Millionaire businessman Daniel Williams has given up on his dream to buy Blackburn Rovers.

The Lancashire Telegraph exclusively reveals the American-based tycoon and boyhood Rovers fan has finally admitted defeat in his quest to launch a takeover of the club, after claiming the Walker trustees are not prepared to budge over the asking price.

Williams, a Cambridge graduate who originally made his name in the recruitment sector, first became interested in a buy-out of Rovers when he learned the Walker trustees were willing to sell their 99.8 per cent stake in the club in March last year.

Since then, the 31-year-old, who originally hails from Lytham St Annes, has held a series of discussions, both with chairman John Williams and the club's corporate advisers, Rothschilds, with a view to a possible takeover.

But, after the parties failed to agree on a valuation of the business, Williams has now reluctantly decided to withdraw from the process, claiming the figures he was quoted prevented it from being a viable investment.

Conceding defeat, the self-made millionaire confessed: "There seems to be too big a gap between what we think the club is worth, and what the trustees want for it.

"The reality is the trustees want to sell, but they don't have to, so they are holding out for the figure they want, which is their prerogative.

"But we don't want to come in and end up paying over the odds, which would then have an impact on the amount of money we could then make available to take the club forward.

"At the end of the day, it is an investment and right now, we can't see any way we'd get a fair return on that investment if we took the club over at the present level.

"My heart says yes, but my head says no."