[Archived] Rovers Sold ??

[nicko]

Several parties interested in buying rovers, but no deal likely this year.

So I was right...there are more interested parties...and the trustees want to sell.

Why bring in Rothschilds if that was not the case?

[they_think_its_all_rover]

How much longer do we have to wait until you tell us something of interest? Man you have spun this takeover story for all it is worth!

How long have you said "I won't be revealing them just yet, for fear of cocking it up for this lot."?

You have spent alot of time not revealing! I really wish you would start to change your attitude on this because as a BRFC supporter I would appreciate being infromed of the knowledge that you obviously have.... or dont. I would respectfully request that you be a journolist and cease interfering in BRFC. If you wish to post transfer rumours on this mb then great BUT please stop destablising this great club of ours!

Your constant insinuation that MH "needs funds" and by implication will be running away at the first sign of money ...... well frankly it really pi$$$e$ me off. Maybe there is no such thing as bad publicity but I would rather there is none thank you!

If you dont like it... why dont you just not read it?

[John]

Several parties interested in buying rovers, but no deal likely this year.

I am a bit drunk but cant help feel upset at that comment - one Jack Walker.

[Damage]

If you dont like it... why dont you just not read it?

Im thinking about the impact of these things on people other than myself!

[Eddie]

Like the rest of us? We're all big boys damage, we can handle what someone posts on an internet messageboard.

[American]

Except, in your case, when Tris is the one posting....

[Eddie]

:lol:

[Cheshireblue]

So the takeover story wasn't of interest...

Of course it is of interest, it just has not / will not happen. Mining Plutonium under Ewood park would also be of interest, but that's not going to happen either. Pele suddenly rediscovering his youth and signing for Rovers would be of interest, and similarly unlikely.

There are lots of people that seem to hang on your every word and believe everything that you say, or rather don't say. I'm a little bit longer in the tooth than most and have what I consider to be a healthy level of scepticism. I've dealt with the press on a number of occasions and I didn't find it a rewarding experience.

When you have a geniune revelation that is true I will be the first to hold my hands up and say well done. Until that time, I will read your posts with a very liberal dosing of salt.

Is that fair?

And just to pick up on one of your posts recently - Rothchilds have been the advisers to the trust and indeed to Jack Walker for time immomorial so for someone to suggest that they have ben "brought in" is a little misleading.

[Atomicrover]

Of course it is of interest, it just has not / will not happen. Mining Plutonium under Ewood park would also be of interest, but that's not going to happen either. Pele suddenly rediscovering his youth and signing for Rovers would be of interest, and similarly unlikely.

There are lots of people that seem to hang on your every word and believe everything that you say, or rather don't say. I'm a little bit longer in the tooth than most and have what I consider to be a healthy level of scepticism. I've dealt with the press on a number of occasions and I didn't find it a rewarding experience.

When you have a geniune revelation that is true I will be the first to hold my hands up and say well done. Until that time, I will read your posts with a very liberal dosing of salt.

Is that fair?

And just to pick up on one of your posts recently - Rothchilds have been the advisers to the trust and indeed to Jack Walker for time immomorial so for someone to suggest that they have ben "brought in" is a little misleading.

Actually, mining plutonium is not just unlikely, it's impossible, plutonium is a man-made (in a nuclear reaction) element and if it was there at all would be proof that a nuclear excursion had taken place under Ewood

[rovers_rob]

Of course it is of interest, it just has not / will not happen.

How can you say it will not happen ?

John Williams has been quoted as saying that the shareholders remain willing sellers. As soon as someone comes in with the right amount of money the club will be sold.

Now is the time to invest in this club because we have good management on and of the pitch. We have the best manager at the club since Kenny and with some decent investment I believe Hughes will take us into the champions league.

I don't think it will happen with the current owners who have been fantastic over the years but are clearly not interested in investing any more money into the club.

The sooner we can get investors into the club the better because I want Mark Hughes to take us to the next level.

[Guest fernhurstblue]

sorry, but rovers just can't take the step to the next level ..... the finances aren't there to get us to the next level or to sustain it over the medium to long term. this is as good as it gets, enjoy it while you can

[Jimbo]

I think you're missing the point here - If Rovers sell out to the next bidder then, unless they anoth Jack Walker, we WILL become another Wimbledon/Sheffield Weds\Leeds - Any corporate investor will bleed the club dry and Rovers with our small fan base will never be able to sustain the loss of income from the club and into shareholders pockets. ENIC are roumoured to be after offloading Spurs and Birmingham has been up for sale for ages - If Sullivan can't offload the "Big Club" with it's huge potential fan base, what chance has the Trust of finding a buyer willing to put up the kind of money the more wishfiul thinking fans here would like.

I can only see one scenario that an investor would make money from Rovers and that would be buy it as a Franchise and ship it out to somewhere more lucrative, there are plenty of major cities without a premiership club.

[rovers_rob]

The point is that the shareholders are "willing sellers". They want to sell the club whether we like it or not. Lets just hope whoever comes in next will take the club forward.

[Eddie]

I think you're missing the point here - If Rovers sell out to the next bidder then, unless they anoth Jack Walker, we WILL become another Wimbledon/Sheffield Weds\Leeds - Any corporate investor will bleed the club dry and Rovers with our small fan base will never be able to sustain the loss of income from the club and into shareholders pockets. ENIC are roumoured to be after offloading Spurs and Birmingham has been up for sale for ages - If Sullivan can't offload the "Big Club" with it's huge potential fan base, what chance has the Trust of finding a buyer willing to put up the kind of money the more wishfiul thinking fans here would like.

Right, because every club that has been bought has been destroyed as a result? So far it is going very well for Portsmouth. City haven't had him for long and I don't like where his money has come from (true for most of them), but so far they'd have no complaints, it has totally transformed them as a club. Sunderland have done well with their new owners. The list is quite long. Who knows where they will be in 10 years time, but who knows where they would have been anyway. What you can say is that they are certainly better off right now and if their boards judged the new owners correctly then they should be better off for the near-future at least.

[philipl]

Actually, mining plutonium is not just unlikely, it's impossible, plutonium is a man-made (in a nuclear reaction) element and if it was there at all would be proof that a nuclear excursion had taken place under Ewood

So that was what that bang was in the Blackburn End bogs back in the late'70s.

[Damage]

So that was what that bang was in the Blackburn End bogs back in the late'70s.

No. That was a methane gas-cloud explosion.

Abbey - Cheap bitter - Bovril - Ciggies.

Deadly combination. Thankfully society has moved on! (Balti pie anybody?)

[Paul]

Right, because every club that has been bought has been destroyed as a result? So far it is going very well for Portsmouth. City haven't had him for long and I don't like where his money has come from (true for most of them), but so far they'd have no complaints, it has totally transformed them as a club. Sunderland have done well with their new owners. The list is quite long. Who knows where they will be in 10 years time, but who knows where they would have been anyway. What you can say is that they are certainly better off right now and if their boards judged the new owners correctly then they should be better off for the near-future at least.

Eddie, surely the only real effect new owners will have on Rovers is to maintain our current PL status? All this moving on to the next level stuff is very difficult to see happening. If we were to move to the next level it means at least regularly challenging for a CL spot or the Premiership title. There are still only 4 CL spots and one winner, every club that is trying to move to "the next level"cannot succeed. It's a very difficult situation and in my view one whioch is almost impossible for most clubs to climb out of.

For Championship sides there will always be the ambition of promotion, for the lower placed PL clubs to climb to UEFA spots for any to go beyond this, consistently, is going to be an enormous task.

[Eddie]

You're right, but if every club moves to the next level and we don't then we will be left behind. I also believe that, unlike most, we actually have a realistic chance of moving to the next level, at this moment in time. New owners at a club like Birmingham would have to rebuild the side, even if they are more suited to top flight football because of their location. New owners at our club would only really be looking at investing in two or three players for the current side. I'm not saying having new owners means we'll suddenly win the title and I'm not saying that I would welcome anyone with a bit of cash taking charge, but I do think it will be necessary at some point and I firmly believe that because of that it is best to try and do it when the house is in order. If we wait five years until we have a mediocre squad and manager then the job for the new owner could be very difficult. What I don't think anyone can dispute is that the best possible scenario is that we get a new owner who is willing to put more money into the club than the trust. In my mind that is a realistic aim, so I'm all for the board looking for it.

[Boz]

Good luck in finding an investor willing to put more money into the club than the trust. If Rothchilds achieve this feat then they deserve their fee!

Yes I’m sure the owners would be receptive sellers in these circumstances. But an investor being a contributor and not taking a dividend or subject to conditions of any future sell on? Take a look at the accounts of BRFC over the past 10 years and someone show me how this might be a sound financial investment. Realistically a similar philanthropist is sought, perhaps a lonely hearts advert maybe more successful.

The only other realistic option would be to break the trust. Very complex trust laws and basically must be shown to stand up. Trustees have serious obligations. Agreement from the trusts ultimate beneficiaries?

[daren]

There is only 1 league UEFA cup spot (although in practice there's often two due to cup results), so getting from somewhere in the should be a bigger leap than UEFA Cup to CL. It's possible to do it for one season, the real problem is maintaining it, as Everton showed.

[b12_simon]

No. That was a methane gas-cloud explosion.

Abbey - Cheap bitter - Bovril - Ciggies.

Deadly combination. Thankfully society has moved on! (Balti pie anybody?)

The smoking ban came in not a moment too soon!

[RevidgeBlue]

If the recent articles posted on here by philip are correct about the likely forthcoming profits explosion for Premier League clubs due to overseas TV revenue, it would be surprising if it didn't also lead to a huge increase in the amount of interest in acquiring Rovers in the not too distant future.

Subject to the deals continuing to be negotiated collectively.

[Exiled in Toronto]

For all those who think that Rovers are a financial lame duck in the future - Gold mine

[FourLaneBlue]

For all those who think that Rovers are a financial lame duck in the future - Gold mine

How to make a profit from the club while also funding our continued presence in the top league is the problem though. Who can manage that balancing act? Or are we expecting the new owners not to make profits?

The report also says an "estimated" one billion people watched Man Utd V Arsenal. They don't say who estimated that however, why they came up with that figure or if it has any real basis in truth. Sounds like a big number plucked out of thin air.

[Cheshireblue]

If you understand anything about trust law (no doubt Rovermatt will provide a crash course) you will know that the trustees are bound by the terms of the trust deed. They have some discretion, but they have to follow the wishes of the person that set the trust up (ie Uncle Jack).

In our case, the Trustees can only sell the club if it is in the best interests of the Club. They are not out to generate a profit, they do not have shareholdes to satisfy, they simply have to do what is best for the club under the trust rules.

In reality this means they can only sell it to a buyer who is financially more stable and prepared to make funds available on more favourable terms than the trust does.

Given that the trust was worth circa £650m when it was established, it is probably worth well over £1bn now that JEA has been sold, so who ever comes in will have to have more cash than that and be in a position to lend it on more favourable rates than the trust.

That, in a nutshell, is why any story about Dan Williams or any other tin pot millionaire claiming to be interested in buying the club but having to borrow money to do so, is just pie in the sky.

The tabloids/John Williams state that the shareholders (the trust) are willing sellers. Of course they are, they always have been if it is in the best interests of the club. Rothschilds advised Uncle Jack and the trust from the date it was established, so they have not been "brought in", they have always been there. They are there to advise on any offer, but they always have been in their capacity as advisers to the trustees.

It's a total non-story, and that is why I have consistently poured scorn on Nicko's rumours about a take over.