Saracens owner Nigel Wray courts investors and resigns as club director Exclusive: Wray cuts all formal ties with Premiership and European champions as fallout from salary cap breach continues

Nigel Wray has cut all formal ties with Saracens and its parent company as he courts potential investors to buy at least a 50 per cent stake in the club, i can reveal.

With reports last night suggesting that the club are on the brink of immediate relegation after failing the meet salary-cap rules this season also – although a source close to the club told i “nothing is finalised” – Companies House filings show Wray has resigned as a ­director of Saracens and its parent company Premier Team Holdings.

Wray stepped down as chairman of the club earlier this month, and the latest move means he no longer has formal links to Saracens, other than through his family.

Internal sources have told i that Wray is looking for new investment, but that the Wray family would ­remain co-investors and continue to support the club financially.

Any new investors would need to match Wray’s long-term vision for Saracens, built up over the 25 years he has been involved.

While the amount by which he is willing to dilute his family’s ownership has not yet been agreed, it is expected he is willing to sell at least half. This newspaper has also learned that Wray, 71, is no longer the main shareholder of Saracens.

In another Companies House filing for Premier Team Holdings, which owns just under 90 per cent of the London-based club, Wray is not listed as a shareholder.

The filings confirm he transferred his ownership to the Edna Wray Grandchildren’s Accumulation & Maintenance Trust, of which the two main beneficiaries are Wray’s two children – Lucy, who sits on the board of Saracens, and her brother Joseph, who is head of sales at ­another Wray family company MBN Events.

Before transferring the shares to his children’s trust in November 2018, Wray had bought out a 50 per cent share held by South African group Remgro after it decided to pull its backing in April 2018.

Last November, Premiership Rugby’s investigation led to a ­deduction of 35 points from ­Saracens for the current season, and a £5.36 million fine after the club was found in breach of the salary cap over the past three seasons.

One club insider said: “The transfer of the shares to the trust pre-dates and is unconnected to the salary cap investigation.

“As for any sale of the club, the Wray family is open to external investment. It was, after all, 50 per cent owned by Remgro until they sold out to Nigel. What is certain is that the Wray family will remain co-investors, and are committed to supporting the club financially.”

Premiership Rugby has stated its investigation into Saracens lasted for nine months, from autumn 2018 until charges were brought in June 2019.

Industry analysts believe that the future worth of the club and its shares will be linked to broadcast and rights deals ­arranged by the Premiership’s new ­commercial investors, CVC Capital Partners.