CORPORATE finance and capital raising company Seneca Partners are formulating a proposal to buy Blackburn Rovers from under-fire owners Venky’s.

Seneca, operated by lifelong Blackburn Rovers fans and prominent East Lancashire businessmen Ian Battersby and Ian Currie, are working to bring together a ‘credible and well funded proposition’ to offer Venky’s a way out.

Former Accrington Stanley chairman and investment banker Ilyas Khan has approached the wealth management company with a view to working with them to find a resolution to Rovers’ current crisis. Seneca, based at Haydock, provides investment opportunities for high net worth individuals and entrepreneurs and deals with funds of hundreds of millions of pounds.

Battersby and Currie were granted an audience with club owner Anuradha Desai to discuss the club’s future in October.

No bid has yet been formalised or made.

Venky’s remain adamant they are not for sale, despite coming under increasing pressure from frustrated fans after their recent Premier League relegation.

Co-owner Balaji Rao told the Times of India they were ‘here for the long haul’ and promised big changes at the club in the next few weeks.

As well as having access to the funds needed to purchase Rovers, Seneca would look to a put a management structure in place at Ewood Park.

A statement from Seneca, said: “There is nothing more to say at this point, other than we are acutely aware of the difficult state the club currently finds itself in. The economic impact on the town, its surrounding areas and the local population dictates that action needs to be taken in short order to reverse the recent sequence of events.

“Bringing together a credible and well funded proposition is the ambition.

“We are also aware of the excellent effort made by the fans trust and recognise clearly Rovers’ status as a club of the town and its fans.

“We do however wish to stress that nothing has been formalised with any party and certainly not with the current owners.

“The statement intends to reassure Rovers fans that the club’s immediate future and heritage will not be easily relinquished.”

Battersby has extensive experience in wealth management and corporate banking, having held past positions with Lloyds TSB Group and Hill Samuel before becoming director of Wealth Management.

For the past decade he has worked exclusively with a network of high net worth individuals in the sport, music and entertainment sector.

Currie has a wealth of experience in corporate finance and was the co founder of Manchester based financial group The Zeus Group.

Khan stepped down as Stanley chairman last Friday and is in the process of giving away shares in the club. He is a multi-millionaire investment banker with a number of different businesses.