Mark Ogren has stated that Dundee United are NOT for sale.
However, the Tangerines’ owner has confirmed that the club are open to investment and have been approached by numerous parties already.
Ogren has been at the helm of the Terrors since December 2018 and has overseen a roller-coaster tenure encompassing two promotions, European football, relegation and SIX permanent managers.
Along the way, he has invested north of £13 million.
There have been persistent suggestions that Ogren could look to sell up in the near future (he stated in 2023 that he had more time behind him as United owner than ahead of him) but the American businessman says the club are not on the market.
Ogren would, however, consider selling a stake of the business in return for investment from the right bidder.
“We are not for sale,” said Ogren. “We are not listed for sale, and we don’t have a broker out there trying to sell us.
“Having said that, there have been numerous conversations with people who are interested in investing. That has been happening since day one, really; there have always been people asking if we’d sell a piece or if we’d be open to investment.
“We had conversations with people who have shown an interest but there’s nothing in the works.
“Would I be open to that (selling a minority stake in return for investment)? Given certain parameters, then possibly.”
A multi-club model?
Back in October, reports in Denmark suggested that billionaire ASOS tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen was interested in purchasing a stake in United.
Povlsen, a resident of the Highlands, already owns FC Midtjylland in his homeland.
Asked directly about whether he has held discussions with Povlsen, Ogren added: “I don’t want to talk about anyone specifically, but we have spoken to multiple people.”
Ogren also fielded questions regarding whether United would be amenable to being part of a multi-club structure.
Hibs have a partnership with Bill Foley’s Black Knights group and Hearts work with Jamestown Analytics, which is widely utilised by Brighton chief Tony Bloom’s football group.
A more official link with Bloom is likely to follow.
“It’s the way some clubs are going, so it would be natural,” acknowledged Ogren. “That is a situation which could emerge, but there’s nothing in the works.
“There are a lot of people out there who want to invest in sports enterprises and, right now, European football is one of them.”
‘No appetite’ for Dundee ground-share despite John Nelms invitation
Meanwhile, Ogren has definitively stated that United have “no appetite” to ground-share with city rivals Dundee at their proposed new Camperdown Park home.
Dee managing director John Nelms addressed a Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce Q&A session last week and, as Courier Sport reported, told attendees he would welcome the prospect.
“There isn’t an appetite within the club or within our fanbase to do that,” responded Ogren. “We actually took a vote in the AGM (on Thursday morning) to see what the reaction was like and almost everyone said they’d stay at Tannadice.”
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