[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[BuckyRover]

Check your sources Adrian

[Bobby G]

I dont know the man personally but I know how it is to work in the Persian Gulf in any of the countries. "Laws and regulations" have a loose meaning and are largely applied case to case. I dont want to go into details however, it is far different to having your offices shut down in London, Paris or NYC. There are a lot of hidden agendas and velvet gloves that stroke other people in this part of the world. There is always a catch too. I wouldnt even be slightly worried if his offices are shut down there. Id be surprised but not worried. Take this from someone who has lived in the region for 25 years.

[RevidgeBlue]

Syed's Denial Already

Kerching. Could get expensive for Mr. Goldberg.

However if it was the case that they had done something like inadvertently breaching trading regulations they'd be better owning up to it rather than trying to deny it and stressing that it's nothing to do with their European operation etc. which does make it sound a bit like there's something to hide.

[Craigman]

5 Live Investigates Facebook Page

This states the details on the closure, but they have their page being founded in September 2010. We are still in August are we not ?

Something does not make sense here and he worked for talksport before !

[67splitscreen]

It seems they did close their office or at least re-locate on the 16th August.

Someone is going to get their arse's pinned to the wall if those statements don't stack up.

My link

[Bobby G]

If you didnt know better, you'd think there are people out there to make their effort fail. But we shouldnt be cynical now should be!

[John]

5 Live Investigates Facebook Page

This states the details on the closure, but they have their page being founded in September 2010. We are still in August are we not ?

Something does not make sense here and he worked for talksport before !

The new series of 5 live Investigates programmes starts in September.

[Greedy_Crawford]

As Nicko has stated. timing is everything with this. Syed may have upset someone else in the region with his investment in the Irish builders or the Australian company. As Bobby G elaborates business dealings in the Gulf can work in mysterious ways.

This will potentially up the ante if/when the EPL "Fit and Proper" ownership test is applied. If Syed has the money and is deemed to be legit it will go through. However with the 2018/2022 WC bid decisions due in a couple of months expect this takeover to really come under the microscope from the authorities and media. Also as Liverpool sale has gone quiet the attention has to move onto something else.

[BuckyRover]

It says that the Bahrain Trade and Industry ministry has closed a company down for breaching regulations.

Then it says the BBC has "learned" that it is owned by WGA.

That's a pretty big jump without any facts to back it up. Especially using the word "learned". Anyone could have told them this.

[modes98]

Does Julia Thiem ever sleep??

She's not paid to sleep John!

[Balwer]

This seems like a storm in a teacup to me, at least from what I can ascertain. As imy states, the entity involved is not the one that would be purchasing the club, so the takeover shouldn't be affected. It is difficult to know what the organisational structure looks like, and how many different entities there are within the group, however it does not seem the the Bahrain company is a major asset holder within the group. It appears as if there has been a technical breach, hopefully nothing intentional.

The leap of faith from the BBC is remarkable and as others have stated does seem to be an attempt to sling mud.

Regardless of what has happened it is at the very least bad PR for Mr Syed.

[67splitscreen]

She's not paid to sleep John!

Perfect do you have her number.

[rebelmswar]

Has this hazy attempt at putting things together happened with other foreign prospective owners? If so how the hell did Chelsea get that owner?

[philipl]

Just read the BBC report properly, it is pretty scathing and seems to question the validity of his wealth.

It is written in a negative slant but hardly scathing. This is the crunchy bit from the BBC:

"A company run by the man linked to the proposed £300m takeover of Blackburn Rovers has been told to cease trading.

"Bahrain's trade and industry ministry said it closed a Bahrain-based company after it violated regulations by operating outside its remit.

"BBC 5 live has learned the company is Western Gulf Advisory, run by Indian investor Ahsan Ali Syed.

"Western Gulf Advisory said the Blackburn bid is being managed by a separate company, and is unaffected.

"The precise details of the offence are unclear, but it is understood that Western Gulf Advisory fell foul of Bahrain's central bank, which refused to sanction its activities."

If you look at how this is written, it is padded to sensationalise- the first three one sentence paragraphs would normally have been written as a single sentence rather than be designed to titivate like that.

A bit of BBC afters on Sam perhaps?

Cutting to the quick, this is not good news but the impact on the acquisition is entirely a function of how professionally Ali Syed's people handled disclosing the problem to the Rothschilds when it first emerged. He might have even have increased credibility with them- I managed that once when I had to deliver much worse news than this to an investment bank.

I had noticed that the WGA web site is a single presence for both Bahrain and Switzerland. Financial services companies usually split their marketing and web efforts between the two jurisdictions if they are operating with two markedly different licenses which it transpires WGA are. The web site is creatively ambiguous but I would say it is designed to attract clients looking for wealth management services and it does so with a Bahrain address on it- a no no if as it transpires WGA only held a license for managing the shareholder's own money in Bahrain.

Also you probably recall that initially WGA was going to buy the Rovers, then it was Mr Ali personally and now it is reportedly WGA Sports managed by WGA Switzerland. That set of shifts in the four weeks since Mr Ali went public doesn't sound terribly good and of course in hindsight we can guess the first shift away from WGA could well have been at the time the Bahrain authorities served their notice of closure.

So there has probably been some less than inspiring house keeping within WGA but no issue implying impropriety in funds management. Not good but not that bad from what is in the public eye. So how did they get into this bother?

WGA might simply have been caught out by the politics of Bahrain. From being politically the most liberal state in the Gulf, there has been a big clampdown recently and that could be spilling over into business. The Imans who pronounce on Islamic financial rules are increasingly powerful in Bahrain and WGA is portraying itself as an ethical conventional funds manager and not an Islamic finance operation per se. That might have lead it to being targeted for closure given the sheer size its numbers are growing to. Finally, it is possible that WGA has crossed an influential local businessman or politician and attracted jealousy- in small countries like that if your face doesn't fit you are out.

Of course the timing of this story breaking today just after two rival bids have been disclosed and when incidentally "5live investigates" is off air raises natural questions about conspiracies and strategic leaking at the Trust's end of the deal.

That is the problem, unless WGA's people have been very careful in managing their relationship with everyone they have met from the Trust/Rovers, both sides are going to be looking at each other and asking "where did that 5live story come from?" and why?

At this stage we really do not know other than being even more certain that Rothschilds will be checking out the validity of Mr Ali and his bid with a fine tooth comb after this has come out.

Revidge blue is correct in saying this issue is a technicality so on balance I would say everything to do with the takeover is likely to stay on track unless this story is hiding a bigger and dirtier issue (and there is no indication it is). But there are only so many times you can say "still on track" before you derail yourself through repetition.

PS I prepared this before knowing of Julia Thiem's denial. Getting that staement out at 3am in Bahrain is seriously impressive.

[mogster]

There'll be a few million from the beeb as compensation.

That'll be enough for a new striker next summer

[1864roverite]

Thanks philip.

I know nish about business etc but for me its is pretty simple.

The bad reading doesnt appear to bode well HOWEVER if you add what Kamy wrote and I heard last week it did appear everything was running smoothly then we hear of 2 potential new interested parties and now we see the first really negative bit of press regarding WGA.

Something doesnt add up to me.

Either the storey is a complete nonsense originating from somewhere such as Australia or indeed somewhere else in Asia (potential buyers/suitors) or the idiot on facebook has really messed up with a story he may well regret. I suppose though, if there is any element of truth in it the club must ask the right questions NOW and make a statement of some sort (like WGA) to try and rectify any potential harm caused by the report.

The story is now gaining some momentum and is being reported/repeated through various media sources.

I just hope there is no damage caused to the reputation of BRFC if things become any messier.

[Wiggy]

The thing about this takeover bid that has worried me most is the lack of information on this guy. How many people, supposedly worth £8 billion, show up so little information when googled? It has been a complete mystery.

That's why I think these allegations are a good thing for Blackburn Rovers Football Club. The very nature of them means that if the bid is to go further there will have to be much more transparency.

[philipl]

Fair play to the BBC guy. I wonder who gave him the tip? A rival bidder [of which there are at least two]? Or even a concerned party at the Rovers end?

All very intriguing. One thing for sure - maybe as well that the old due diligence process takes time rather than the 'lets get it done by the end of the window' bandwagon jumpers and hysterics.

Exactly

[den]

Initially it's a shock, but the guarantee is that the whole procedure is being overseen by Rothschilds. They will be on the ball all the way throughand there will be no slip ups with the potential deal. If the current offer is not right, it wont go through. I would imagine that Rothschilds were fully clued up on all the financial aspects before tonight.

Chill, if the deal is right, it will happen. If the deal isn't right, it's better that it doesn't go through. We wont lose whatever the outcome. The emptiness between one deal collapsing and the next deal finalising could be unsettling for the locals though.

Let's hope Syed's deal is honest and goes through.

[RevidgeBlue]

It seems they did close their office or at least re-locate on the 16th August.

Someone is going to get their arse's pinned to the wall if those statements don't stack up.

My link

Reading that article it seems there is at least a slight possibility that "Office closed down" should read "Office moved to more prestigeous location."

The alleged dates seem the same.

Kerching kerching.

[philipl]

Incidentally the fact that Ahsan Ali Syed was unknown to Forbes, Google and the web in general should not be surprising. He has enough to pay people to keep him out of the netsphere when he didn't want to be.

The only self-made billionaire (real one cashed out) I know kept himself completely out of all the rich lists etc despite having had some very public scraps in the past and owning two global brands.

[Wiggy]

Incidentally the fact that Ahsan Ali Syed was unknown to Forbes, Google and the web in general should not be surprising. He has enough to pay people to keep him out of the netsphere when he didn't want to be.

The only self-made billionaire I know kept himself completely out of all the rich lists etc despite having had some very public scraps in the past and owning two global brands.

Philip I appreciate your argument, however, a wealthy family with ties going back 150 years to the East India Company would surely merit a Wiki page at least, wouldn't they?

[philipl]

Philip I appreciate your argument, however, a wealthy family with ties going back 150 years to the East India Company would surely merit a Wiki page at least, wouldn't they?

There are ways to kill a wiki entry if you don't want to be there.

[Guest Kamy100]

WOW looks like someone is definitely out to discredit Mr Ali. No doubt that there is some truth to the reports tonight but it has been sensationalised by the BBC reporter somewhat. One thing that people shouldn't worry about is funds, Mr Ali to get this far with his bid he would have proved to the Trust that he has the funds in place in the short and long term. The reason Saurin Shah didn't get this far was because he couldn't prove that he had the funds in place. Also Rothchild's would have checked out every aspect relating to Mr Ali before he was allowed to move to the due diligence stage.

I think that it is best to let the dust settle and see where we are at the end of the week. WGA are going to complete the due diligence by then and it will be ready to move onto the next stage, if the Trustees/Rothchilds have any concerns/doubts then it is at that stage that Mr Ali's bid will come to an halt, thus far there is no evidence to suggest that this is the case.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

This takeover is hurting my head even more than the TV show lost.