Jump to content

BRFCS

BY THE FANS, FOR THE FANS
SINCE 1996
Proudly partnered with TheTerraceStore.com

[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?


Recommended Posts

Like the lay out but answering the questions:

1) Bill Clinton and dodgy endorsements are part of the territory

2) Do we know for sure he has this backing?

3) Yes, the Rothschilds will be in the dustbins of Mumbai and Bangkok and wherever else they need to be- if these are serious bids.

4) The market has dried up full stop right now- irrespective of budgets. At the end of the day, there are probably only 500 footballers in the World in squads better remunerated than Blackburn Rovers so let's wait and see what happens.

For someone who believes we should "wait and see what happens', your previous post was quite contemptuous of the bid. Seemed clear to me you'd made your mind up.

No doubt if and when it does go through you'll dredge up an old forgotten post showing that you knew the take-over would come off and supported it all along!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 9.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Talks are still going on with Shah, not sure if any of the other interested parties have shown an interest or not.

He is still interested anyway - at least thats a start!! Wondering if the quiet spell is because of the trust requiring hush, hush or if perhaps he is in due diligence?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Talks are still going on with Shah, not sure if any of the other interested parties have shown an interest or not.

He is still interested anyway - at least thats a start!! Wondering if the quiet spell is because of the trust requiring hush, hush or if perhaps he is in due diligence?!

He stated his intention to fax a bid the next day in his 1 public statement (as far as I am aware) so a bid is in unless someone knows anything to the contrary. Rather than being "garrulous" he simply confirmed his group were serious, stated some aims and promised transfer funds. He also stated his preference that the deal be done and dusted by mid-July. Surely nothing exceptionable in any of that?

Quiet seems perfectly appropriate now. The period of due diligence has begun, his people will be sifting through the books, Rovers Trust/Rothchilds will probably still be backgrounding the bidders. What's to say? In about 4 weeks i guess we will know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just have to be patient. Whilst we all want this done, and then we can have £10m in transfer funds or whatever, it is good that all sides are seemingly being meticulous in checking out this and that. The last thing we want is to rush into a deal with some kebab salesman posing as an Arab billionaire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He stated his intention to fax a bid the next day in his 1 public statement (as far as I am aware) so a bid is in unless someone knows anything to the contrary. Rather than being "garrulous" he simply confirmed his group were serious, stated some aims and promised transfer funds. He also stated his preference that the deal be done and dusted by mid-July. Surely nothing exceptionable in any of that?

Quiet seems perfectly appropriate now. The period of due diligence has begun, his people will be sifting through the books, Rovers Trust/Rothchilds will probably still be backgrounding the bidders. What's to say? In about 4 weeks i guess we will know.

If I might bitch back but

Rovers have said a bid has been received but contrary to Shah's comments, no exclusivity nor rights to undertake due diligence have been granted.

It is al in this thread with links to the relevant statements by the club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I might bitch back but

Rovers have said a bid has been received but contrary to Shah's comments, no exclusivity nor rights to undertake due diligence have been granted.

It is al in this thread with links to the relevant statements by the club.

No-one has ever claimed exclusivity as far as I'm aware. Shah definitely stated his group had been granted due diligence so its surprising if they haven't. Could you please direct me to the relevant club statement contradicting Shah's claim?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When does those new rulings about owners come in?

I'm particularly thinking about the one which stops owners giving money to clubs in the form of repayable loans.

2012 - however they said they wont be strict on rules until 2015....plenty of time to have a spending spree!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You obviously don't get the difference between a legal imperative and a moral one. Everyone knows its "up to them", I'm just giving my opinion on what they decided.

Dazzled by the excitement of some new gift marked 'Risky Takeover' you seem to be losing all sense of perspective. Moral imperative and football? Do me a favour. The Trust has a moral imperative to run Jack's businesses in a structured and fair way. Given the choice between supporting ordinary men and women with mortgages, debts, children and working responsibilities in the aviation and proprety businesses, they have quite rightly moved away from sinking vast sums into already sickeningly overpaid prima donnas called a Premier League football team, and chosen to let the Rovers look after themselves and give financial support elsewhere where it is, honestly, more deserving.

As to your questionable at best, and sneeringly insulting at worst, assertion that somehow Jack's descendants should somehow be morally obliged to support his Rovers venture by lashing out millions of their own money on a project they are not interested in, then might I point you at Jack's overriding requirement after his investment?

That wish was for the Rovers to be self sustaining. And that, finally according to JW last month, is exactly where the Rovers are. The Trust and the Rovers board have delivered. And, with the club sat pretty in mid table with paid for assets and a positive cash flow, they have, moreover delivered in spades.

Almost every takeover there has been in recent years has ended in tears. Rivers of them. Whether Shah has or has not exclusive access to the accounts is irrelevant. The fact is no one knows where this 35 year old has conjured up his millions. If he has them at all. His marketing plan is ambitious and there is nothing wrong with that, unless it is of course, well, wrong. If cricket nations are not for turning, what then? How can Shah get the money you are expecting out of the club if the citizens of Delhi and Mumbai chose not to watch Rovers on PPV v Bolton on a Tuesday or decide to stick with their IPL shirts rather than Rovers halves?

Because this is no fan. Not of the Rovers anyway. And for every penny he puts in, he will want two out. Either that, or he is laundering dirty money as other overseas millionaires have done. Either way the club's very future is at at stake. And I for one smell something odorous. And it is not only your bitchiness that stinks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I point you at Jack's overriding requirement after his investment?

That wish was for the Rovers to be self sustaining. And that, finally according to JW last month, is exactly where the Rovers are. The Trust and the Rovers board have delivered. And, with the club sat pretty in mid table with paid for assets and a positive cash flow, they have, moreover delivered in spades.

Your whole post rests on these "facts" iamarover. Do you have a link for us and if not, how do you know the terms of JW's Jersey trust?

The truth is that you don't know. Oh - and the trustees have a legal, as well as a moral obligation to run the trust as JW wanted it run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im surprised, at the negative comments towards the trust. As a business, if you dont make any profit, then you are unlikely to be able to reinvest in that business. Funds have dried up, but you just cannot sustain a business if you are not generating a profit. The walkers know this, they want out and thats understandable. The only fear i have, is not Saurin Shah buying the club, but John Williams not being at the club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The only fear i have, is not Saurin Shah buying the club, but John Williams not being at the club.

.................and do we think JW will hang around if he feels the new owners are taking the club in the wrong direction?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No-one has ever claimed exclusivity as far as I'm aware. Shah definitely stated his group had been granted due diligence so its surprising if they haven't. Could you please direct me to the relevant club statement contradicting Shah's claim?

Shah contradicts himself because in the most recent piece carried by the LT he says he hasn't been granted due diligence rights. This piece includes quotes from the uncle directly so this proves he is involved making the Shah bid even more interesting if they can jump the hurdles.

Ordinarily, nobody is going to go to the time, expense and trouble of conducting due diigence without exclusivity for an agreed period (typically a month) and an outline agreed bid in the bag subject to satisfactory results of the diligence exercise. On a £50m turn over company like Rovers, due diligence is unlikely to cost less than £300k at a guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2012 - however they said they wont be strict on rules until 2015....plenty of time to have a spending spree!!

That's not really what I meant, but thanks for the dates.

If a new owner comes in puts on a spending spree in the form of repayable loans (like Pompey) then we'd be absolutely screwed.

The new rules don't stop clubs going on a spending spree, but the money has to be put in permanently...I think it's in the form of shares, or something like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You say Shah contradicts himself in this piece, but I'm not sure how reliable the original source that said he was going through due diligence was. It used Shah quotes, but then these quotes were never seen again in any other piece (that I've seen at least). Not saying they definitely didn't happen, just that it wasn't in a source that I personally know the validity of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dazzled by the excitement of some new gift marked 'Risky Takeover' you seem to be losing all sense of perspective. Moral imperative and football? Do me a favour. The Trust has a moral imperative to run Jack's businesses in a structured and fair way. Given the choice between supporting ordinary men and women with mortgages, debts, children and working responsibilities in the aviation and proprety businesses, they have quite rightly moved away from sinking vast sums into already sickeningly overpaid prima donnas called a Premier League football team, and chosen to let the Rovers look after themselves and give financial support elsewhere where it is, honestly, more deserving.

As to your questionable at best, and sneeringly insulting at worst, assertion that somehow Jack's descendants should somehow be morally obliged to support his Rovers venture by lashing out millions of their own money on a project they are not interested in, then might I point you at Jack's overriding requirement after his investment?

That wish was for the Rovers to be self sustaining. And that, finally according to JW last month, is exactly where the Rovers are. The Trust and the Rovers board have delivered. And, with the club sat pretty in mid table with paid for assets and a positive cash flow, they have, moreover delivered in spades.

Almost every takeover there has been in recent years has ended in tears. Rivers of them. Whether Shah has or has not exclusive access to the accounts is irrelevant. The fact is no one knows where this 35 year old has conjured up his millions. If he has them at all. His marketing plan is ambitious and there is nothing wrong with that, unless it is of course, well, wrong. If cricket nations are not for turning, what then? How can Shah get the money you are expecting out of the club if the citizens of Delhi and Mumbai chose not to watch Rovers on PPV v Bolton on a Tuesday or decide to stick with their IPL shirts rather than Rovers halves?

Because this is no fan. Not of the Rovers anyway. And for every penny he puts in, he will want two out. Either that, or he is laundering dirty money as other overseas millionaires have done. Either way the club's very future is at at stake. And I for one smell something odorous. And it is not only your bitchiness that stinks.

Is this the only style you have? I could argue with all your points but you are just not worth it. The reality is that we desperately need a classy mid-fielder and a striker who can score goals regularly. And, according to John Williams we have 2.25M to spend on both! That says all I need to know about the Trust. Its time has gone and the Trust itself realises it. That's why we are up for sale.

One final point....all the points about the suitability of the Indian bidders will be evaluated by the Trust, not you or me. If the Trust is as wonderful as you say, then you can rely on it to make the right decision can't you? So if the Trust approves the sale of our club to Shah you will be right behind the decision....yes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shah contradicts himself because in the most recent piece carried by the LT he says he hasn't been granted due diligence rights. This piece includes quotes from the uncle directly so this proves he is involved making the Shah bid even more interesting if they can jump the hurdles.

Ordinarily, nobody is going to go to the time, expense and trouble of conducting due diigence without exclusivity for an agreed period (typically a month) and an outline agreed bid in the bag subject to satisfactory results of the diligence exercise. On a £50m turn over company like Rovers, due diligence is unlikely to cost less than £300k at a guess.

I'm rather confused! That piece from the LT says that the due diligence period hasn't been reached, but that is dated 12 June. Are the bidders at that point now? And Shah doesn't contradict himself in that article, in fact he never mentions due diligence at all.

Are we at that point now? We don't know because all parties have gone quiet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In respect to any takeover, we have to be one of the easiest clubs to perform due diligence on from a financial side, from what I have read on 'due diligence' the biggest stumbling block would be on the legal obligations in Jacks deed.

Tied into that would probably be the ground, Brockhall, and any other land/property the club owns, as to what can/cannot be done with it at a later date.

Customer record Etc. can't see any problems there same with any other liabilities.

The current debt is with the bank I believe in the form of an O/D, secured against the clubs assets, doubt any new owner would want to change that, maybe the bank would in some way.

If as some have mentioned the right to serve due diligence has not been given, then we should assume the price and terms have not been agreed and in JW's words they are "fluid" on going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clickety Click Here

This link takes you to a Mumbai newspaper. They seem to know nothing of our mysterious man with a wallet. I find his anonymity veru odd. Successful business folk usually leave a trail.

"We’re serious. We’re in negotiations,” said Saurin Shah, a Mumbai-based businessman. “We’ve acquired the right of due diligence.”

It effectively means Shah’s lawyers will be going through the papers of the club in the next 45 days. “We have the right of first refusal,” he said. The arrangement allows Shah to say no if the papers are not in order.”

We are both confused as to what Mr Shah is saying 47er- he says one thing to a Mumbai paper and another to LT on the same day and forgets that the global media which he would be relying on to sell football games played in Blackburn to a mass market 3,000+ miles away also means people in Blackburn can read what he is saying in Mumbai.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"We’re serious. We’re in negotiations,” said Saurin Shah, a Mumbai-based businessman. “We’ve acquired the right of due diligence.”

It effectively means Shah’s lawyers will be going through the papers of the club in the next 45 days. “We have the right of first refusal,” he said. The arrangement allows Shah to say no if the papers are not in order.”

We are both confused as to what Mr Shah is saying 47er- he says one thing to a Mumbai paper and another to LT and forgets that the global media which he is what he is relying on to sell football games in Blackburn to a mass market 3,000+ miles away also means people in Blackburn can read what he is saying in Mumbai.

There's no confusion there Philip, his statement is utterly clear. If it isn't true its a worry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Wen Y Hu

I've put this together as a summary of the reported takeover bid by Saurin Shah with specific reference to the status of the bid inasmuch as this is public knowledge. The duplication of information in various forms in different news sources, often taken out of context, makes it rather difficult for the casual reader to ascertain the sequence of events involved and separate fact from speculation. In particular, the matter of whether the Indian group led by Saurin Shah has been granted the right to carry out due diligence or not can be confusing. Here I've tried to identify the key sources that have been referenced on this thread for the sake of clarity. I'm thinking of maybe posting this summary to the transfer digest thread for informational purposes because of its relation to transfers (perceived or actual), so if I've missed anything out, please add your comments. Note that philipl has posted while I was preparing this, so apologies for any duplication there.

As far as I can make out, since the story was broken by nicko, there have been links in this thread to three main sources - The Times, DNA, and the Lancashire Telegraph - with the latter two having had direct access to Shah himself.

In the Two mystery buyers target Blackburn article in the 6 June issue of The People, nicko broke the news of "an Indian cricket entrepreneur" being interested in taking over the club. Later that week in the evening of 10 June, both The Times and Mumbai-based online news source DNA (Daily News & Analysis) published articles revealing the identity of the Indian bidder as Saurin Shah.

The DNA article Little-known Mumbai firm eyes English Premier League presence, dated 11 June, made reference to nicko's article and, presumably having been prompted by that article to identify the mystery Indian bidder, carried direct quotes attributed to Shah himself.

Sources in Mumbai and reports from England say the firm, Qubic Sports and Entertainment, is in the running for the takeover of Blackburn Rovers. [...]

“We’re serious. We’re in negotiations,” said Saurin Shah, a Mumbai-based businessman. “We’ve acquired the right of due diligence.”

It effectively means Shah’s lawyers will be going through the papers of the club in the next 45 days. “We have the right of first refusal,” he said. The arrangement allows Shah to say no if the papers are not in order.”

Source: DNA, "Little-known Mumbai firm eyes English Premier League presence"

Meanwhile, Oliver Kay's piece Indian magnate lines up £25m takeover of Blackburn in The Times, dated 11 June, stated that

Blackburn’s board has given Saurin Shah, little known outside his home city of Mumbai, permission to begin the due diligence process after several weeks of secret talks. He hopes to complete the takeover by mid-July...

Source: The Times, "Indian magnate lines up £25m takeover of Blackburn"

The Times article does not have any direct quotes from anyone connected to the Indian bidders, so whether The Times had picked up on the DNA interview or not is unclear. It would, however, make perfect sense if that had been the case, although one cannot rule out the possibility that Oliver Kay had his own sources for this information. (India is 4.5 hours ahead of BST, so the DNA article would have been available from around 8:30pm on the 10th - around an hour before The Times went public as far as I can tell.)

On the following morning, 11 June, the Lancashire Telegraph had a brief article on the newly identified bidder, adding that an offer was understood to have been made:

Indian businessman Saurin Shah has stepped up his interest in buying Blackburn Rovers with a faxed offer believed to have been made.

Source: Lancashire Telegraph, "Indians step up takeover interest in Blackburn Rovers"

In an update on the following day, 12 June, the Lancashire Telegraph had evidently followed up on the story with the article Indian businessman: I want to buy Blackburn Rovers. There were no direct quotes from sources connected with the Rovers, but they did manage to contact Shah himself, who was somewhat more guarded in his statements regarding the status of the negotiations than when he had spoken to DNA earlier in the week.

The Lancashire Telegraph took a cautious approach to the matter, indicating that it understood that an official bid of around £25million had been faxed to Rothschilds by Shah and that it was thought that none of "a number" of parties had been "granted exclusivity". As such, the Lancashire Telegraph concluded, "suggestions that the bid has already reached due diligence - when the accounts are opened up to be checked - are premature".

As far as I can see, there have been no further articles of any substance published on the matter that have been reported here on this thread. Thus, to sum up, it would seem that an official bid has been received by the club from the Saurin Shah group, but beyond that it is not possible to make any statement of fact relating to the current status of the bid. It is conceivable that counter bids from "other interested parties" have been received or, perhaps, invited, and it is equally conceivable that due diligence has already commenced, with the bidder bound not to discuss this in public. But such potential developments are merely a matter of speculation at present in the absence of concrete reports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4. We do however need a takeover at some point because when you get to a point when you only have 2.5M to spend on a striker it does become desperate.

That sentence is very derogatory of the superb achievements of all concerned at BRFC. We finished 10th without going into debt. Why should we spend silly money jsut for the sake of it? To get more than 1 possibly 2 higher places up we would still not get into Europe but would prob need to spend more than the value of the entire club. Which wannabee owner with even an ounce of business acumen would be likely to do that?

Funny how some people find it so easy to spend other people's money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this the only style you have? I could argue with all your points but you are just not worth it. The reality is that we desperately need a classy mid-fielder and a striker who can score goals regularly. And, according to John Williams we have 2.25M to spend on both! That says all I need to know about the Trust. Its time has gone and the Trust itself realises it. That's why we are up for sale.

imarovers post was excellent. Yours above is stupid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Wen Y Hu

[...]

We are both confused as to what Mr Shah is saying 47er- he says one thing to a Mumbai paper and another to LT on the same day and forgets that the global media which he would be relying on to sell football games played in Blackburn to a mass market 3,000+ miles away also means people in Blackburn can read what he is saying in Mumbai.

Sorry for treading on toes, philip - I was trying to address the very thing that 47er was raising by sorting through the "evidence" published so far. It would seem that Mr Shah either blabbed prematurely in anticipation of exclusivity being granted or just blabbed. Either way it is not very bright. My guess is that Oliver Kay was alerted to the DNA interview and went to press at the earliest opportunity with his story, publishing it online long before midnight so that nicko or whoever could not claim an exclusive. Either he was already working on an article on the takeover or he simply cobbled something together. In any case, it would seem that Mr Shah was at best naive not to think his comments would be picked up beyond the confines of Mumbai. My guess, again, is that he was reminded in the sternest of tones that the Rovers do not conduct their business in that manner. Whether that has set the bid back or not, one can only speculate. It should become clear pretty soon, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Announcements

  • You can now add BlueSky, Mastodon and X accounts to your BRFCS Profile.



×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.