[Archived] Rovers Might Have Been Sold?

[thenodrog]

Gah.. how many on here read the following article.. Debt league

A snippet about Rovers from Feb:

Blackburn Rovers

Turnover: £50.9m

Operating profit: £6.8m

Net debt: £20.3m

Interest payment: £0.8m

Precarious. The latest accounts show bank debt, secured on the club's assets, projected to increase to £20m. This loan is repayable by May 2012. The estate of the club's late benefactor, Jack Walker, has lent some £6m interest-free. But there does not appear to be an open-ended commitment to fund the club's losses. As the chairman, John Williams, warns in the accounts: "Without external funding we are inevitably moving from a trading club to a net selling club".

Would you buy a business making an operating profit of -6.8m unless you had some interesting plans for it...

Or unless you owned half the oil wells in the Middle East.

[Fife Rover]

I confess to some ignorance of those Dave. There does appear to be some doubt amongst other members. Can you remind me / us of precisely what Jack Wlakers wishes were?

If I might interject Gents? As I have stated on here on a number of previous posts: Some time ago I was persuaded to research how Jersey Trusts are set up and how they differ from English Law Trusts. Without going through it all again I can assure you that I did spend more than just a little time and trouble in doing this research, and the punchline is that whatever is finally agreed and written into the Trust Deed has to be verified and accepted by a Jersey Court and it then becomes absolutely binding and irrevocable in Jersey Law.

So you see that it makes not a jot of difference what you or I or the Walker family or anybody else on this Earth does not like or would desire to change; the FACT of the matter is that the requirements of the Trust Deed cannot be changed without the agreement of the Jersey Court, and therefore they HAVE to be met.

Now I know that nobody outside of the Walker family or other Trustees can possibly know what clauses Jack decided were necessary wrt the sale of the Rovers, but no doubt there are some and they are not for us to know or speculate on.......not that it would do any good anyway if we did. These things (if they exist) CANNOT be changed just because someone does not like them. END OF!

[EwoodGlory]

Ashtech is one of his companies there are 3 others,More importantly as mentioned earlier there are 21 Billionaires living in Mumbai itself. You never know who else is in the consortium.

Any names of the other companies we can look into?

[T4E]

Why or how could anybody take someone like that seriously? Lets be honest would anybody buy a second hand car off him?

Is it cos he is black?

[dave birch]

I confess to some ignorance of those Dave. There does appear to be some doubt amongst other members. Can you remind me / us of precisely what Jack Wlakers wishes were?

I think Fife has it precisely.

Theno, whatever Jack wrote in his will hasto followed to the letter by his trustees. What he wrote, I don't know, but it seems to have had some impact on the sale of the Rovers.

[Kelbo]

Is it cos he is black?

No,its because the mediators twitter messages suggest he had his brain removed and a meat pie put in its place!!

[rovers_rob]

I think Fife has it precisely.

Theno, whatever Jack wrote in his will hasto followed to the letter by his trustees. What he wrote, I don't know, but it seems to have had some impact on the sale of the Rovers.

I have no doubt that the current owners will sell to who they think are suitable new owners who will take the club forward but...

The telegraph article over the weekend has said that the criteria that is in place for selling the club is a myth.

Nicko has been saying this for ages.

John Williams has told the fans forum that there are no barriers in place that will prevent the sale.

So either Andy Cryer, nicko and John Williams are lying ... or maybe there aren't any clauses, criteria, barriers, hurdles, hoops etc.. in place that will prevent the sale of the club.

[Veevs]

I have no doubt that the current owners will sell to who they think are suitable new owners who will take the club forward but...

The telegraph article over the weekend has said that the criteria that is in place for selling the club is a myth.

Nicko has been saying this for ages.

John Williams has told the fans forum that there are no barriers in place that will prevent the sale.

So either Andy Cryer, nicko and John Williams are lying ... or maybe there aren't any clauses, criteria, barriers, hurdles, hoops etc.. in place that will prevent the sale of the club.

Dan williams consortium also backed this statement in the previous failed takeover.

[Veevs]

Well I am from Mumbai and honestly I hadn't heard of Saurin Shah. His Uncle Niranjan Shah is huge over here with his involvement in the IPL. However over the last week I have been asking people about him and what he does. I have even spoken to people who know niranjan and the answer that I have received is that he is a very successful business man who is an entrepreneur and does more than 1 thing. He definitely owns several shipping lines and a "successful" shipping company according to those that know him. I am looking for more information that I will get about him soon, however I can assure you the fact of 9m is nonsense.

Niranjan Shah let on in his own article in the papers that "our" bid is serious so he is most likely one of the consortium and Saurin Shah has to a degree helped the indian IT revolution (ashtech, digital choclate to name a few he is heavily involved in) and to nick a quote.. "A former President of Rotary Club of Mumbai Queen’s Necklace division, he has also been working towards the betterment of the Indian Entrepreneurial Community. A founder President of Trade Association of Information Technology (TAIT), he has been The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), Mumbai Chapter’s Board Director and a committee member of Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC), Technology Wing. "

Basically we are being taken over by a geek boy done well with allot of connections (the Shah family are high on the indian social scale from birth)... and trust me on this India are not low rankers on the tech entrepreneur front.

[Fife Rover]

I have no doubt that the current owners will sell to who they think are suitable new owners who will take the club forward but...

The telegraph article over the weekend has said that the criteria that is in place for selling the club is a myth.

Nicko has been saying this for ages.

John Williams has told the fans forum that there are no barriers in place that will prevent the sale.

So either Andy Cryer, nicko and John Williams are lying ... or maybe there aren't any clauses, criteria, barriers, hurdles, hoops etc.. in place that will prevent the sale of the club.

I have never claimed or even implied that anyone is lying; nor have I ever claimed to have any more knowledge of the contents of Jack Walker's will or Trust Deed than next doors cat has. I have simply stated what the position is regarding Trust Deeds drawn up under Jersey Law, and that is still the case.

[philipl]

If rovers rob and veevs are right then first guy to put £25m on the table gets the club.

No investment and no safeguards required from the purchaser so no transfer budget for this summer.

on the other hand...

IF you read the LT article (and also believe it- that would be a first!), it simply said there is no restriction on the identity of the buyer. Of course, even that might not be the case.

Dan Williams was also said at one point to be putting £65m together and still got turned away- a somewhat unlikely story admittedly. Anyone met Rivercider yet?

[Balwer]

If rovers rob and veevs are right then first guy to put £25m on the table gets the club.

No investment and no safeguards required from the purchaser so no transfer budget for this summer.

on the other hand...

IF you read the LT article (and also believe it- that would be a first!), it simply said there is no restriction on the identity of the buyer. Of course, even that might not be the case.

Dan Williams was also said at one point to be putting £65m together and still got turned away- a somewhat unlikely story admittedly. Anyone met Rivercider yet?

I believe the 65m was the total price (enterprise value), including the debt of c.20-25m at the time. The current 25m is only the equity contribution, so if there is debt of 20m it's really 45m. Still a reduction in price though.

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Sooner or later when the media packages diminish and everybody's discovered the painful truth that asia is not the land of milk and honey after all the support base will return to a position of greatest significance. And we'll find our true level.

Not having a go but what do you base that assertion on?

[philipl]

I believe the 65m was the total price (enterprise value), including the debt of c.20-25m at the time. The current 25m is only the equity contribution, so if there is debt of 20m it's really 45m. Still a reduction in price though.

The published debt at that time was £13.8m.

Neither the club nor the Trustees have said the current price is £25m as far as I am aware.

[Guest Wen Y Hu]

Saurin Shah of Ashtech

70 crore was about £9m when I ran it through XE for 2009 or have I got a decimal point wrong?

The guy has been running the business and its predecessors for 25 years and there isn't much evidence from that piece that his Uncle has helped him before. Of course, just like Sasha was a front (oh no he wasn't and the FA believed it) for Papa Gaydamak, the nephew might be a front for the Uncle.

Ashtech is one of his companies there are 3 others,More importantly as mentioned earlier there are 21 Billionaires living in Mumbai itself. You never know who else is in the consortium.

unclejack28, philipl, veevs, or anyone else: can you confirm for sure that this Saurin Shah of IT firm Ashtech Infotech is the same one that is fronting the bid? Just wondering whether Saurin Shah is a common name, perhaps...

[philipl]

unclejack28, philipl, veevs, or anyone else: can you confirm for sure that this Saurin Shah of IT firm Ashtech Infotech is the same one that is fronting the bid? Just wondering whether Saurin Shah is a common name, perhaps...

Good question!

The guy bidding owns Qubic. But even in that guise, he is described as "little known"..

A quick search on Qubic reveals nothing- perhaps it is the vehicle set-up specifically to acquire Rovers?

One point of conflict is apparent- the Saurin Shah bidding for Rovers is reported to be 35 and the owner of Ashtech graduated in the States in 1991.

Putting Saurin Shah into Google Images turns up quite a gallery. with Rovers Thailand having posted the number one most viewed image!

The Rovers' supporters in Thailand have a pretty comprehensive run down on the story.s

Google translate produces quotes from Niranjan Shah which have not appeared over here as far as I am aware:

Face Saurin Shah.

Indian business leaders Saurin Shah Mumbai group and family Shah. Offer a formal purchase and then rose.

Saurin also a young entrepreneur, but the less experienced Niranjan Shah who was his uncle. Extensive and administrators of the sport Premier Cricket in India Gate. Famous and known throughout the country.

Niranjan Shah told the Lancashire Telegraph: "We like this very seriously, but we must work hard to make this possible, and Saurin (his nephew) and his group are doing this at this time.

"I think people in Asia has 25% of the world and we are opportunities here."

"I hope people in India Blackburn Rovers fans and Blackburn Rovers others are excited about the completion of this transaction, but we do not hurry whatsoever.

"Interest in the Indian Premier League, I will add no more debt, and we hope to make Blackburn Rovers step up more than this. We see the hidden potential. "

"There are people in India is very excited about."

"While we have not reached the final negotiations. But we are waiting. We know we need some money. "

"I do not want to tell detail odd now, but we're buying club and we hope to add strength to the best team, if possible."

"We certainly have money to clubs."

If this is for real, this is encouraging as the uncle is the guy with the cash and the contacts but why is he reduced to using Chrs Nthnl?

However, a word of warning, there is more than one Niranjan Shah and it would appear that "our" guy might not be the one getting plaudits from Bill Clinton.

[unclejack28]

unclejack28, philipl, veevs, or anyone else: can you confirm for sure that this Saurin Shah of IT firm Ashtech Infotech is the same one that is fronting the bid? Just wondering whether Saurin Shah is a common name, perhaps...

Wen Y Hu. The Saurin Shah Mentioned in this article is the same Saurin Shah that is fronting the bid. However as you know he is not the only money man. I believe the consortium is made up of 8-10 members, the identity of these members is very hard to tell right now but I am looking into it. The way I know this for sure is because I viewed his daughters profile on facebook and found we had 10 mutual friends so I asked one of them to ask her about blackburn rovers and she said yes we are looking into them but would not disclose more.

[philipl]

Wen Y Hu. The Saurin Shah Mentioned in this article is the same Saurin Shah that is fronting the bid. However as you know he is not the only money man. I believe the consortium is made up of 8-10 members, the identity of these members is very hard to tell right now but I am looking into it. The way I know this for sure is because I viewed his daughters profile on facebook and found we had 10 mutual friends so I asked one of them to ask her about blackburn rovers and she said yes we are looking into them but would not disclose more.

If you look at the images, there is quite an age and hair gap between the Saurin Shah of Ashtech and the one said to be fronting the Rovers' bid.

Is the daughter young enough to have a Dad aged 35 or is it simply a case of photos of the same guy taken over many years being turned up by Google images and the reported age is wrong?

[John]

Was there not corruption charges recently concerning the IPL?

[unclejack28]

I have a few pics on my comp but I dont know how to post it

Was there not corruption charges recently concerning the IPL?

Yes there were but that was Lalit modi, didn't really have anything to do with Niranjan Shah, or so we were told. Niranjan Shah is the secretary for the Board of control in India. If you watched any of the IPL they showed him at every IPL game.

[niggit]

I have a few pics on my comp but I dont know how to post it

Upload to imageshack, just paste link on here.

[John]

Consortium of 8-10 members fills me with excitement.....

[unclejack28]

This Picture is 16 years old

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1179/13361582028233639480392.jpg

This link says the guy in the picture is born in 1958 that would make him 51-52 years old. The reports have said 35 ?

Unless there are 2 Saurin Shahs in the consortium?

Something seems odd.

7 Down

http://www.rotaryqueensnecklace.org/club_members/club_members_s.htm

[bob fleming]

Something seems odd.

Indeed. You could email him? His email address is on that site. Then again he might be popped up in a "Ldn" night club with that Nathaniel bloke so if you get an email back that doesn't make any sense then don't blame me.

[Jackson]

He's married to a physiotherapist.

Grella will be pleased.