My mates postman's aunties friend who knows a bloke down the pub said that his cousin's milkman was having a chat with his father in law and he knows someone who heard that sheik Mohammad bin Rashid knows of a rumour that there are untapped oil reserves under Portman road and that the stadium will be taken apart and relocated in Dirtsville Pennsylvania and will host weekly concerts by the spillage people, midnight oil and Diesel.

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