John Sim says there have been many parties interested in Raith Rovers since the club announced it was seeking investment.
The owner gave a lengthy interview via club media on Thursday where he answered a range of questions related to the future of the club.
The Thailand-based businessman also claimed that no one from Raith has EVER spoken directly to anyone at Silverbear Capital, the investment firm which recently showed interest.
Swiss national Mike Dellios, who runs EVRO Pro Football academy in Scotland and is an advisor to Hong Kong-based Silverbear, wanted to help fund a reserve team and harness the potential of streaming to generate income.
Sim told Raith TV: “And then Mike had an opportunity with Silverbear in Hong Kong.
“So they started talking about the possibility that Silverbear would come in and invest in the club.
No direct discussions
“Now, nobody from Raith has spoken to anybody at Silverbear – and I’m quite comfortable talking to investment bankers.
“I’m not saying I trust them any more than football agents, but at least I understand them better.
“I can understand their proposition. Which is come in, take something, invest in it, take it to the next level and sell it on.
“There’s lots of interest [in the club]. It’s a question of what’s best for Raith Rovers.
“In the case of Silverbear, they wanted to go into England but this group said: ‘Well why don’t we start in Scotland?’.
This prompted discussions with Rovers chairman Steven MacDonald, but the deal was declared “officially dead” this week after a bitter back-and-forth, played out in public.
Player Pathway Coordinator at EVRO, James Carlin, last week told Courier Sport discussions were “on hold” due to “a lack of corporate social responsibility by the management”.
Rovers hit back the next day saying no “financial guarantee” had been made by the group.
Public spat
“I’ve been involved in a lot of deals in my time and normally you don’t say anything about them until they’re done,” added Sim.
“Now it’s obviously difficult to keep things quiet and things get out, but it was unfortunate that a lot of stuff was being played [out] in public because it then means that people take positions that are difficult to move from without them losing face.”
The Raith owner said he’d prefer to retain some involvement in the club but is also aware his wife doesn’t want it as part of her inheritance.
Sim would step down completely should the right offer come along and would prefer local investors – though explained why some may be put off.
He said: “We’re very good at frightening off local investors because suddenly people expect that hands will be put into pockets and players will be produced out of hats and everything will be rosy.
“I know that that has put off a number of people and it’s caused some people to decide not to join the board.
“I’m always interested in listening, so we’ve gone down the road with a couple of people, with American investors, but then they did get the chance for a club in England, so they switched their attention there.
“We’ve got about three people, or three different groups, that are having discussions, but I know they’re having discussions with lots of Scottish clubs.”
