A Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed that will lead to the transfer of Hutchison's 76% of the club to the Society for a nominal £1, according to a statement on the MFC website.
The hope is that the agreement can be agreed "in the coming weeks".
Les is providing more working capital and loan repayments are being deferred. He has stepped down from the board and it looks like we'll be the first fan owned club in the top flight.
The aspiration to have Motherwell FC owned by its fans and community has been a long held hope for many fans. Despite the struggles of the Supporters Trust and the 'Well Society to drum up sufficient interest and funds since the dark days of administration it would appear the the goal is in sight.
It can be argued that Hutchison is cutting us adrift with the Society still some way short of the 2,000 adult members that was a previous condition of any sale to the fans.
But if the club is to succeed under its own steam this is as good a time as any - Rangers and, likely, Hibs returning to the top flight next season will provide more fans and higher profile matches for television and sponsors, while the latest incarnation of the League Cup is backed by telly money and a step towards summer football.
Long time board member Jim McMahon is the new chairman and he will be backed up by Douglas Dickie as vice chair. Tom Feely is now a director and he will join the remaining board members as the club/society gets to grip with the new reality.
The need for fans to get behind the new enterprise is even more important as the security of our benefactor seems to be reducing. If we want our club to succeed we need to back it.
Hutchison is quoted, "I would also like to thank everyone at Fir Park who adopted the many changes I introduced to create a solid foundation to build on and who worked tirelessly to advance the Business Plan during what was and is a transitional period.
“With the fans, via the ‘Well Society, nearly in full control, the onus will very much be on them and the wider community to stand by their club in the weeks, months and years ahead"
And on behalf of the Society Douglas Dickie said, "This marks the start of an exciting and important period for the club and the ‘Well Society is indeed indebted to our members whose significant financial contribution has directly assisted Motherwell FC in achieving the improvements as highlighted.
“There is still a substantial amount of work yet to be done and I would ask that existing members and fans continue and join in the support in order that we can achieve our initial goal in sustaining a community and fan-owned Motherwell FC."
Update: The Society has added its contribution to the news with a piece here. It thanks Les for his support over the last 14 months and stresses the need for fans to join the Society to become one of the owners of the club.