Big Reading FC takeover development emerges as Dai Yongge era looks to end | OneFootball

Redwood Holdings 1 LTD have a fixed charge over a huge number of shares in League One side Reading, according to a Companies House document.

The Royals were placed on the market last year - but exclusivity was only granted to a party during the latter stages of last month.

Bloomberg revealed that Chiron Sports Group were the party that had been given exclusivity - and documents published by Companies House have confirmed that this is the case - with Chiron in control of Redwood Holdings.

They will be looking to get a deal over the line as quickly as possible, with contracts needing to be sorted out and new players needing to be signed this summer to give the Royals the best chance of remaining afloat and thriving in the third tier.

Ruben Selles' side may have survived this season, but it's clear that they need to add to their squad if they want to have the best chance of improving on their league finish at the end of this term.

Chiron Sports Group strengthen their position amid Reading FC takeover attempt

Two charges were recently placed over the club's Bearwood training facility by Redwood - and that was seen as a significant development.

But the document published today has revealed that the group now have a charge over 240,831,010 shares that are owned by Renhe Sports Management, which is the company by owner Dai Yongge.

It's unclear how many shares the club has in total, but Mr Dai and Dai Xiu Li own the vast majority of them and a significant amount (if not all) have been included in this charge.

This should make it much more difficult for the Dai siblings to pull out of negotiations, which is a positive sign for the supporters who hope to see the club sold as quickly as possible.

And this has strengthened Chiron's position as they look to complete a takeover, although this deal still needs to be given the green light by the EFL, who have beefed up their checks in recent years.

This takeover development will leave Reading FC supporters with mixed feelings

Chiron look to have boxed current owner Dai into a corner, giving the former the upper hand.

That will reassure many Reading fans who don't trust Dai.

However, what happens if Chiron don't manage to gain EFL approval? That would create a very messy situation, although you'd hope Nigel Howe hasn't negotiated a deal without being convinced that the party would pass the Owners and Directors' Test, having previously been on the EFL board.

Looking at where the Royals were (off the pitch) not so long ago, this charge has to be seen as a positive, with Chiron seemingly fully committed to getting a takeover deal over the line.

This charge was brought to fans' attention by a fellow supporter - and the reaction to this development is a fairly positive one - which is justified.

There can't be complacency, but cautious optimism is needed following a difficult period earlier this season.