WANDERERS’ search for new ownership is close to a conclusion, the club has announced.

A statement released this morning confirmed that an agreement in principle has been reached for Ken Anderson to sell his 94.5 per cent stake in the club’s parent company, Burnden Leisure.

The Bolton News understands that the Future Ventures consortium headed by Parminder Basran and Sharron Brittan has now entered into a period of exclusivity and could complete the deal by the end of this week.

The statement read: “The Chairman is pleased to announce that an agreement in principle has been reached that will result in Inner Circle Investments selling its total shareholding in Burnden Leisure.

A period of due diligence has now begun, once this process has been completed and the requirements of the EFL have been satisfied a further announcement will be made to supporters.”

Wanderers have been on open sale for several months but this is the first time Anderson or the club has conceded they are in such advance talks.

Players and staff are due to be paid on Thursday, an outlay of more than £600,000, while a winding-up petition worth more than £1million was lodged by HMRC and is due to be heard in the High Court on March 20.

A loan of at least £5million is owed by Anderson to Moonshift Investments, the company owned by former owner Eddie Davies, who helped save the club from administration just days before his death in September last year.

It appears a deal has now been struck between Anderson to pay back the debt, plus the money owed for the club’s future sporting success, which was left as a stipulation of the sale to Sports Shield BWFC in March 2016.

Little is known about the Future Ventures consortium's plans but The Bolton News has leared there is an intention to bring the club back to the heart of the community, and mend many of the bridges which have been burned over the last few years.

No pledges have been made on financial investment but the intention is to restore stability which has been lost since the deparure of Eddie Davies as the club's owner in March 2016.

The Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust has issued a statement, which read: “After the announcement from the chairman earlier today on the club website we are pleased that a deal has been agreed in principle and look forward to it being concluded quickly and to the satisfaction of both parties.

“Hopefully this will now allow the club to move forwards and bring fans back together so that we can all work towards a positive end to the season.”