LONDON (AP) - Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner moved closer to securing full control of Aston Villa on Tuesday after acquiring 85.50 per cent of shares in the Premier League soccer club.
The announcement was made in a statement to the London Stock Exchange by Lerner's takeover vehicle, Reform Acquisitions Ltd. (RAL).
Aston Villa said Lerner's acquisition "does not constitute an end to the takeover process."
"RAL's offer for the company remains conditional on 90 per cent shareholder acceptance," Villa said. The deadline for shareholders to accept RAL's offer is Sept. 18.
When RAL's ownership reaches 90 per cent, it can legally buy out the remaining 10 per cent of stock.
Lerner put in a 62.6-million pound (C$132 million) bid Aug. 14 to buy Aston Villa, one of the oldest clubs in English soccer.
He offered a price of 547 pence (C$11.54) per Aston Villa share - a premium of about 47 per cent over the closing price on the last day before the offer period. The club was put up for sale last year.
Villa, established in 1874, hasn't won the English league title since 1981.
Lerner will replace chairman Doug Ellis, who has run the team for more than 30 years.
Lerner is the second American owner of a Premier League team, and the fourth foreign owner. Last year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer took over at Manchester United.
"Aston Villa was a club I had already thought about for a long time as I became more familiar with the Premier League over the last three or four years," Lerner told BBC Radio Five Live on Monday. "It wasn't a lifelong thing. It would be dishonest and disingenuous for me to suggest it was. It seemed like an opportunity to make a little bit of a difference."
Lerner said the appointment of Martin O'Neill as manager before the takeover was completed had made his job easier.
"I think Martin O'Neill is great," he said. "I think he's got the record, the history and the makings for a steady long-term commitment to Villa. That's the plan."