Southend United have agreed a takeover deal with a consortium headed by Australian businessman Justin Rees.
The deal has been announced less than 24 hours before the club are due in the High Court to face an HM Revenue & Customs winding-up petition.
Southend were warned at a previous court appearance they would be put out of business unless the debt was paid.
The takeover will end the 25-year tenure of Ron Martin, who announced in March he was looking to sell the club.
A statement said: “We can confirm that an agreement for the sale of the club has been reached with a consortium led by Justin Rees.
“Everyone is working towards a completion date of 1 November 2023 – that is when the consortium will formally take control of the club.
“The collaborative approach to agreeing this deal would not have been possible without the support of creditors and the assistance from the leader of Southend City Council.
“We recognise that this has been a stressful time for all associated with the club. We would like to thank our staff for their incredible loyalty and also thank all our stakeholders for their patience.”
The winding-up petition was adjourned on 23 August to give Martin more time to complete the sale.
“If this was not a football club, with the attachment of its fans, I would be winding it up today,” Judge Sebastian Prentis said at the time.
And with the takeover not due to be completed until the beginning of next month, the club will have to persuade the judge to grant a further extension at Wednesday’s hearing.
There have been a series of protests by supporters against Martin’s continuing ownership
Southend were docked 10 points by the National League for failing to clear their debts, which total £2.5m, and an appeal against that penalty was rejected last week.
There have been a series of protests by supporters against Martin, who began negotiations with three interested parties following his announcement in March that the club was being put up for sale, including the Kimura Group – but they told BBC Essex in July that they were not “the right people to lead this”.
He rejected two bids by Rees’ group last month – their offer involved “retaining and upgrading Roots Hall” instead of Martin’s preferred option of moving the club to a new site at Fossetts Farm – but those problems now appear to have been overcome.
Southend were formed in 1906 and have been based at their Roots Hall ground since 1955.
They have been as high as the second tier of English football and former managers include England’s 1966 World Cup-winning captain, the late Bobby Moore, who was in charge during the 1980s.
The club were relegated out of the English Football League in 2021 and last season missed out on the National League play-offs by finishing eighth.
They have been subject to a transfer embargo for more than a year and are second from bottom of the table, despite winning five and drawing three of their 13 matches this season under former Southend player Kevin Maher, who took charge of the team for the 100th time on Saturday.
The takeover deal was announced prior to Tuesday’s home fixture against Oxford City.
