Sale Sharks face “very bright future” following takeover

A corporate acquisitions and investment firm led by the brother of former Take That member Jason Orange has taken over rugby union club Sale Sharks.

CorpAcq Ltd, headed up by Simon Orange, will replace the Sharks’ co-owners and majority shareholders Ian Blackhurst and Brian Kennedy, who have held the reins since 2000.

According to a BBC report, talks over a potential takeover deal have been ongoing since the beginning of 2016.

Discussing the deal in a statement, Simon Orange said: “Sale have performed resiliently over the past 16 years under the ownership of Brian Kennedy, and now we believe we can build on this success and take Sale Sharks to another level.

“With our planned investment, I think we can close the gap between Sale Sharks and the teams above us.”

He added: “I hope rugby fans from the region will support Sale Sharks and help us to build a dominant northern powerhouse both on and off the field.”

Sale Sharks’ director of rugby, Steve Diamond, believes the club have a “very bright future” ahead of them following the takeover.

Steve said: “We want to grow this club and coming off the back of a good season is a great time to do it.”

Commenting on the takeover, Brian Kennedy said his time with Sale Sharks has been “a great privilege”.

He added: “We have had many wonderful moments’ particularly winning two European trophies and The Premiership championship for the first time in the club’s history.”

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