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Simon Sadler, the British hedge fund founder accused of insider trading by Hong Kong authorities, wants to sell Blackpool Football Club as he fights to clear his name.
The founder of Hong Kong-based Segantii Capital Management and owner of the football club has held preliminary talks with at least one potential buyer and with the English Football League about a possible sale, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Sadler, his former colleague Daniel La Rocca and the hedge fund have all been charged with insider trading in the securities of retailer Esprit in 2017. All pleaded not guilty in a Hong Kong court last month. Segantii has previously said it “intends to vigorously defend itself against the accusation.”
Sadler grew up in Blackpool and many local fans saw him as a hero when he bought the football club into administration in 2019.
“I don’t want to sound like a messiah, but there is a point where I do it for the greater good, to give something back,” he told The Guardian newspaper shortly after buying the club.
It was subsequently promoted to English football’s second-highest division, but was relegated again before the 2023/24 season.
Club officials held early talks with people linked to Henry Teh, a Singapore-based investor who considered buying the club when it was put up for sale in 2019, one of the people said.
Teh, Sadler and Blackpool Football Club declined to comment.
Since the criminal charges, which were announced in May, Sadler has begun ceasing operations and returning investor money to Segantii. At the time, Segantii said it had decided it was “in the best interests of our investors to return their capital in an orderly manner.”
Sadler founded the fund in Hong Kong in 2007 and at its peak had $6 billion under management.
The insider trading trial will begin in May 2026. If convicted, Sadler could face up to seven years in prison.
Under the rules of the English Football League, directors of a football club can be disqualified if they have an uncontested conviction “in respect of an offense involving an act which could reasonably be regarded as “dishonest” or if they have an uncontested conviction for an offense. that resulted in a prison sentence of twelve months or more.
Sadler bought Blackpool Football Club for £8.2 million in 2019, court documents show. According to the latest accounts, for the year to June 2023, the company has received £25.5 million in “cumulative total resources” from Sadler.
Sadler provided £3.6 million in interest-free loans to the club that year, and £3.3 million the year before, the accounts said.