[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[67splitscreen]

Can I have a cutting?

I'll be there the beginning of Autumn we need it now.

[Guest bluerovers]

No your not wrong.

I did some calculations the other day.

Going off current top yields, current market prices for top quality rice, 900 acre, two crops a year, $2.1m pa.

What if 150 years ago Great Grand Daddy Syed thought "Hey with 900 acres of land I could get some very tasty loans using the land as a gurantee" and with that money he invested (loaned it) to other businesses in India. It worked at Great Grand Daddy Syed paid back the loan and used to profits to invest some more and discovers he has a bit of a knack of making good investments (like the Dragons on BBC)...150 years on 3-8 billion in assets is not impossible.

There's more ways to make money from owning land than agriculture, in fact any farmer would tell you they'd make a lot more by just selling their land.

[neekoy]

Easy example would be surely to look close to home, surely, no?

Are you suggesting those football clubs cited were run well by their respective owners? Or is running a club to near extinction/administration the norm?

You could always look at the "local" run football of Italy or Spain to see how things should be done...

Essentially most clubs in the world should be in administration (including ours) if they weren't propped up by federations and sugar daddies.

[Guest Kamy100]

This moning's Lancashire Telegraph confirm what I was told over the weekend that Syed Ali is due at Ewood Park for face to face talks. I would expect him to come over at somepoint this week, possibly Thursday/Friday so that he can take in the Fulham game on Saturday. WGA have also registered offices in London.

The LT who seem to be well in with Saurin Shah's people report that if Syed Ali fails to make significant progress within the 7 days then Mr Shah will instruct his lawyers to enter due diligence. At the moment he unwilling to do so because it costs £250,000 to enter DD, Mr Shah doesn't want to spend that money if he has no chance of being successful.

[trueblue]

Do they get the quarter of a mil back if their bid is successful?

[imy9]

Great shah with no money would be the last thing we need I'd stick with the trust.

[Iceman]

Im going to say, that Syed coming over might see the deal being completed. If he was not serious about this, then he could have stayed at home. On the other hand, im guessing that he will be over to start the Fit and Proper test. Its interesting, that he (Syed) could easily have backed out, but by going ahead as planned, must surely indicate that he is confident of completing the deal.

[Manchester Blue]

If their bid is succesful then they will decide whether to give themselves back the 250k.

[Iceman]

If their bid is succesful then they will decide whether to give themselves back the 250k.

Or more

[Guest bluerovers]

This moning's Lancashire Telegraph confirm what I was told over the weekend that Syed Ali is due at Ewood Park for face to face talks. I would expect him to come over at somepoint this week, possibly Thursday/Friday so that he can take in the Fulham game on Saturday. WGA have also registered offices in London.

The LT who seem to be well in with Saurin Shah's people report that if Syed Ali fails to make significant progress within the 7 days then Mr Shah will instruct his lawyers to enter due diligence. At the moment he unwilling to do so because it costs £250,000 to enter DD, Mr Shah doesn't want to spend that money if he has no chance of being successful.

By implication that must mean Syed has paid the £250,000 so at least another proof of funds.

[Bobby G]

I think its gotten old asking whether Syed has the funds.

He obviously does have them, otherwise 1) he wouldnt have gotten this far 2) He has nothing to gain from ending up at a position where he is holding his crown jewels staring at the club with no money to buy it.

He has much more to lose in terms of credibility if he doesnt have money cause it would become public, as buying a Premier League club gets you coverage as we have seen. So he wouldnt be able to continue going along with his business from this day onwards.

It was much more pertinent to ask "where did his money come from" as nicko has suggested, but that is something that's between the club and him, and whether it plays a role or not is up to the Trust.

[Guest bluerovers]

Gotten, don't you mean 'got'?

[philipl]

I'm somewhat amazed that a guy who is owed 60K for five years only finds his quarry after a BBC investigation.

Any Commercial agent (Debt Collector) worth his salt would have found him in a matter of weeks.

I know it's been said before but something smacks of wanting to do a job on Mr Ali.

On the face of it, the piece by Goldberg was at least as damaging as the first one in that he attempts to knock the legs out from under the rebuttals in the press statement. Did anyone else noticed Goldberg's tone changes from what went before as he did it- I am sure he switched to reading verbatem a script prepared with careful legal advice.

Which leads us back to the substance of the allegations and this mysterious CCJ which I have had a look for in the Register and not found. It clearly exists as both party acknowledges it and cannot be against any of his companies as Companies House would not de-regster them if they were aware of an unsettled CCJ.

The debts in the hundreds and few thousands I can understand but £61,000 is worth your while enforcing no matter who you are. So why wasn't it followed through? Why didn't they put Ali Syed into bankruptcy? Very odd.

The fact that Saurin Shah is willing to go to due diligence (and cough up £250k- low price) re-enforces my view that continuing Trust ownership at this stage is a 1% shot. The real players are likely to be one or more of the other three bidders we know far far less about if there is any faltering at this stage by Ali Syed.

At the end of the day, the big question raised by Goldberg is nothing to do with whether Ali Syed has money (he clearly has), whether he has enough ($850m is not enough, $3bn+ is) or how he go it (a herd of accountants, lawyers and bankers will be all over that one and probably have been for weeks) but is he trustworthy?

That is the reputational damage 5live investigates has done.

The difficulty there, is the money and its sources can be proven in an instant but trust is built up over time and with much experience. This could be a huge dilemma for the Trustees if they are scratching their heads looking at the private documentation as much as we are looking at the material that is out there in public.

[PAFELL]

On the face of it, the piece by Goldberg was at least as damaging as the first one in that he attempts to knock the legs out from under the rebuttals in the press statement. Did anyone else noticed Goldberg's tone changes from what went before as he did it- I am sure he switched to reading verbatem a script prepared with careful legal advice.

Which leads us back to the substance of the allegations and this mysterious CCJ which I have had a look for in the Register and not found. It clearly exists as both party acknowledges it and cannot be against any of his companies as Companies House would not de-regster them if they were aware of an unsettled CCJ.

The debts in the hundreds and few thousands I can understand but £61,000 is worth your while enforcing no matter who you are. So why wasn't it followed through? Why didn't they put Ali Syed into bankruptcy? Very odd.

The fact that Saurin Shah is willing to go to due diligence (and cough up £250k- low price) re-enforces my view that continuing Trust ownership at this stage is a 1% shot. The real players are likely to be one or more of the other three bidders we know far far less about if there is any faltering at this stage by Ali Syed.

At the end of the day, the big question raised by Goldberg is nothing to do with whether Ali Syed has money (he clearly has), whether he has enough ($850m is not enough, $3bn+ is) or how he go it (a herd of accountants, lawyers and bankers will be all over that one and probably have been for weeks) but is he trustworthy?

That is the reputational damage 5live investigates has done.

The difficulty there, is the money and its sources can be proven in an instant but trust is built up over time and with much experience. This could be a huge dilemma for the Trustees if they are scratching their heads looking at the private documentation as much as we are looking at the material that is out there in public.

I am starting to think that neither Shah or Syed will takeover the club. It will not surprise me if one of the other interested parties, who we have not really heard anything about yet, will be the successful ones. Possible the Austrailian group. But time will tell.

[Paul]

Incidentally, I thought the most significant part of Mr. Ali's press release the other day (apart from confirming the CCJ DID relate to him) was the fact that it was confirmed Mr. Syed's family wealth DID come from farming.

Doesn't sound possible to me to amass a fortune of 8 billion quid by farming 900 acres in India over 150 years. Or am I completely wrong on that?

I've worked in commercial horticulture, not agriculture, all my life. The largest UK company in my sector turned over £21.5m in 2009 showing a PBT of £1.3m. I know plenty of "well off" growers but none are billionaires, admittedly I don't know any family which goes back more than four generations. However one should also consider many large, and I mean LARGE, agricultural, vegetable and ornamental seed companies are owned by serious multi-nationals, Monsanto for example. The likes of Monsanto are not in this industry for fun - far from it.

In judging what is possible from 900 acres of farming I feel it's important to consider farming could be considered in many different ways. Most people will think immediately of food production but producers work in other areas. I would imagine 900 acres of high grade seed production would be considerably more valuable than food production. What this land produces, and its value, will depend on many local factors such as soil type, micro-climate, insect population (or lack of), irrigation, etc. etc.

I'd doubt it's possible to become a billionaire in agriculture but would suggest the returns could be far higher than some might imagine if only considering food production.

[neekoy]

This is becoming laughable....

Maybe they grow Poppy, Cardamon or Saffron? Maybe they owned the land 10,000 years ago, I hear the market has pushed it's two famous cities in India into the top 10 most expensive for real estate...

[Iceman]

On the face of it, the piece by Goldberg was at least as damaging as the first one in that he attempts to knock the legs out from under the rebuttals in the press statement. Did anyone else noticed Goldberg's tone changes from what went before as he did it- I am sure he switched to reading verbatem a script prepared with careful legal advice.

Which leads us back to the substance of the allegations and this mysterious CCJ which I have had a look for in the Register and not found. It clearly exists as both party acknowledges it and cannot be against any of his companies as Companies House would not de-regster them if they were aware of an unsettled CCJ.

The debts in the hundreds and few thousands I can understand but £61,000 is worth your while enforcing no matter who you are. So why wasn't it followed through? Why didn't they put Ali Syed into bankruptcy? Very odd.

The fact that Saurin Shah is willing to go to due diligence (and cough up £250k- low price) re-enforces my view that continuing Trust ownership at this stage is a 1% shot. The real players are likely to be one or more of the other three bidders we know far far less about if there is any faltering at this stage by Ali Syed.

At the end of the day, the big question raised by Goldberg is nothing to do with whether Ali Syed has money (he clearly has), whether he has enough ($850m is not enough, $3bn+ is) or how he go it (a herd of accountants, lawyers and bankers will be all over that one and probably have been for weeks) but is he trustworthy?

That is the reputational damage 5live investigates has done.

The difficulty there, is the money and its sources can be proven in an instant but trust is built up over time and with much experience. This could be a huge dilemma for the Trustees if they are scratching their heads looking at the private documentation as much as we are looking at the material that is out there in public.

Why would Syed spend so much money, on the likes of Darmon(or which ever way you spell it, French guy), lawyers, PR teams, etc, cost of travelling to and from the UK if he didnt have the money.

Why would he risk his entire WGA business, if he is not trust worthy? If he is not trust worthy, it will be clear as daylight, that his current businesses will be under immense pressure. At the end of the day, people want to know how he has made his money, where it has come from etc. If these were not part of the very 1st questions being asked by Rothschilds, then i would be very surprised that they have allowed Syed this far.

in saying all that, if Syed is not what he says he is, then its best that Rovers look elsewhere. However, Goldberg has invited Syed to explain his side of the story on radio, it's not going to happen. The BBC imo, should have followed the legal route, by forwarding all proof of their allegations to their lawyers 1st and formost, before jumping the gun on a new show. As i stated last week, the fact that the BBC is questioning Syed's credibility, means that Syed will have viewed it in a very serious light(thus the need for him to take it up with his lawyers).

At the end of the day, Goldberg is continuing his persuit on this matter, and Syed will have explain this to the club when he is over, not to Goldberg or the BBC. If the club feels that he is telling the truth, and can back it up, then its irrelevant what Goldberg has revealed. This week surely things will have to be settled, either Syed is the man, or he is not.

[philipl]

I am starting to think that neither Shah or Syed will takeover the club. It will not surprise me if one of the other interested parties, who we have not really heard anything about yet, will be the successful ones. Possible the Austrailian group. But time will tell.

I doubt Syed would come over here in public and be prepared to go away empty handed after the bad publicity. His appearance here would be captioned by all the media: "Mr Ali Syed, who is the subject of a BBC investigation, ..."

Icers, I am not saying he is not trustworthy.

I am saying that as we stand today in the tennis match being played out in a small section of the media, the perception is there is a question mark over his trustworthiness and that unfortunately is often as bad as being proven untrustworthy- people either trust you or they don't.

Finally, in case anyone doubted that at least 95% of what is going on is completely hidden from the public eye, 900 acres near Hyderabad plus legitimate cropping does not equal $8billion no matter how you do the sums unless generations 1 to 9 have been investor geniuses.

[PAFELL]

I doubt Syed would come over here in public and be prepared to go away empty handed after the bad publicity. His appearance here would be captioned by all the media: "Mr Ali Syed, who is the subject of a BBC investigation, ..."

I still find it strange that hardly any other media outlet has picked up the story about the BBC allegation etc. But there again the liverpool debt being put into toxic assets also passed many by.

Just a thought though, Syed may well be coming over, he may well be serious in wanting the club. But it is what the trust wants to do that is the main point. They may prefer other bidders to Syed etc. After all the Walker Trust are not going to want to damage their own reputation. Selling to the wrong person would do that. A lot of head scratching and things to consider for the trust.

[Iceman]

I doubt Syed would come over here in public and be prepared to go away empty handed after the bad publicity. His appearance here would be captioned by all the media: "Mr Ali Syed, who is the subject of a BBC investigation, ..."

Icers, I am not saying he is not trustworthy.

I am saying that as we stand today in the tennis match being played out in a small section of the media, the perception is there is a question mark over his trustworthiness and that unfortunately is often as bad as being proven untrustworthy- people either trust you or they don't.

well Goldberg has pointed to them having evidence to back up their claims, yet the only one to have this evidence is him. There seems to be some sort of hidden agenda on here, because why would the landlord not approach the club, but just before a new show starts on the BEEB, Goldberg has the scoop?

Of course Goldberg has done Syed and his company some sort of damage, time will tell whether its huge damage to his reputation and business, or slight damage that can be repaired. one thing is for sure, if Goldberg continues with this, there will deffinately be a counter attack from Syed. This is not going to end up being a happy ending for somebody, either Goldberg will be taken to the cleaners, or Syed will leave with his tail between his legs.

[Sparky Marky]

By implication that must mean Syed has paid the £250,000 so at least another proof of funds.

Jeez man, I reckon I could raise that kind of money, so really not proof that he can bankroll us like he claims.

[thenonda]

I have an idea to how he obtained his $8billion.....

He got lucky betting on a few no balls!!!!!!!

Seriously though it is for the Trust and the PL to understand where the money came from. Just because someone is secretive does not mean he is dodgy!

[Brfcrule1]

sounds positive hopefully we will get some sort of resolution this week.

[BPF]

Nicko good article today in the people I have a few questions:

1.) Now that the due diligence period of exclusive runs out tommorrow do you think Mr Ali will be making a bid for the club?

2.) I hear in circles Mr Ali is due in Blackburn tommorrow can you confirm this?

3.) Am a bit confused have heard over the past few days the Prem. Lge have been keeping an eye on this but have had no contact from Rovers so have they applied to the prem. Lge. for their owners test yet or do you think they will apply to the Prem. Lge. this week?.

4.) I have heard a whisper this whole process might be completed by the end of next week how likely this that?

Thanks as ever for your valuable input. Shame you were not able to get a pic of the guy at the game.

'Thanks as ever for your valuable input.'

You should put that as your signature, it would save you a lot of time.

Jeez man, I reckon I could raise that kind of money, so really not proof that he can bankroll us like he claims.

Don't be a total tool.

Who is going to pay £250,000 if they know they have no chance of the deal going through.

Syed is a billionaire. This is much more open and shut than most of you realise.

[Paul]

I'm somewhat amazed that a guy who is owed 60K for five years only finds his quarry after a BBC investigation.

Any Commercial agent (Debt Collector) worth his salt would have found him in a matter of weeks.

I know it's been said before but something smacks of wanting to do a job on Mr Ali.

Did it take five years to find him though? Could the creditor simply not have been able to get his money. I have a CCJ against an individual whose business owes us £5k, can we get our money, can we hell. We know exactly where he is. Getting money from an individual who does not want to pay can be very difficult and very expensive.