$750 billion behind takeoverTHE backers of Burnley takeover bidder Peter Shackleton are a massive oil company with assets of 750 billion dollars.

And the delays that have dogged the company's Turf Moor deal have centred around another hush-hush multi-million dollar merger.

The group of investors, which has promised Shackleton an initial £12 million package, today decided to speak publicly about their troubled bid.

Barcelona-based Ian Burns, a spokesman for the group, contacted me to try and ease the fears of Clarets fans.

It was Burns who first approached Peter Shackleton, a contact from the former college principal's time in education, about a bid for Burnley Football Club.

And Burns confirmed an unconnected interest in Swiss First Division side FC Basel.

He also predicted an end to the drawn out saga "within a week".

Burns said: "The company is involved in a share merge with a public quoted company. Both companies are as big as you get. "They are only just coming towards the completion of the first phase of that exercise now.

"Once that particular exercise is over, which will be some time during the next week, it will allow the company to focus on some of the other investments which have been held up.

"But the takeover of Burnley is not dependent on the merger. They wanted to do one particular exercise at a time. That does not reflect on Burnley."

The company - a major player in the oil and minerals industry - wants to remain anonymous for the present so as not to threaten their merger.

Burns revealed, though, that it is privately owned with daughter companies on the New York and Vancouver stock exchanges.

He expanded: "The investors are a mineral-oil based company with massive resources and assets.

"Their company have 750 billion dollars reserved assets.

"They are not British-based but were looking to purchase a football club in Britain.

"They did not have any deep interest in a British football club but wanted a foothold to increase their own business activity and contacts.

"This is not a tax loss position. If you are going to look at it in cold terms, it's an investment to help look at other markets in Britain and Europe." And he attempted to clear up confusion surrounding the investors' interests in other European clubs, stressing that any involvement was not connected with the Burnley deal.

Burns said: "Some of the gentlemen are Swiss-based and we knew that Basel were looking for money and were about to talk to their own investors.

"One or two of the gentlemen are interested in Basel but as far as I know there have not been any talks. Some other people used by one of the company's financial arms are fairly major financial people and are shareholders and directors in some of Europe's major football clubs."

And Burns - who works with France-based businessman Michel Kupfer - pieced together the intricate web of middle-men in the deal.

"We are so unconnected with this deal it is unbelievable. I am simply the guy who made the initial introduction to Peter and am acting as a courtesy spokesman. I am not part of the investors. I can only tell of the difficulties in completing such a large transaction.

"Murray MacDowell is a stockbroker in Canada, where one of the daughter companies is on the market. He is a buyer of shares in the market for the company and was asked to hold funds and make the purchase of Burnley when he was asked."

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