Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has cautioned that any new investment in the club will take time to translate into on-field success, even as the club moves closer to a major ownership change.

Club members and shareholders have approved a bid from Cannae Holdings' Black Knight Sports and Entertainment—the same group that owns Premier League side AFC Bournemouth—to take control of Exeter. The American investors will now enter negotiations and begin due diligence, a process not expected to conclude before the end of May.

If completed, this would be the third significant investment in a Premiership side this season. Newcastle was acquired by energy drink giant Red Bull in August, while billionaire industrialist Sir James Dyson became co-owner of Bath in March after injecting substantial new capital into the champions.

"Some people are going 'oh, there's going to be investment so that means there's immediate change,'" Baxter told BBC Sport. "Newcastle will be able to understand—when you get significant investment, it actually takes a little while for that to come through. Normally when you need significant investment, what's happened is you've under-invested for a few years."

Baxter emphasized that rebuilding infrastructure takes time, pointing to the academy as a key area. "Getting that back online, like a really well-funded, well-invested-in academy, does take a couple of years to start to bring those players through."

He also highlighted the importance of stability in recruitment. "A recruitment process where you really develop strength in depth—like Bath have got, or like we had in the past—knowing you're going to spend a salary cap for the foreseeable future for a number of seasons... Not knowing where your budget is for the next year until later in a season, you can't do that."

Despite the patience required, Baxter remains optimistic about the long-term outlook. "If we had significant investment, I would think the future moving forward over the next three or four years would be fantastically bright for the club. I know where we can invest to significantly improve things, and we look pretty good now."