Montpellier boss to buy Gloucester shares

European Professional Club Rugby, the organisers of the European Champions Cup and Challenge Cup competitions, confirmed that the Montpellier owner, Altrad, has made a formal application.

The ERPC statement confirmed Altrad wants a controlling stake in the Premiership club, whose current majority shareholder is Martin St Quinton.

"EPCR has received an application for consent for the acquisition of a majority stake in Gloucester Rugby by Altrad Participations," the EPCR statement said.

"We has discussed the matter at the most recent meeting of our executive committee.

"To have a controlling influence on two clubs participating in European club competition would require consent from the unions concerned [in this case, the RFU and the FFR who are both shareholders and are represented on the EPCR Board] as well as from World Rugby and EPCR itself.

"EPCR has written to the three organisations in question, asking for their clarified positions on the matter.

"EPCR is committed to completing all of its due diligence regarding this matter and to assessing any potential risks to the integrity and image of its tournaments in which both clubs participate, by avoiding any potential conflict of interest, or perception thereof.

"It is important to consider the views of all stakeholders as part of a fair, thorough and transparent decision-making process."

Gloucester said, in a statement through CEO Stephen Vaughan, that they are willing to consider the Altrad offer.

"We have pledged to remain as frank and open with all our stakeholders as we possibly can on this matter," Vaughan said.

"Last week we confirmed that discussions had begun with Altrad, but that any progress going forward was dependent on receiving approval from a number of relevant bodies.

"The statement from EPCR confirms that they have received communication from ourselves, We will, of course, strive to keep interested parties up to speed with developments as soon as we are in a position to do so."