EXETER Rugby chief executive Tony Rowe CBE says he hopes the club’s proposed takeover by American investors will be completed within weeks – with the new owners in place at Sandy Park by the start of July.

Black Knight Group, the US-based sports investment company that owns Premier League side AFC Bournemouth, is in advanced discussions to purchase the Premiership Rugby club after club members voted to approve the deal at a meeting last month.

“I would hope we’ll get to get it tied down hopefully before the end of this month, so I’d like to step in by 1 July with a new owner and away we go,” Rowe told BBC Radio Devon.

Rowe, who has long bankrolled Exeter’s rise from the lower leagues to domestic and European success, said stability on the rugby side would remain a priority during the transition.

“They’ve said to me and they said to Rob that they don’t want us to change anything, so I’m not going to change anything,” he said. “They want success and I think we can give them that.”

The Chiefs have enjoyed a major turnaround this season under director of rugby Rob Baxter, reaching the Premiership play-offs for the first time in five years after finishing second bottom last year with just four wins. They will now travel to defending champions Bath for their semi-final this Saturday.

Rowe believes continuity will be key as the club prepares for a new era under external investment.

“I’ve looked into what they’ve done at AFC Bournemouth and they’ve been there three or four years, they’ve invested a lot of money, and they’re still investing money there,” he said. “The same guy that was in charge within Black Knight then is the same guy we’re dealing with and I’m very excited about it, so is Rob.”