The V H Group has been the majority owners of Blackburn Rovers via its Venky’s London Ltd holding company since 2010. It bought the Ewood Park side off a trust set up by Jack Walker.
When did Venky’s become the owner of Blackburn Rovers?
November 2010 marked the start of a new beginning for Blackburn Rovers as the V H Group became the Ewood Park club’s new majority owners. The Indian conglomerate gained 99.9% of the shares in the Lancashire side from a trust that the late Walker had founded for £54m.
Anuradha Jitendra Desai is the chairperson of the full Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group (V H Group). Banda Venkatesh Rao and Banda Balaji Rao also sit on the board. They took control of the poultry specialists back in 1996 following the death of their father, DR Banda Vasudev Rao.
Walker had exclusively owned Blackburn Rovers since January 1991 and bankrolled their rise to win the 1994/95 Premier League title. The club also secured promotion from Division Two in 1991/92. Walker also funded the construction of Blackburn Rovers’ Brockhall training ground.
A family trust took up the running of Blackburn Rovers when Walker passed away in August 2000. He established the trust several years before the boyhood Rovers fan died. It stopped financing the club’s operations in June 2008, however, after providing loans totalling £97m.
The V H Group confirmed that just £20m of the purchase price went to the trust. While the remaining £34m included covering debts and providing an immediate cash injection for the strengthening of the club’s operations. The takeover valued the shares at 17.17 pence each.
Around 340 further shareholders own the remaining 0.1% of the shares in Blackburn Rovers. The V H Group also made an immediate unconditional offer for the shares, priced at 17.17p. But it failed to get total control and has faced a fan-led takeover attempt and many protests.
Blackburn Rovers were 14th in the Premier League table as the V H Group became the club’s owners. Sam Allardyce was also the club’s manager at the time but Venky’s sacked the coach in December 2010. Steve Kean took up the helm and stayed in charge until September 2012.
What have Blackburn Rovers won with Venky’s as their owners?
The finances the V H Group has provided since Venky’s became the club’s owners is still yet to yield much for Blackburn Rovers’ trophy cabinet. Since 2010, the Ewood Park natives have not won a single major trophy. They have also not reached a semi-final of any domestic cup.
Blackburn Rovers further endured relegation from the Premier League after 11 years during the 2011/12 season. The club finished the top-flight term in 19th place with 31 points across 38 games. They won just eight times and drew seven to end the term six points from safety.
Another relegation also followed during the 2016/17 Championship campaign as Blackburn Rovers fell into League One. They won just 12 and drew 15 of their 46 games to miss out on survival on goal difference to Nottingham Forest. But the club gained promotion in 2017/18.
What other sports franchises do Venky’s own?
The V H Group holds business interests that stretch across Asia, which cover the poultry and pharmaceutical industries. Its pharmaceutical assets include human and animal healthcare. The Pune, India-based conglomerate has further invested in a vaccine plant in Switzerland.
But Blackburn Rovers are the only sporting franchise in the V H Group’s portfolio. It has also invested more than £140m into the Ewood Park natives since buying 99.9% of the shares in the club. Although it initially hoped £5m-a-year would bring Champions League nights back.
How much is Venky’s worth? What is the V H Group’s net worth?
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, the V H Group, the owners of Blackburn Rovers, has a net worth of £1.66bn, as of July 2023. The Indian conglomerate is the 21st-richest owners of an English football club. The Mirror cited the V H Group’s net worth at £1.56bn as of April 2022.