Swansea City is exploring new investment opportunities and negotiating with interested parties.

The club’s majority owners, Americans Steve Kaplan and Jason Levien, along with Jake Silverstein, are looking to attract more outside financial support for the Championship club.

It wouldn’t be in the form of a takeover, however, as the ownership group remains committed to its long-term aim of returning Swansea to the Premier League.

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Silverstein made a substantial loan move to the club in 2020 and was subsequently appointed manager of Swansea, with the American having made several trips to south Wales in recent years to deal with a range of club matters.

This comes after the club confirmed this evening that the final set of £3m debentures held by Kaplan, Levien and Silverstein had become equity.

This means that since October 2022 a total of £19m worth of notes have been converted into shares, with conversions confirmed by the Companies Register in October 2022 and in February and March this year.

Other shareholders, including Swansea City Supporters’ Trust, were further diluted as a result of the latest conversion.

In a statement released on Tuesday night, the club confirmed that the conversion of the third and final set of notes “will not affect the fully acquired and undiluted five per cent shareholding in the club, nor its continued involvement and interaction with the club. “. and the majority shareholders in the face of the big questions”.

It was revealed that Silverstein’s shares, which belong to the American company Stormlight Elyrch LLC, will be transferred to Swansea Football LLC. As a result, Silverstein’s share will sit alongside Levien’s and Kaplan’s.

The Trust’s statement stated: “As a result of the conversion, the Trust’s entire shareholding in the club has been diluted along with all other shareholders who have not accepted the offer to purchase further shares.

“However, the protected five percent of the Trust’s actual shares have not been diluted. The trust has permanent legal and economic protection, which is established in a confidential sharing agreement between all club shareholders.

“We have recently responded to a large number of questions and comments regarding our comments on our ownership interest; We would like to make it clear that the Trust is aware that dilution is not ideal, but the Trust does not have the financial resources to match the revenue every time the other party makes a new investment in the club.

“In cases like this, our responsibility is to put the football club’s safety first and our collective opinion is that the club should only operate with acceptable debt; if that means raising more capital to back it up, then that’s the position we take.” .

“We have stated on several occasions that we would prefer any investment to improve the squad or improve the club’s infrastructure, rather than covering deficits in the club’s accounts. We know this is shared by all stakeholders in Swansea City.” but the club is not yet financially stable enough for that.

“Our expenses continue to be greater than what we get from commercial revenue and player sales. This balance is something we constantly discuss with owners and senior management.

“It is also important to note that the fund is not the only shareholder to be diluted in these cases, as none of the other shareholders other than the majority group invested additional funds, their respective stakes in the club were also diluted.” .

The club’s ownership group has long sought new investment as Swansea no longer receive parachute payments since being relegated from the Premier League just five years ago.

In January, it became known that management was holding talks with potential investors.

An excerpt from the minutes of a Supporters Board of Trustees meeting released during the January transfer window read: “The owners have been in contact with potential investors over the last few months. The club will let us know if any investment is confirmed.”

Kaplan attended Swansea’s league game against Millwall at The Den earlier this month and had lengthy talks with manager Russell Martin ahead of the London game.

The latest club accounts are expected to be released before the end of the 2022/23 Championship season. Its most recent accounts reported a pre-tax loss of £4.6 million.

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