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[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

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LeChuck World Cup

LeChuck

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Nope, not that I heard. This is a storm in a teacup and, while there are genuine questions that it would be nice to get answered (not essential though), it really doesn't change a lot. I'm certain that most of us have things that we maybe regret or would change about our pasts and My Syed surely has. If the sum of all investigation by the BBC is that load of tosh, then My Syed is relatively clean. Compare Syed to Abramovich or even the Glazers, now that would be interesting to see...

The worrying things are the potentially false LSE claims, and the inability to find anything about his family whose 100 years of business ventures have left Syed with a supposed wealth of billions.

I couldn't give a monkeys about the flat or the unpaid debts, but something isn't adding up.

The owners of other PL clubs who have come with money to spend were easily traceable. The ones pretended they had more cash than they really did were not easily traceable.

The one exception could be Carson Yeung at Birmingham, although he hasn't spent that much on them yet.

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philipl World Cup

philipl

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Did I read correctly in WGA's accounts/balance sheet that they have a loan of £58,000,000 that needs paying by 2017?

Following the waffly sensationalist performance by the Essex prof in the Goldberg programme, there is likely to be quite a bit of confusion about what the WGA accounts say.

There is only one section in the entire accounts that has any meaning:

Loan from a related party represents amounts introduced by one of the shareholders of the Company to finance the investment

activities of the Company.

Loan repayments are due as follows:

31 December 2009

Year of repayment

July 2018 53,000,000

July 2019 186,000,000

October 2019 850,000,000

Total 1,089,000,000

Loans are unsecured and bear no interest.

There is only one shareholder- Ahsan Ali Sayed. No doubt when the Bahrain Authorities have finished their work, we will know if the $1bn placed into WGA for investment management belongs to him and is clean (the offices will re-open) or not (the Bahrain offices remain closed). The part I highlighted is the clearest possible indication it is his own money without encumbrance.

So far as Rovers are concerned, repayments from the Bahrain arm of WGA to Ahsan Ali Sayed are meaningless. He has set up WGA Sports AG in Switzerland ostensibly funded with £300m and it is the terms concerning that business' money which are not yet public which would spell life or death to Rovers if this acquisition goes forwards.

The investment activities are described as being:

OUR INVESTMENTS

WGA’s various projects undertaken under different services are as follows:

Debt-

WGA has provided its Debt services to clients in countries like the UK, India, China, Australia, Greece, Switzerland, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa and Russia as well as in the Middle East. The sectors encompass Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Mining, Industrial Parks, Steel, Cement, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Energy, Healthcare and Townships.

Corporate Finance-

WGA has provided corporate finance in various countries like UK, India, China, Australia, Greece, Switzerland, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa and Russia as well as in the Middle East. The sectors encompass Real Estate, Oil & Gas, Mining, Industrial Parks, Steel, Cement, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Energy, Healthcare, Electronics, Financial, Transport, Aerospace, Alternative Energy, Rubber, Fashion & Retail, Townships, Food & Beverage and the Film Industry.

Equity Participation-

The company has extended credit lines to clients from a wide diversity of nations like UK, India, China, Australia, Greece, Switzerland, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa and Russia as well as in the Middle East. The sectors encompass Oil & Gas, Electronics, Mining, Steel, Financial, Real Estate, Transport, Agriculture, Aerospace, Alternative Energy, Rubber, Fashion & Retail, Healthcare, Cement, Infrastructure, Industrial Parks, Townships, Food & Beverage, Media and the Film Industry.

Besides these, WGA has also made investments in Germany, Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Canada.

Profits from that little lot generated the $92m WGA profit last year.

I don't want anyone jumping overboard and saying I am switching my position- I am just doing something the Essex Accountancy Professor signally failed to do on 5live Investigates and cutting to the core of what WGA is about. If you read the above two notes, everything in the accounts except only having $8k of computer equipment makes sense.

The minority shareholding not directly held in WGA by Ali Syed is held for his benefit so work on the basis he effectively owns the lot 100%.

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Fife Rover Champions League

Fife Rover

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Do we?

Abramovich was famous in Russia and had a close relationship with Boris Yeltsin - prior to his takeover a quick Google search would have found lots about him.

Lerner, Glazer, Hicks and Gillet all owned American sports teams before they came and a lot can be found out about their business history and how they made their billions.

The current Man City owner is the president of the UAE.

All of the above are all featured on rich lists, are well known businessmen and while they vary in terms of how good they are for their club, all were well known and established before they took over their clubs.

All we know about Syed is that he claims to be worth billions yet doesnt feature on any rich lists, noone knows who the hell he is, we don't know really how he made this money, all we know is that he lived in London for a bit, didnt pay his bills and has suddenly started making deals in Ireland, Australia and Blackburn.

Absolutely agree with all of that, but the bit highlighted is the one that causes me the most concern. Syed has told us that he comes from a family that has generations of dealing with the East India Company and that is how they made their fortune. Now THAT piece of information should be so very easy for anyone to check, but yet it has so far proved to be very illusive and difficult (impossible?) to substantiate. WHY???? Even worse the town where he claims to originate from apparently has no knowledge of him or his family. Very very worrying; and it is just plain silly of people to attempt to dismiss this just because they desperately want this takeover to happen.

These people need to get real and realise that the thing that matters most in ANY buyout of BRFC is that the new owners are not just very rich, but even more importantly are 100% trustworthy. This little football club that we all love so much means far more to it's genuine fans (of which I am one) than simply being treated to a couple of seasons of glory in the EPL, after which the new owner gets bored or tired of "throwing his monet away" and either walks out or else simply reduces/stops further funding. Or even worse he starts selling up on the immovable assets. UNTHIKABLE!! That's why all of us and the club NEED to be so very careful.

Personally I would much rather see Blackburn Rovers keep their integity and hard won reputation as an honest and well run club even if it means relegation (yes even to the extent of slipping out of the Football League altogether) than see the club "sell it's soul to the Devil" for the sake of giving the fans a quick fix. I will always support Rovers as long as I live as I always have done since the age of 10 in1946.

None of the above means I am against a takeover by the way; I was quite happy with the present Ali Syed effort and still am, but ONLY if and when he (or any other suitor) has shown themselves to be not just capable, but more importantly FULLY WORTHY to be our new owners.

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Spansterkid Premier League

Spansterkid

Posted
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The billion dollar loan from a 'related party' was Mr Ali putting in his own money then.

Note 11 says 'Loan from a related party represents amounts introduced by one of the shareholders of the Company to finance the investment activities of the Company.'

Note 15 actually confirms it was Ahsan Ali Syed that put in $1,089,000,000.

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Mattyblue World Cup

Mattyblue

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Absolutely agree with all of that, but the bit highlighted is the one that causes me the most concern. Syed has told us that he comes from a family that has generations of dealing with the East India Company and that is how they made their fortune. Now THAT piece of information should be so very easy for anyone to check, but yet it has so far proved to be very illusive and difficult (impossible?) to substantiate. WHY???? Even worse the town where he claims to originate from apparently has no knowledge of him or his family. Very very worrying; and it is just plain silly of people to attempt to dismiss this just because they desperately want this takeover to happen.

These people need to get real and realise that the thing that matters most in ANY buyout of BRFC is that the new owners are not just very rich, but even more importantly are 100% trustworthy. This little football club that we all love so much means far more to it's genuine fans (of which I am one) than simply being treated to a couple of seasons of glory in the EPL, after which the new owner gets bored or tired of "throwing his monet away" and either walks out or else simply reduces/stops further funding. Or even worse he starts selling up on the immovable assets. UNTHIKABLE!! That's why all of us and the club NEED to be so very careful.

Personally I would much rather see Blackburn Rovers keep their integity and hard won reputation as an honest and well run club even if it means relegation (yes even to the extent of slipping out of the Football League altogether) than see the club "sell it's soul to the Devil" for the sake of giving the fans a quick fix. I will always support Rovers as long as I live as I always have done since the age of 10 in1946.

None of the above means I am against a takeover by the way; I was quite happy with the present Ali Syed effort and still am, but ONLY if and when he (or any other suitor) has shown themselves to be not just capable, but more importantly FULLY WORTHY to be our new owners.

Not meaning to get all vinjay on you, but we are not a 'little football club', we cannot generate the incomes of the big city clubs but don't do the club down.

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Guest Wen Y Hu

Guest Wen Y Hu

Posted
Posted

The London School of Economics claims also had me wondering a bit, so here is what I have gleaned from the sources attached below. Corrections and additions welcome!

On 4 August the story was in the nationals, with Mr Syed's educational background consistently described as involving study in London. The Daily Telegraph reported that he was "educated at the London School of Economics [and] is a qualified lawyer" and The People similarly described him as "a lawyer who studied at the London School of Economics". The Guardian omitted the LSE connection, but stated that he "was educated in London [and] is a qualified lawyer", while later that day the Daily Mail picked up on the story and repeated The People's description of his educational background verbatim. Then a week later, the Lancashire Telegraph accompanied its 13 August article with a Factfile, stating that "Mr Syed is a legal graduate educated at the London School of Economics".

A look at Mr Syed's CV posted on the WGA website, however, reveals only the following: "Mr. Ali [syed] holds a bachelor degree in law as well as a master degree in finance from universities in India as well as abroad". There is no indication whatsoever on this CV as to where he actually studied. Moreover, neither is there any suggestion that his bachelor's degree in law qualifies him to practise as a lawyer. Certainly, if Mr Syed had qualifications from such a prestigious institution as the LSE, that would surely have been noted on his CV.

I find it rather difficult to believe that he would have claimed to have qualifications that he did not possess. I also find it rather difficult to believe that he would have claimed to have studied somewhere that he had never been to. If he has made either of these claims, he deserves the criticism.

I would, however, find it very easy to believe that he had studied at the LSE part-time or as an auditor or even on a more casual basis and had included this information in the same sentence as "law degree" and "master's in finance" in a rather ambiguous manner. This may have been during the 2001-2005 period that he spent in London as he tried to build up his business, which would make sense. Similarly I find it very easy to believe that the alumni office at LSE might not check with academic records to see whether someone mentioned in The Daily Telegraph or The Guardian as an ex-student really was such.

Given the way that information proliferates via the mass media, multiple sources can carry the same or similar items of information and not only serve to validate them but embellish them with subtle changes. Thus, for example, the LT's description suggests that Mr Syed graduated in law from LSE (which is how I read it at the time), whereas the nationals reporting over one week previously do not specify the link between his law studies and his time at LSE.

So, as the BBC appears (from members' comments above) to be claiming that Mr Syed is now making some kind of denial regarding the LSE links, clarification of his background is in order. And the first question here is how did Mr Syed represent his educational background to the media at the beginning of August? Presumably nicko should know whether he issued some kind of press release giving such details and, if so, what those details were. Similarly, Kamy100 should be able to ask for clarification of his CV from his spokesperson to set the record straight.

Sources

Mr Syed's CV on WGA website

"Mr. Ali holds a bachelor degree in law as well as a master degree in finance from universities in India as well as abroad."

http://www.westerngulfadvisory.com/download.php?file=WGA_CV_Ahsan_Ali_Syed.pdf

Daily Telegraph, 4 August

"Educated at the London School of Economics, he is a qualified lawyer [...]."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/blackburn-rovers/7925137/Blackburn-Rovers-the-latest-Premier-League-club-targeted-following-300m-takeover-bid.html

Guardian, 4 August

Mr Syed "was educated in London, [and] is a qualified lawyer".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/04/blackburn-takeover-ahasan-ali-syed

The People, 4 August

Mr Syed is "a lawyer who studied at the London School of Economics".

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/sports-news/2010/08/04/tycoon-targets-rovers-takeover-102039-22463328/

Daily Mail, 5 August

Mr Syed "is a lawyer who studied at the London School of Economics".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1300191/Blackburn-wary-Ahasan-Ali-Syeds-300million-bid.html#ixzz0yfVRjwC9

Lancashire Telegraph, 13 August

According to the LT's Factfile, "Mr Syed is a legal graduate educated at the London School of Economics."

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/blackburnrovers/news/8313727.The_man_bidding_for_Blackburn_Rovers/

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nicko World Cup

nicko

Posted
Posted

A lot of those articles have come from a Press Association report at the time that Syed first hit the headlines.

Did the chap not claim to be a 'follower of Rovers' and a 'fan of David Beckham' during his time at university in London about a decade ago...I think he said that in an interview.

Still trying to figure out how you go from being a make-ends-meet budget in 2004/5 to a lender of 1 billion dollars to your new company in 2009.

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imy9 World Cup

imy9

Posted
Posted

A lot of those articles have come from a Press Association report at the time that Syed first hit the headlines.

Did the chap not claim to be a 'follower of Rovers' and a 'fan of David Beckham' during his time at university in London about a decade ago...I think he said that in an interview.

Still trying to figure out how you go from being a make-ends-meet budget in 2004/5 to a lender of 1 billion dollars to your new company in 2009.

Even the landlord stated that Syed was driven around in a 'Nice Merc' with his own driver and lived in a very nice area of London, Syed did also say that the money he has is his families money, which may explain where the money came from... Ultimately this is all conjecture, what we need is a statement from Syed to clarify what is going on and answer some pretty pertinent questions.

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philipl World Cup

philipl

Posted
Posted

Excellent piece of work there Wen Y Hu. That certainly makes me feel a lot less concerned about the guy living an outright lie.

So it seems Adrian Goldberg built up something and shot it down.

I wonder if that also goes for the County Court Judgement about which he was also very circumspect. County Court Judgements can be checked online for a fee of £8 and I have not found anything against Ahsan Ali Syed of Bryanston Court London registered 2004-2010 but then I usually asked the staff to do that sort of thing so I might have been ticking the wrong box!

Probably worth putting something into perspective. If Ahsan Ali Syed is as rich as he caims, from his point of view asking him about £70k would be the same as the BBC running a 30 minute programme about a dispute I might have had about £70 back in 2005.

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Guest Wen Y Hu

Guest Wen Y Hu

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Posted

A lot of those articles have come from a Press Association report at the time that Syed first hit the headlines.

[...]

Thanks for the confirmation. Do you have access to that PA report by any chance?

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Guest Wen Y Hu

Guest Wen Y Hu

Posted
Posted

Excellent piece of work there Wen Y Hu. That certainly makes me feel a lot less concerned about the guy living an outright lie.

So it seems Adrian Goldberg built up something and shot it down.

I wonder if that also goes for the County Court Judgement about which he was also very circumspect. County Court Judgements can be checked online for a fee of £8 and I have not found anything against Ahsan Ali Syed of Bryanston Court London registered 2004-2010 but then I usually asked the staff to do that sort of thing so I might have been ticking the wrong box!

Probably worth putting something into perspective. If Ahsan Ali Syed is as rich as he caims, from his point of view asking him about £70k would be the same as the BBC running a 30 minute programme about a dispute I might have had about £70 back in 2005.

Leaving fresh flowers on the table when you do a runner, as it is alleged, and not lining your picture frames up are pretty heinous crimes, but misrepresenting your CV is actually serious stuff.

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BuckyRover World Cup

BuckyRover

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Excellent piece of work there Wen Y Hu. That certainly makes me feel a lot less concerned about the guy living an outright lie.

So it seems Adrian Goldberg built up something and shot it down.

I wonder if that also goes for the County Court Judgement about which he was also very circumspect. County Court Judgements can be checked online for a fee of £8 and I have not found anything against Ahsan Ali Syed of Bryanston Court London registered 2004-2010 but then I usually asked the staff to do that sort of thing so I might have been ticking the wrong box!

Probably worth putting something into perspective. If Ahsan Ali Syed is as rich as he caims, from his point of view asking him about £70k would be the same as the BBC running a 30 minute programme about a dispute I might have had about £70 back in 2005.

I didn't know you were a multi millionaire.

Fancy that

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67splitscreen World Cup

67splitscreen

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Posted

Yes, it is possible that the land is tenanted some of our land is tenanted, but the Land Registry will still show us as the owners.

As i thought but as with Thailand it is only in the last 10 years or so that they seem to have made any attempt in clearing up ownership of land titles, they have three types of title, the lower being were land had changed hands basically on a fag packet with boundaries being noted by landmarks, the more recent exchanges and titles are confirmed by legal documentation and GPS used to define the boundaries.

Even so much land is still not listed as families have retained them for 100's of years and the Land registry don't have the man power or resources to confirm ownerships.

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