The long-anticipated takeover of Shelbourne FC was confirmed by the club on Friday morning, with ACUNMEDYA becoming the majority shareholder of the Dublin club.
ACUNMEDYA are owned by Turkish media mogul Acun Ilıcalı, who will take over as the club's chairman from Andrew Doyle, who will step down to the role of vice chairman.
Ilıcalı and his ACUNMEDYA company are already owners of Hull City and, in a statement made by Shelbourne to announce the news on Friday, he expressed his excitement to get to work at Tolka Park.
Shelbourne: ACUNMEDYA takeover confirmed
Shelbourne FC is pleased to announce that @acunmedya, founded by @acunilicali, has become the majority shareholder of the club.
— Shelbourne FC (@shelsfc) June 9, 2023
In their statement, Shelbourne expressed their hopes for the new partnership with Acun Ilıcalı, and hinted at newfound "synergy" with their counterparts at Hull City:
This investment will be used to support the growth and development of the club by investing in the men’s and women’s first teams, the academy, and its facilities with an ambition to make Shelbourne FC Ireland’s most successful football club. The deal is expected to bring additional benefit as it will create material synergy between Shelbourne FC and Hull City FC, which is fully owned by Acun Ilıcalı.
In the same press release, Acun Ilıcalı gave his thoughts on the takeover's completion.
Ilıcalı said that he had been captivated by the passion shown by those at Shelbourne, and hoped to make the club the "leader" of the League of Ireland and experience continental success:
I am deeply impressed by the passion and motivation of the Shelbourne FC family and we believe that the club offers great potential to succeed in European football.
Our vision for Shelbourne FC is to become the leader of the League of Ireland and demonstrate consistent success in European competitions. We believe that our investment and commitment will shape the future of the football in our academy, which will become the most modern academy structure in Ireland.
We want to scout, recruit and train talented prospects from all over Ireland and Europe to be part of our family. With our global expertise and vision in football, media and entertainment verticals, we aim to bring new energy to Irish football and Shelbourne FC, one of the oldest clubs in Ireland, by further strengthening the deep-rooted bond between the fans and the club, like we did in Hull City.
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