Hearts dismiss buy-out claims

Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov said last night that he was not interested in selling the club despite claims that an Icelandic multi-millionaire could make an offer.

Romanov made his position clear after a consortium of Scottish businessmen, led by Edinburgh man Pat Munro, claimed they had tried to entice Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson and businessmen from the Middle East to try to buy out the Lithuanian.

Munro has tried to raise the money required to take over the Edinburgh club but has failed to convince the club he is a serious player.
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This time he approached Bjorgolfsson, who is believed to be worth more than £1.5bn. He is the son of Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, who recently bought West Ham.

Despite Romanov's stewardship of Hearts being called into question by fans still angry at the selling of key players and the exit from the Tennent's Scottish Cup, his representatives made it clear last night the club was not for sale.

"Mr Romanov would be more interested if the bid was from Marilyn Monroe and not Pat Munro," said a source close to the Hearts owner, who has an 80.01% shareholding in the club. "He has no interest in selling Hearts and is not interested in any bids."

The Herald understands that the club has dismissed Mr Munro's latest attempt to take over the club. It is understood that a former Hearts official based in Lithuania had contacted Gudmundsson to check out what was going on and believes the Icelander had made no promise to put together a bid.

Club officials have also made it clear that Romanov is committed to Hearts and was not going to bail out under any circumstances.

Hearts supporters are also sceptical that Mr Munro had convinced Bjorgolfsson and unnamed money men from the Middle East to put in a bid.

Derek Watson, secretary of the Hearts' Supporters Trust, said he was not convinced by talk of a proposed takeover. "It seems all talk. It would be interesting it if was true as he seems a very rich Icelander, but we're taking it with a pinch of salt," said Watson. "Change for the sake of change is not always ideal."

Mr Munro has claimed his group had already made an offer to Romanov for his shares. However, a planned meeting between both sides in Lithuania was cancelled after Romanov pulled out.

Taken from the Scotsman