Cape Town — Newlands Rugby Stadium will be placed on the market in a sealed bidding process, SA Rugby confirmed yesterday.
No rugby is currently being played at the venue, with both Western Province and the Stormers having made the move to the Cape Town Stadium lat year after a 130-year association with the iconic ground.
It was thought that the stadium precinct would be redeveloped, but it has now been confirmed that the property is open for bidding, with the press release stating “entities wishing to pursue an interest in bidding may request details of the property and the terms and conditions of the bidding process from Galetti (Pty) Limited.”
Last year, seasoned administrator Rian Oberholzer was appointed by SA Rugby to oversee the affairs of the embattled union.
The former SA Rugby CEO also served as Sanzaar’s CEO at Super Rugby’s launch before taking over the position at SA Rugby from 1996 to 2003.
He has “retained an external consultancy to ensure the bidding process for Newlands is transparent and judged entirely on commercial merits.”
“This is the cleanest, fairest and most transparent method by which to hopefully secure the sale of Newlands to assist in the long-term sustainability of the Union,” said an SA Rugby spokesperson.
“We are now in a position where we can proceed to a sale, having taken some time to understand and untangle the various sale conversations that had taken place.”
The spokesperson added that the sealed bid process was the most transparent way to ensure the best possible outcome for WPRFU and any prospective purchaser. The process allows parties to submit several bids offering different structures along a set of guidelines issued by the seller.
It also prevents any opportunity for the buying party to influence the seller; information is shared simultaneously with all parties and is coordinated externally to ensure the best outcome.
The deadline for submission of non-binding offers is 15 April 2022 with submission of final binding offers on 31 May 2022.
The statement also relayed that it is hoped that a sale can be concluded by 7 June 2022.
IOL Sport