BILLIONAIRE Bill Foley’s poised to sell his 25-per-cent stake in Hibs with the majority shareholding Gordon family preparing a stunning purchase.
SunSport can reveal dramatic talks are ongoing for the 80-year old to agree to offload his minority interest in the Easter Road outfit purchased for £6million and approved by other shareholders only 20 months ago.
American Foley – whose Black Knight group also owns Bournemouth and has stakes in Lorient and Auckland – has never travelled to Scotland to take in a Hibees game.
And it’s understood he is now open to relinquishing his slice of the capital club.
The controlling Gordon family – with Ian as chairman – own roughly 60-per-cent of Hibs and are very interested in a deal.
Foley went public in July, 2024, to express his disapproval of the appointments of David Gray as manager and Malky Mackay as sporting director.
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It immediately put a strain on the relationship with the club hierarchy.
Foley said at the time: “If the other ownership group at Hibernian listens to us, they will do better.
“So far, they really haven’t been listening to our input. I believe they will listen to our input now.
“We have a very good relationship with Lorient. They are listening and are hiring the right people to develop that club.”
Foley’s comments proved to be the first cracks in the partnership and it’s understood the Black Knight group have since expressed a desire for Hibs to be more of a feeder club for Premier League outfit Bournemouth.
That notion has been opposed for months – and, it’s believed, is one of the reasons Foley’s now seeking to invest elsewhere.
He said in a weekend interview: “We’ve chosen to find other clubs for a feeder system.
“But we want to hire the sporting director, the coach, the analysts, for the teams to play the way Bournemouth play, so that if we do have to pay a fee for a player, we are paying ourselves.
“We want everyone – coaches, players, analysts – to feel that being part of our system is to their benefit.”
Hibs chairman Gordon has been a strong boardroom voice against any possibility of the club being left diminished in any way by the Black Knight group’s vision for the future.
For his part, Foley’s increasingly lost interest amid frustration also his strategy for Hibs has essentially been rejected.
Gordon’s been sharp in detecting Foley’s waning focus on the club and now wants to move quickly following differences over the way ahead.
Hibs are currently sitting third in the Premiership having started the season playing Europa League and Conference League ties.
Legendary Scottish Cup winning goalscorer David Gray was appointed boss in June 2024, and sensationally guided the Hibees to a top three finish last season after reviving the team following a shocking run of form in the first half of the campaign.
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Gray, 37, was nominated for manager of the year and also picked up three manager of the month awards.
Last April he was rewarded with a new three year deal after establishing himself as one of the best young Scottish managers.
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