DEAL TO BUY VALDERRAMA GOLF CLUB STALLS AGAIN

NEWS RELEASE
The Stripe Group, the Company fronted by Greg Norman, has failed to close the deal to acquire the assets of the Valderrama Golf Club in Southern Spain from its current owners, the Patino family, for the third time.
There is now speculation as to the Stripe Group’s ongoing intentions. Meanwhile further legal action has been launched by the members to challenge the validity of planning applications for several plots of land adjacent to the golf course, which form part of the acquisition proposal.
The membership is against the Stripe Group’s proposed acquisition and has instigated legal action insisting that contractually they have first option to buy the Club. As it stands, the membership owns the leasehold through to 2050 so therefore retains responsibility for direction and management of the Club, regardless of ownership.
A spokesman for the members said: “As far as we are concerned, it is business as usual, and we are now planning the Valderrama Masters for this autumn following the huge success of the Masters last October won by Graeme McDowell. We will not let this spat over ownership divert our attention from the main objective of our club.”