[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[philipl]

Minor edits carried out to original article posted above, including correction of due diligence fee, and addition of headline and date of publication.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

BRFCS News Team

The figure should read £250k and in fact Ali Syed has now paid £325k including the extension period. (Sorry, just seen you have corrected it again!).

There are at least 4 WGAs- all of them are for all practical purposes 100% owned by Ali Sayed. Of these four, the one we are interested in is WGA Sports AG which is registered in Zug, Switzerland as the vehicle for buying the Rovers. I understand it is already funded but I don't know how much has been placed in it.

It is normal for extremely wealthy people to use a number of different jurisdictions and companies/trusts for holding their wealth and Ali Syed went down this route with Bahrain, Switzerland and London. This is to cover the sort of nonsense encountered with Bahrain where it appears the local authorities got nervous when they finally got round to reading the WGA annual report which said different things to what his license says. He did not actually contravene the license by actually managing anybody else's cash but the Bahrain authorities still shut it down.

Bobby G explained that this happens all the time in the Gulf and should not be taken as a sign of Ali Syed misbehaviour.

WGA is set up as an asset management entity- in other words, Ali Syed has put cash of around $1bn into it and the money is managed/invested professionally by his own team who are employed by the various WGA companies in Bahrain, Switzerland and London. It seems most of the cash itself has been resident in Switzerland.

As for how much cash. Well WGA started with $53,000, that jumped to $850m and to over $1bn with an intention to grow to between $2m and $3m. That would seem to be the extent to which Ali Syed is putting his wealth into asset management. However, there are claims of him being worth $8bn in total.

I don't know which of these wealth claims the Trust and Rothschilds have tested but I believe that the moneys for Rovers definitely exist and how he got them is explained.

What his total wealth is important to us in one crucial aspect.

If Ali Syed is worth $8bn, then the £300m he has said he is willing to in effect write off on Rovers represents about 200 days interest/income on his wealth which he says he is going to spread over 15 years. So none of his capital and less than 5% of his income over 15 years is going into Rovers. In those circumstances, Ali Syed being willing to indulge his passion in sport to that level is entirely rational and gives us a very warm feeling that the £300m should be secure.

Conversely, if his wealth is "only" $1bn, pumping £300m ($500m) into Rovers is a serious chunk which could be in jeopardy if his investments in McCabes and the Australian real estate significantly under-perform.

Whatever the reality of Ali Syed's overall wealth is, we have to hope and believe the Trust and their lawyers will tie down the commitments to the Rovers rather more effectively than David Moores secured Liverpool's interests.

[thenonda]

Is this the same Mahindra that has a joint venture with BAE Systems?

[philipl]

Is this the same Mahindra that has a joint venture with BAE Systems?

I believe so.

[92er]

Minor edits carried out to original article posted above, including correction of due diligence fee, and addition of headline and date of publication.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

BRFCS News Team

I noticed the originally posted due diligence fee and was surprised!

[adopted scouser]

I'll believe any takeover when we have something concrete announced, the ONLY important thing for me this rainy day is that Kamy is still around.

Keep posting mate.

[92er]

As for how much cash. Well WGA started with $53,000, that jumped to $850m and to over $1bn with an intention to grow to between $2m and $3m. That would seem to be the extent to which Ali Syed is putting his wealth into asset management. However, there are claims of him being worth $8bn in total.

Philip-you might just to re-read the above, and change an "m" to a "b".

[67splitscreen]

What his total wealth is important to us in one crucial aspect.

If Ali Syed is worth $8bn, then the £300m he has said he is willing to in effect write off on Rovers represents about 200 days interest/income on his wealth which he says he is going to spread over 15 years. So none of his capital and less than 5% of his income over 15 years is going into Rovers. In those circumstances, Ali Syed being willing to indulge his passion in sport to that level is entirely rational and gives us a very warm feeling that the £300m should be secure.

Pro rata S/T holder then.

[Iceman]

we need to be sold, even if its 5mil investment every year for the next 50 years.

[Jackson]

Have M'dra entered into, or completed, DD?

[Tim Southampton Rover]

we need to be sold, even if its 5mil investment every year for the next 50 years.

In about 50 years, that's like me investing 50 pence into Rovers now

[Iceman]

In about 50 years, that's like me investing 50 pence into Rovers now

, was joking when ii said that. just meant, that we really could do with money, because right now we have nothing.

[RevidgeBlue]

This is to cover the sort of nonsense encountered with Bahrain where it appears the local authorities got nervous when they finally got round to reading the WGA annual report which said different things to what his license says. He did not actually contravene the license by actually managing anybody else's cash but the Bahrain authorities still shut it down.

We don't know that for certain, if the mysterious one billion actually exists and belongs to Mr. Ali Syed then presumably there'd be no breach of regulations.

If the one billion belonged to someone else and was being managed on their behalf then that would constitute a breach seemingly, not that it has any real relevance to us as supporters of Blackburn Rovers.

Generally speaking Mr. Ali Syed still represents the best theoretical owner we could have, someone who if he is worth the sort of money he says he is (8billion dollars), could afford to lose 300m over a period without batting an eyelid or having to treat us as an investment.

However after this length of time I can't see his interest being quite as on the level as he says or indeed coming to fruition. If it was it would have happened by now. For that reason it is encouraging to finally see the emergence of a credible alternative bid although it's a bit worrying that they might dump us if we don't perform up to expectations financially.

[philipl]

I think the billion belongs to him from what I am picking up.

However, this whole saga definitely has more twists and turns before it is resolved.

The only thing I can say with any degree of certainty is to repeat that there are two extremely wealthy individuals going head-to-head who wish to become Rovers' new owners with a very decent fall back if neither of them work out.

That is a truly remarkable position for us to find ourselves in and an enormous credit to the Trust and Directors in their custodianship of the club.

[chaddyrovers]

I think the billion belongs to him from what I am picking up.

However, this whole saga definitely has more twists and turns before it is resolved.

The only thing I can say with any degree of certainty is to repeat that there are two extremely wealthy individuals going head-to-head who wish to become Rovers' new owners with a very decent fall back if neither of them work out.

That is a truly remarkable position for us to find ourselves in and an enormous credit to the Trust and Directors in their custodianship of the club.

i guess you mean the fall back guy is Mr Shah? Also Philip how long do you think the takeover will take to be sorted? about 2 to 4 weeks imo?

[chocky]

At least we have plenty of time for the trust and the board to get this sorted and done the right way and in the best interests of Blackburn Rovers. Whatever happens we can't buy any players untill January anyway. It is great that so many wealthy companies want Rovers. One thing is for sure the league is getting wealthier and without backers any club will find it hard to compete to stay in the league let alone win anything.

[broadsword]

I think the billion belongs to him from what I am picking up.

However, this whole saga definitely has more twists and turns before it is resolved.

The only thing I can say with any degree of certainty is to repeat that there are two extremely wealthy individuals going head-to-head who wish to become Rovers' new owners with a very decent fall back if neither of them work out.

That is a truly remarkable position for us to find ourselves in and an enormous credit to the Trust and Directors in their custodianship of the club.

"It's not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."

[philipl]

Anyone buying the early LT today is going to be quite shocked.

I think it is worth reprising these answers from Rogan Taylor from the Liverpool thread:

PL Both our clubs will in all probability have new owners before we play each other. Are you one of the 97% of Liverpool supporters who thinks a 9 point deduction would be a small price to pay for getting rid of Gillett and Hicks?

RT Yes. Hicks & Gillett are like millstones round our necks as we drown in a sea of debt. But I'm even more concerned about what/who comes next. 'Frying pan' and 'fire' come to mind......

PL What are the lessons of Gillett and Hicks a club like Rovers contemplating new and inevitably foreign owners should learn from?

RT That you shouldn't believe a word they say! That fans should interrogate their intentions very closely - and do as much due diligence as you can on how their 'business model' is supposed to work. The very best protection you can get is to raise money collectively in a Trust; persuade the current owners to require any new owner to accept a minimum 10% equity investment from that Trust (with board representation and the opportunity to increase their equity stake when shares are sold). That way you start to move towards the only real protection a club can get from 'passing strangers' who fancy screwing you with money they've borrowed.

PL Given your in-depth knowledge of clubs and fans, are the Premier League and Champions League purely the preserve of big city clubs now or can the town clubs still break through?

RT It is increasingly difficult because size really does count - much more than before. The matchday income; stadium utilisation; commercial attractiveness etc. are crucial in sustaining the costs of top teams. But 'the dream' is still alive: with a great manager; a brilliant recruitment and talent-development policy, and a bit of luck, it can be done.

[Iceman]

what does the LT say Phillip?

[BRFCS Content]

Published: Monday, 4 October 2010

Syed Bid Falters

by Kamy

Syed Ali's bid to purchase Rovers appears to be faltering as time is running out for the tycoon to conclude the purchase.

Despite Mr Ali's representatives suggesting to BRFCS at the end of last week that everything was on track, BRFCS now understand from sources at Ewood Park that it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Mr Ali will purchase the club. Sources have indicated that there are several outstanding issues which have not been resolved despite six weeks of talks.

BRFCS now believe that Rovers are now seriously considering other options and it looks likely that the mystery bidder will move ahead in the takeover process. BRFCS now also understand from sources at Ewood that despite reports yesterday that the mystery bidder is not the Mahindra Group, the possibility cannot yet be ruled out that one of the Mahindra family members is pursuing this on a private basis.

At the time of publication, representatives of Mr Ali's WGA were not available for comment.

[Iceman]

what next, this as many said before looked and sounded too good to be true.

[BRFCS Content]

The above article has just been posted to the News section and is reproduced here in this thread for discussion.

[Iceman]

how on earth have we wasted so much time with Syed, and now there are several outstanding issues that cannot be resolved. not 1, but several! ill repeat what i said, this will drag on until the transfer window has shut in January, and then we will hear how we couldnt spend money because of takeover talks.

[Stuart]

Thanks Kamy

[philipl]

News bunny is uncannily similar in content although the LT develops the points further.

My view is this is a very clear signal to WGA and Ali Syed.

Obviously there are answers from them with which the Trust is not comfortable yet. The important thing is the Trust and Ali Syed's people are still communicating but as it seems the exclusive period is at an end, there is a more level field for the other parties to compete on.

The mystery party which is clearly not the Mahindra Group at a corporate level has been working very quickly and effectively.

As posted yesterday, it is a two horse race with the luxury of having Saurin Shah sitting there with an acceptable offer as well.

This could move quickly but if it doesn't, it will be for good reasons. We simply have to trust the Trust to follow their judgement as to what is best for the long term future of Blackburn Rovers and implementing Jack's vision for the success of the club. Icer's pessimism is misplaced.

[Craigman]

Nicko article online last night