BRINGING Bulls back to Bradford as soon as possible is a key priority for the new consortium, says interim chairman Eric Perez.

The sale of shares from Andrew Chalmers to the new owners was announced last night, in a structure which sees former Rugby Football League (RFL) chief executive Nigel Wood and his family become major shareholders.

Dewsbury Rams chairman Mark Sawyer is the only other shareholder, with Toronto Wolfpack founder Perez - who has since taken over Hemel Stags ahead of relocating them to Ottawa - coming in on a temporary basis to oversee the transition.

Read more: Blow by blow account of Tuesday night's Bulls fans forum

As a result of the announcement the Bulls were lifted out of special measures, meaning they can now sign players for next season.

Speaking at last night’s fans’ forum, held at Dewsbury, Perez said: “My job is to facilitate the change from the old to the new regime.

“The clear goal of the new regime is to bring the club back to Bradford. We are working on that.”

Bulls will play next season at Dewsbury Rams' Tetley's Stadium but it was emphasised at the forum the need to return to the city as soon as possible after that.

Perez confirmed he has dispensation from the RFL to work with the Bulls after Ottawa’s entrance into the English league structure was deferred until 2021. The Canadian bought the license off League One Hemel Stags and is in the process of relocating them to Ottawa.

Perez, who says he is good friends with Nigel Wood, added: "I'm not part of the consortium, I'm here as an interim chairman to see the transition from the old regime to the new ownership.

"I'm just trying to help out because I'm a rugby league man and I believe Bradford is one of the cornerstone clubs.

"Bradford is like a second home to me and I just want to see it get to where it needs to be over the next couple of months and I'll go back to Ottawa.

"The club will be in a stronger position because the new ownership will take it where it needs to go. I'm here to oversee the transition."

Meanwhile, Nigel Wood, current chief executive of the Rugby League International Federation, issued a statement on behalf of himself and his family which was heard at last night's meeting.

It read: “As some people know my family and wife’s family are lifelong Bradford supporters through Northern and the Bulls and we have watched closely and sadly recent events unfold.

"We have been asked if we could assist and while it would be much easier and frankly much simpler to leave it for others to try to sort out, we have concluded that we could not stand by without doing whatever we reasonably can.

“As I hope can be appreciated, my professional duties internationally mean I cannot and will not get involved with the day to day running of the club, but I do have full confidence in those that will lead the club going forward.

“I am prepared to offer help and advice where I can to the group with one clear and simple aim…to bring the Bulls back to Bradford, where they belong.”

Wood was at the RFL helm when the governing body purchased the lease at Odsal in 2012 when Bulls fell into financial difficulty.

Meanwhile, new minority shareholder Mark Sawyer insisted there would be not be a conflict of interest between his new role and that of Rams chairman.

A statement released by Dewsbury read: "This is entirely within the RFL guidelines and will not effect his ownership of Dewsbury Rams and therefore there is no conflict of interest.

"Mark remains very much dedicated to the Rams and sees the part ownership of the Bulls as a positive move for the Rams going forward into 2020."

Also at the forum, Sawyer branded the pensions row at Bulls an embarrassment to the club over recent weeks, while head coach John Kear says the club will still run reserves and women’s teams next year and is happy to run a smaller, but affordable, group of first-team players.

The news of the sale of shares to the new consortium brought a round of applause and cheers from the Bulls faithful who attended the fans’ forum.

The RFL statement said: ‘The RFL can confirm that the club’s operating budget for 2020 has been agreed. This means the element of special measures that restricts the registration of player contracts has been lifted.”