[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[dave birch]

I would just add that Greedy Crawford above has made an excellent post about Trusts.

Indeed, Philip, particularly the bit about "clauses and covenants" that can be restrictive on any prospective purchaser.

[Iceman]

To me Dave, that could well be the hold up, or the stumbling block for anybody to take over the club. Somebody mentioned previously, that its easier to deal with a trust, than an owner. Im not so sure about that from a (difficult to deal with) point of view, but i suppose from a financial point of view, a trust might ask for less than an individual.

[gumboots]

lets not pretend the indians are not in this to make money. i think they see big opportunities for footie in asia. if it works for them and for us great. they could soon win friends and goodwill by changing name of ground to jack walker park. think this would protect our history.

Personally I can't see why they should need to change the name of the ground. It's been Ewood as long as I can remember and way beyond that. Keeping that and not selling naming rights to some sponsor would do me.

[dave birch]

To me Dave, that could well be the hold up, or the stumbling block for anybody to take over the club. Somebody mentioned previously, that its easier to deal with a trust, than an owner. Im not so sure about that from a (difficult to deal with) point of view, but i suppose from a financial point of view, a trust might ask for less than an individual.

Iccers, I've always had in my mind, that covenants (or caveats) written into the deed have been the biggest stumbling block. I'm sure Jack would have wanted the club to be run along a certain line (something like, minimal debt, positive trading or the like) and that he wrote in certain caveats to protect his wishes.

[philipl]

To me Dave, that could well be the hold up, or the stumbling block for anybody to take over the club. Somebody mentioned previously, that its easier to deal with a trust, than an owner. Im not so sure about that from a (difficult to deal with) point of view, but i suppose from a financial point of view, a trust might ask for less than an individual.

Trusts are dealable with- but you need a different mindset which many successful business people don't seem to have the mental agility to handle, surprisingly. They should be good at thinking themselves into the other side's shoes but they tend to assume a Trust is like any other business when it is not. There are very different rules and motivations involved as Greedy_Crawford indicated.

Simply accepting the Trustees are bound by covenants that sadly Jack Walker is not around to adjust and dealing with the situation as it is might be one of the biggest problems some or all of the bidders are trying to deal with.

I must stress this is me guessing in relation to the Rovers sale!!!

But it is based on past experience with Trusts.

[dave birch]

That's right philip.

A potential purchaser needs to be able to convince the trust, as a vendor, that they will honour the caveats whilst finding loopholes to let them out of said caveats.

[BPF]

lets not pretend the indians are not in this to make money. i think they see big opportunities for footie in asia. if it works for them and for us great. they could soon win friends and goodwill by changing name of ground to jack walker park. think this would protect our history.

Jack Walker would have hated that.

He refused to change the name when he built the new ground. The real 'goodwill' gesture would be to keep the ground named Ewood Park. I would think a few of the stands will change in name though.

Also the reason 'the people in the know' stories have changed because the takeover story has changed, drastically. There is currently nothing to suggest that it won't be done by Christmas, one way or another. If I am wrong, there is a lot of highly paid people earning money for nothing now...

[John]

The delays for Rovers are all caused by good news. Multi-billionaires entering the race to buy the club and competing to win.

Shah is a multi-billionaire?

Good that you can talk with such confidence/positivity when you have never heard of any of these bidders or know their supposed wealth.

Hope your right.....

[Brfcrule1]

I was hoping someone like BPF or Philip might be able to help advise:

1. The 3 bidders are dealing with a trust makes it more difficult can I then assume for a sale to go through haven't all the beneficiaries of the trust got to agree to a sale?.

2. If that is the case could the delay be down to 1 beneficiary of the Trust not being sure whether to sell or not so is causing the delay?.

3. Like in many other cases with club ownership if one of the beneficiaries does not agree to a sale could the bidders buy the shares for sale and become part owners of the club? Like the Arsenal scenario with Kroenke Or do the bidders want full control & that is causing delay?.

4. Could we please have another swing-o-meter to show where we are at? the last one was a great source of fun!.

[47er]

.

Pure guesswork about the other two whether they personally have met Rovers and/or the Trust. There are pointers they have and other indications they have not.

You're on fairly safe ground there Philip!

[trueblue]

Any more on what the hospitality staff were called in for yet?

[rovers_rob]

I know that it takes time etc.. but WGA have been in talks since the beginning of August, (that is not speculation that is a fact because even the club made a statement about it) and they expected it to be done by mid September.

The only other noises we have heard from the club is Sam saying that if it is not done in 2 weeks then the chances are it will not happen and that was over 2 weeks ago. I believe Sam Knows exactly what is going on despite him trying to back track his statement.

If it is true about "Plan B" then it is good that the Trust are going to release some funds in January but the only conclusion I can come to is that they are going to do this because the club will not be sold.

By the way this is not a dig at anyone and I appreciate all the information that people give. I am just a supporter on the outside who is putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with an answer.

Hopefully I am wrong and a responsible billionaire will come in and take us to the next level but I have serious doubts now.

[JWP]

Think there might be something (Potentially exciting) in this hospitality staff thing, stay tuned...

Any more on what the hospitality staff were called in for yet?

bpf please let us know as youve left us hanging.

[dave birch]

bpf please let us know as youve left us hanging.

The pies were cold, and the sausage rolls burnt.

[JWP]

Jack Walker would have hated that.

He refused to change the name when he built the new ground. The real 'goodwill' gesture would be to keep the ground named Ewood Park. I would think a few of the stands will change in name though.

Also the reason 'the people in the know' stories have changed because the takeover story has changed, drastically. There is currently nothing to suggest that it won't be done by Christmas, one way or another. If I am wrong, there is a lot of highly paid people earning money for nothing now...

understand but with new indian owners things are bound to change as culturaly different. just thought it would be a way to make sure that we never forget a great part of rovers history.

[Sparky Marky]

Ewood Walker Park.

[mhead]

This sale is such a 'delicate' flower...and the reason is simple. No-one is going to make money from a Club the current size of Blackburn Rovers unless they invest on a huge scale or are complete Rovers fanatics. By definition there are not many rich fanatics (Uncle Jack got lucky with British Steel at the top of the market) and since this becomes an 'ego' thing for the rest, it suggests that they are in it to increase their UK then global profile. Its all a bit like "Wall Street -Money Never Sleeps" for most Blackburnians. I am sure of one thing.The average education of the average 'Dingle'does not equip them to know what I am talking about cos we are out of their league(literally).

[J*B]

Out of interest Nicko, do you know anything about an investment in Bolton? I'm currently sat on a train To Manchester, and there's five suites infront of me (look to be from the east, however atleast one speaks perfect English) who have just asked the conductor if the howich station is next to the "reebok arena". The conductor said yes, they all paid and then one of the men asked if Bolton football fans use this line to attend matches, again the conductor said yes, and walked off. 3 of the men are currently discussing "investment" "merchandising" "expansion" however it's in broken English as they are also talking another language, which the other two men are contributing in. Not sure which language it is..

Not WUMMING, nor a Bolton fan, nor making anything up. Just found it interesting, and wondered if you know anything?

[Claytons Left Boot]

Can't wait for the 15th............(guys)..............

[tonygreenbank]

I am not a financial expert nor work in the private sector but I am interested in business people especially the ones who have made it big in commerce and industry and I like to read about how they were successful.Dyson is one such person as is Alan Sugar.

Alan Sugar states in his latest book how he cannot understand why any competent businessman would invest in a football club at the current time.He calls it financial suicide or a lack of business acumen.The Liverpool owners and the Glazers entered the Premier League with one intention, he says, to make a fast profit;to sell the club on to other interested parties.He says that he made a profit out of selling Tottenham but he was one of the lucky ones. Normal business rules dont apply in football as any monies made by a successful club often end up in the pockets of players and agents following inflated transfer fees or on plans for an ever bigger stadium to placate the fans.

The situation at Liverpool is one where the owners look as though they will incur a huge loss on their investment as the economic downturn has badly affected their business plan.Similarly at Manu the clash of interest between the owners and the fans has caused unpleasant scenes.Sugar maintains that iit will take anything from 10-15 years for the financial landscape to become ripe for major investment.

It is with this background that I am studying our takeover. I cannot understand why successful businessmen would want to buy the club.We are not very successful on the field in terms of trophies;our image is not a positive one among the media and the Asian connection is difficult to fathom.We know that India`s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world but its football culture is untested and the local immigrant connection is weak as there are far more people with Pakistani roots trhan Indian.

The Trust does have a difficult task and I do understand the delays involved.Perhaps it could well be that out of all the discussions that have taken place so far the risk of selling the club is too great;that none of the potential buyers has convinced the Trust of their intentions and as someone previously posted a re-energised Trust could take us forward.

[adopted scouser]

Still no news whatsoever then.

[nicko]

Out of interest Nicko, do you know anything about an investment in Bolton? I'm currently sat on a train To Manchester, and there's five suites infront of me (look to be from the east, however atleast one speaks perfect English) who have just asked the conductor if the howich station is next to the "reebok arena". The conductor said yes, they all paid and then one of the men asked if Bolton football fans use this line to attend matches, again the conductor said yes, and walked off. 3 of the men are currently discussing "investment" "merchandising" "expansion" however it's in broken English as they are also talking another language, which the other two men are contributing in. Not sure which language it is..

Not WUMMING, nor a Bolton fan, nor making anything up. Just found it interesting, and wondered if you know anything?

The Reebok is very popular for meetings and central for business types.

I don't think there is any likelihood of a buy at Bolton. The owner seems happy to put his cash in - and get some back in return.

[Hasta]

I also doubt potential buyers would have to get the train to the ground on their own and be unsure of the nearest train station.

[JAL]

Any more on what the hospitality staff were called in for yet?

I can confirm that I drove past Sam Allardyce at 9.25am this morning as he was turning into Ewood Park. When I drove back past Ewood about thirty minutes later there were several stewards at the gates leading towards the Jack Walker stand and several big top of the range cars parked down behind the Blackburn end. Something was going on, dont know what though .

[Iceman]

The Reebok is very popular for meetings and central for business types.

I don't think there is any likelihood of a buy at Bolton. The owner seems happy to put his cash in - and get some back in return.

He must be doing something right then