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[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

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Iceman World Cup

Iceman

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im hoping Kamy will have a 12'O clocker today ;) What does Julia Thiem say? :lol:

Rival Rovers bidder: I'm still in race for club

8:10am Monday 16th August 2010

By Andy Cryer »

Blackburn Rovers reporter

SAURIN Shah has thrown down the gauntlet to his rival Blackburn Rovers bidders insisting 'I am still in the race to buy the club'.

Just hours before his main rival was expecting to take a huge stride forward in his pursuit of the club, the Mumbai businessman warned 'don't rule me out yet'.

Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, 36, head of Bahrain-Swiss based investment firm Western Gulf Advisory (WGA), is expecting to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at Ewood Park today.

WGA claims this will grant the group a four-week period of exclusivity in which no other bidder can buy the club, or look into the book's, as they explore Rovers' financial situation.

But Mr Shah, 38, with shipping and textile interests, does not expect any suitor to be granted exclusivity at this stage. And he believes his group will enter into the due diligence process themselves the opening up of the books on Wednesday.

Rothschilds, the investment banking group charged with selling the club for the Walker Trust, was unavailable for comment yesterday, while Blackburn Rovers declined to comment.

Mr Syed's negotiations team were expected at Ewood Park this morning, where they expect to sign an MoU before completing a takeover 'as quickly as possible'.

They confirmed to the Lancashire Telegraph yesterday they still expect the agreement to be signed today and remain confident about completing the deal.

However, Mr Shah does not believe the situation is so cut and dried and believes his Chief Executive Officer will sign an agreement to enter due diligence upon arrival in England on Wednesday.

A source from inside Shah's camp, said: Mr Shah still believes his group can be the best thing for Blackburn. He watched Saturday's result from Mumbai and said to his family 'we are going to be a part of this'.

Saurin does not expect to get any sort of exclusivity at this stage. Rothschilds have told them noone will, and he is willing now to enter into a period of open due diligence.

He does not mind if Mr Syed's group are also allowed to enter due diligence. He expects that. He just wants to have a fair battle.

If it turns out that Mr Syed's group are the best for Blackburn Rovers he will walk away in the knowledge the club will be a success. He just wants the best for the club now and believes that could be him.

Mr Shah's exact wealth and source of funding are still relatively unknown.

He is a businessman with shipping and textile interests and plans to 'bring a touch of Bollywood glamour to the English team' and will try to engage South Asians living in the town..

Hailing from Gujarat, Mr Shah is the nephew of Niranjan Shah, vice-chairman of Indian Premier League and Bharat Shah, the president of Saurashtra Cricket Association.

He is an alumni of Raj Kumar College of Rajkot and his family is also involved in running a school and college in Gujarat and is constructing a sports complex in the same region.

Mr Shahs family was also involved in cotton industry in India and he started Vardhman Shipping Pvt Limited in the country.

It is understood Spaniard Luis Bernat, owner of Danish shipping giants Holger Kristiansen, runs Mr Shah's shipping interests and is also a member of his group looking to purchase the club.

Sources from Shah's camp accept they would not be able to match sort of figures associated to Mr Syed's bid, but insist they do have the necessary funding to make significant investment for the long term.

Mr Syed's WGA has assets worth more than £8billion while he is the sole heir to a huge personal family fortune.

He has earmarked approximately £300million to acquire the club, cover its outstanding debts and provide capital to buy new players and invest in the long term.

Meanwhile Blackburn Rovers will continue to carry out their research on all the interested parties and their motives as they attempt to preserve Jack Walker's legacy.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/blackburn/8333084.Rival_Rovers_bidder__I_m_still_in_race_for_club/

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DP Premier League

DP

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Mr Syed just been on CNBC Europe talking about his interest in t'Rovers.

He got a fair grilling from the presenter about how he expects to make money in this type of industry. Response was all about a long term plan, his financial expertise and marketing the club for growth. "I see huge potetntial in this club" were his words.

It is what it is to these guys, one big game. Just all depends how seriously they want to win the game.

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philipl World Cup

philipl

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That is the one part of your post Philip, that i was interested in. Surely, if Syed has 4 weeks of due diligence, and Shah thinks he is in the running, then would we have to show Syed everything?

Can you explain this please, as im not sure how we could show Syed everything, if its non binding and he can decline the chance to buy the club. This would be somewhat risky, if he decides not to buy the club. he would surely walk away knowing the ins and outs of Rovers. I also don’t believe Shah and his goons will go into due diligence on Wednesday, as their people have said before that they have already entered into DD. You just cannot take that group seriously, and I hope and pray, that Rotschilds, and the trust see that as well.

I am puzzled by the statements from Shah's people and can only guess they are trying to negotiate in public.

If you have more than one diligence exercise going on at the same time, it usually means:

- there is an auction

- the seller is in a desperate corner

- the diligence done is of relatively limited value because the other bidder(s) with the best will in the world gets to know what the rivals have focussed on

In a sale like this, it would be most unusual for there to be no period of exclusivity and no binding memorandum of sale (with caveats) signed up front (ie today). Multiple due diligences by competing bidders would be very odd- we are a football club for goodness sake so if the bidders don't know what is in it after four months (Shah) or four weeks (Syed) to be able to make an informed binding offer, what are they doing?

Equally, if the Trust for some reason cannot sign a binding memorandum of sale then it is not serious about selling and the for sale notices should be removed immediately.

Due diligence is simply a process of confirmation- if it becomes discovery, somebody has screwed up doing their homework.

There are things which are very unusual about this sale anyway. The relationship between the Trust and Rovers is very complicated no matter what anyone says. Rovers are a PLC, a commercial business, a passion, a beneficiary, the most public face of the Trust and governed inevitably by the question "what would Jack have wanted?" and he has sadly not been around to ask for ten years. Extricating itself from all that is not straightforward for the Trust and all this stuff about "there is just a price for the sale" is utter rubbish. So perhaps there are things going on which make sense to the participants and look weird to the observers- we are talking football after all so weird is the norm!

It seems clear there are competing bidders and I guess if you watch a battle from the other side of a hill, you hear booms which are distorted and see some smoke but you have no idea what is going on.

We are on the other side of the hill waiting to see which of three parties emerges over the top to claim us- the Trust, Syed or Shah.

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Iceman World Cup

Iceman

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Mr Syed just been on CNBC Europe talking about his interest in t'Rovers.

He got a fair grilling from the presenter about how he expects to make money in this type of industry. Response was all about a long term plan, his financial expertise and marketing the club for growth. "I see huge potetntial in this club" were his words.

It is what it is to these guys, one big game. Just all depends how seriously they want to win the game.

im not sure, how you read that statement as being a game to him. All he basically says, is that he has a long term plan for us, and find ways and means to market the club. His financial backround, will also be of benefit to us, as he will know our limitations, and plan accordingly.

His financial background, for me is key to him winning the bid to buy Rovers. Shah, on the other hand seems clueless and the fact that he has other backers, says to me "do not deal with him"

as i said before, if Syed is serious and he is willing to look after the long term of the club, by not only investing in players, but also the academy and stadium, then im all for it.

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imy9 World Cup

imy9

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Why would the trust sell to Shah when he accepts that he cannot match the long term funding of Syed?

Smells like someone is trying to throw a spanner in the works, am sure all will be revealed later.

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philipl World Cup

philipl

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Posted

Mr Syed just been on CNBC Europe talking about his interest in t'Rovers.

He got a fair grilling from the presenter about how he expects to make money in this type of industry. Response was all about a long term plan, his financial expertise and marketing the club for growth. "I see huge potetntial in this club" were his words.

It is what it is to these guys, one big game. Just all depends how seriously they want to win the game.

Syed going on CNBC like that is a game changer.

It is still 90% he will acquire the club.

Even with the membership of the Shah consortium revealed (revealing it now shows they know they are losing), Syed is still many times richer than all of them put together.

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alexanders World Cup

alexanders

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Even though I dont know a thing about neither Syed nor Shah personally - from what I've read about them and the reports on this MB and papers Syed really puts himself in a different position than Shah.

He seems to have a much better PR-team and chooses his words more carefully than Mr Shah. The fact that he goes on CNBC Europe instead of only talking to the LT makes me think that this guy really means it and wants it.

Time will tell.

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Amo World Cup

Amo

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i suspect that is the case Bucky, im getting the feeling that Shah is using dirty tactics to put Syed off. I doubt that syed is that stupid, so im still remaining positive about Syed being the best man.

Shah comes out and says he only has funds for the short term, what happens after that? Its crazy to think, that Rotschilds and the trust, are still entertaining Shah.

This is beginning to sound like an Indian soap opera.

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thenodrog World Cup

thenodrog

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Whats that coming over the hill, is it a monster???

No it's a bull...... I can smell it ever stronger. <_<

Even with the membership of the Shah consortium revealed (revealing it now shows they know they are losing), Syed is still many times richer than all of them put together.

Really? I'd imagine that he'll be less rich in a year or two if he does get BRFC.

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Paul World Cup

Paul

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what is going on? We have been told, that Syed will have 4 weeks of exclusivity, and now Shah says that nobody will get exclusivity? somebody is lying, and there is somthing i dont like about this Shah guy. Why does he say that, when previously they came out and said that they had entered due diligence stage?

Have we been told anything by the one reliable source in all of this - Blackburn Rovers? As far as I can see nothing is coming from the club and i would argue we have therefore been told nothing that can be considered in anyway reliable. This whole story is speculation based on some very small snippets in the media. Clearly a sale is taking place, clearly at least one party is going into Due Diligence. Above and beyond this we know very little.

Mr Syed just been on CNBC Europe talking about his interest in t'Rovers.

He got a fair grilling from the presenter about how he expects to make money in this type of industry. Response was all about a long term plan, his financial expertise and marketing the club for growth. "I see huge potetntial in this club" were his words.

It is what it is to these guys, one big game. Just all depends how seriously they want to win the game.

Why am I reminded of this:

Money, money, money

Must be funny

In the rich man's world

Money, money, money

Always sunny

In the rich man's world

Aha-ahaa

All the things I could do

If I had a little money

It's a rich man's world

It's a rich man's world

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rovers1995 Premier League

rovers1995

Posted
Posted

URGENT UPDATE

Lots of press outside the club shop. Just this minute at least 10 people have got out of big black cars and walked into Rovers getting filmed. These people were Mr Syed and his representatives. They were wheeling cases into the ground. Things are moving fast then

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alexanders World Cup

alexanders

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I agree ADB. Like Paul Plunkett said. Today we will find out whether the DD begins or not.

It has already been mentioned a lot of places that Syed will meet up with JW and the rest of rovers today to sign the papers. I wonder why everyone seems so surprised.

It means that the guy keeps his words though. Much appreciated by me.

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bubblerrovers Premier League

bubblerrovers

Posted
Posted

URGENT UPDATE

Lots of press outside the club shop. Just this minute at least 10 people have got out of big black cars and walked into Rovers getting filmed. These people were Mr Syed and his representatives. They were wheeling cases into the ground. Things are moving fast then

Cases??? Hopefully full of cash for the transfer kitty

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