THE American consortium interested in buying Blackburn Rovers has the backing of companies worth billions of dollars.

Telegraph Sport can reveal that two financial institutions, with combined assets of $7.5 billion, are the partners in the Daniel Williams takeover bid.

One of the groups is Plainfield Asset Management, a company based in Greenwich, Connecticut, which has assets under management worth an estimated $5 billion.

The other - based outside the United States and not yet named - is believed to be worth more than $2 billion.

Sources close to the group say a large proportion of the combined assets of the two companies is made up of spare cash', which should help to reassure those Rovers fans who have questioned the level of the consortium's resources.

And I can confirm that Williams himself will also be putting up a significant amount of his own money as part of the deal if it comes off.

The source said: "It is accurate to say that there are two partners, one based outside New York City with over $5 billion in assets, and one is based outside the US, worth over $2 billion.

"For all the concern about not having money, the combined assets of the group are over $7.5billion, which would put them in the top 100 richest people in the world if it were just one person."

According to the company website, Plainfield manage investment capital for institutions and high net worth individuals based in the United States and abroad, and they employ over 110 people in their Connecticut offices.

The Williams-led consortium remains in pole position to mount a takeover bid, particularly now that the South African billionaire, Johann Rupert, has formally ruled himself out of the running.

The 57-year-old tycoon, whose family are the 207th richest in the world, was reported to be putting together a rival consortium, which included Wayne Huizenga, the owner of the Miami Dolphins.

However, it would appear the head of the Swiss-based luxury group, Richemont, is now seeking to invest some of his personal fortune in rugby rather than Premiership football.

He said: "I heard that Wayne had done an interview and us bidding for Blackburn Rovers had been mentioned.

"We've talked about buying sports clubs before but buying an English football club is not high on my list of priorities at this moment in time.

"I know that Blackburn is one of the most traditional of clubs in England because I've played golf with their former manager Kenny Dalglish.

"So they might not welcome a South African whose main loves are rugby, golf and cricket anyway.

"I've also met Alex Ferguson and Bobby Charlton a few times so I don't know what they'd think if I ended up buying a different club.

"Having said that, maybe if I did get involved I could think about getting Benni McCarthy back to play for South Africa.

"That's what all my friends were telling me to do when they heard I was thinking of making a bid."

The Williams group could lodge an official bid for Rovers at some point in the next 10 days, once chairman John Williams has returned from his summer holiday.

In the meantime, the Intertoto Cup starts this weekend and two of Rovers' potential opponents will meet in Lithuania when FK Vetra take on Welsh side Llanelli in the first leg of their first round tie.

The winners of that will then face Polish side Legia Warsaw in round two, with the victors of that tie facing Rovers in round three at the end of next month.