[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[BRFCS Content]

Just for clarification:

Things are moving along at quite a pace right now and we're trying to keep on top of them, so please bear with us. The current topic has been renamed to simply "Rovers Takeover" and has been pinned as it seems we may be in sight of the final straight now. Apologies for the recent topic name changes...

[Smithy]

Thanks News Bunny.

I was wondering if the club have said anything about what will happen should all the bids go down the swanny?

Would it be business as usual or would the trust perhaps inject a small sum for transfers?

It would seem its an unlikely scenario but you never know.

PS I'd far rather our club take as much time as possible to ensure that the chappie that buys is exactly what it says on the tin. Too many clubs have rushed in to these things and suffered for it.

[BPF]

Just for clarification:

Things are moving along at quite a pace right now and we're trying to keep on top of them, so please bear with us. The current topic has been renamed to simply "Rovers Takeover" and has been pinned as it seems we may be in sight of the final straight now. Apologies for the recent topic name changes...

If the 'Main bidder' is faltering, how are we in the final straight?

I'm not trying to pick fault, just interested in how that is the case?

[philipl]

There are two main bidders and a third ready just in case.

[BPF]

There are two main bidders and a third ready just in case.

I understand that, but what evidence is there that this would move any faster with one of the other bidders?

[Iceman]

Just for clarification:

Things are moving along at quite a pace right now and we're trying to keep on top of them, so please bear with us. The current topic has been renamed to simply "Rovers Takeover" and has been pinned as it seems we may be in sight of the final straight now. Apologies for the recent topic name changes...

In what way should we read into this? Positive or Negative?

[Iceman]

I understand that, but what evidence is there that this would move any faster with one of the other bidders?

agree BPF, considering that there are apparently several issues which Syed and his team are unable to resolve. What are these issues? Considering that they have been talking to the club for about 10 weeks, as i believe they had held informal discussions, prior to getting their 4 weeks, and then the extended time to do DD.

[beerwins]

Is it strange that a mystery bidder has got this far without being in the public light? Why does he want to remain anonymous?

I mean I am quite happy that we have'nt had to go through 20 pages of discussion about wiki pages but I would like to know his intentions at least, Im also surprised that with all the connections on here his name has remained a mystery.

[Paul]

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

...........and took a lot of stick for asking those questions

[TimmyJimmy]

As unhappy as we have all been by the lack of interest and investment from the Trust over the recent years we should keep in mind the "Better the devil you know" aphorism.

It is vital that the Trust/Board hold their nerve and do their work and fully understand who they are passing the baton to. If it takes a long time and we miss the January window then so be it, IMO. This is far far to big an event in the life of the club to screw up by being in too much of a rush.

Don't forget that Thaksin had billions on show to put into Citeh and look how that turned out. If Syed Ali and WGA are not prepared to answer the hard questions then it doesn't matter how much cash they have in escrow, or how big their balance sheet is, or how tempting the promise of player purchases is, if the cash cannot be demonstrated to be clean then we don't want it.

Mr Shah seems like a decent footballing kind of person but he doesn't seem to have all that much investable cash behind him so a sale to him would be much like the status quo, we'd have a 'good' owner but still no money to spend.

The mystery buyer has done admirably well to stay off the radar, some on here have known for some time that the chap wasn't a Tata or Mahindra group approach and have held their counsel which is again admirable. This person may well want to work in the 'Rovers way' ie quietly, out of the limelight, yet effectively. In some parts of the world saving face is also important so if the bid was to fail he wouldn't have any explaining to do in the pub.

As I've stated before, my two pennies worth is that we should not create a groundswell of supporter agitation and impatience and just let the process take it's course. If the Trust doesn't sell then there will be very good reasons and we will have dodged a bullet, if they do sell then that buyer will be squeeky clean and have proven funds.

Either way we win.

For what it's worth my take is that this business will be concluded within the next two weeks and for me my running order is 1) Mr Mystery, 2) Mr Shah 3) The Trust. If WGA bite the bullet and clarify all outstanding issues then they will be catapulted into the number one spot (again IMO) but if they don't, they'll be history, no matter how much cash they have on offer. If they could to do this then surely they would have done it already.

[Hughesy]

So basically Shah with his 10 bob is the only man still known who is likely to actually make a move.....

This thread tells us that Syed deal is on, syed deal is possibly off, Mahindra deal is on, Mahindra deal is possibly rubbish - then tells us the finishing line is in sight. Clearly nobody on here has a clue what is happening anymore.

[Jackson]

If the 'Main bidder' is faltering, how are we in the final straight?

I'm not trying to pick fault, just interested in how that is the case?

I'm pondering this too.

Philip, yesterday, you said (in the old thread):

"I think three bidders are in effect at the point where they could close the deal in as little as two or three days if the Trustees were to select them as the winning bid. Evaluating all this is not an easy task and making a knee jerk decision on the club's ownership after losing 1-0 at Stoke is thankfully one thing the Walker Trustees will not do".

So, are you implying that you think that all three bidders have completed due diligence and could therefore close in 2-3 days?

[Iceman]

I'm pondering this too.

Philip, yesterday, you said (in the old thread):

"I think three bidders are in effect at the point where they could close the deal in as little as two or three days if the Trustees were to select them as the winning bid. Evaluating all this is not an easy task and making a knee jerk decision on the club's ownership after losing 1-0 at Stoke is thankfully one thing the Walker Trustees will not do".

So, are you implying that you think that all three bidders have completed due diligence and could therefore close in 2-3 days?

hold on Jackson… Syed has had about 10 weeks of negotiations, Shah has been around for ages and the Mystery bidders im not sure about. According to some, nobody has reached the DD stage that Syed has, so how is it possible, that the trust would sell to the mystery guys, if they havent reached the Syed stage of DD? This doesn’t make sense at all, and it feels like somebody has flashed more pounds at the trust than what Syed has.

[47er]

As unhappy as we have all been by the lack of interest and investment from the Trust over the recent years we should keep in mind the "Better the devil you know" aphorism.

It is vital that the Trust/Board hold their nerve and do their work and fully understand who they are passing the baton to. If it takes a long time and we miss the January window then so be it, IMO. This is far far to big an event in the life of the club to screw up by being in too much of a rush.

Don't forget that Thaksin had billions on show to put into Citeh and look how that turned out. If Syed Ali and WGA are not prepared to answer the hard questions then it doesn't matter how much cash they have in escrow, or how big their balance sheet is, or how tempting the promise of player purchases is, if the cash cannot be demonstrated to be clean then we don't want it.

Mr Shah seems like a decent footballing kind of person but he doesn't seem to have all that much investable cash behind him so a sale to him would be much like the status quo, we'd have a 'good' owner but still no money to spend.

The mystery buyer has done admirably well to stay off the radar, some on here have known for some time that the chap wasn't a Tata or Mahindra group approach and have held their counsel which is again admirable. This person may well want to work in the 'Rovers way' ie quietly, out of the limelight, yet effectively. In some parts of the world saving face is also important so if the bid was to fail he wouldn't have any explaining to do in the pub.

As I've stated before, my two pennies worth is that we should not create a groundswell of supporter agitation and impatience and just let the process take it's course. If the Trust doesn't sell then there will be very good reasons and we will have dodged a bullet, if they do sell then that buyer will be squeeky clean and have proven funds.

Either way we win.

For what it's worth my take is that this business will be concluded within the next two weeks and for me my running order is 1) Mr Mystery, 2) Mr Shah 3) The Trust. If WGA bite the bullet and clarify all outstanding issues then they will be catapulted into the number one spot (again IMO) but if they don't, they'll be history, no matter how much cash they have on offer. If they could to do this then surely they would have done it already.

If the Trust doesn't sell we win??

[deryck guyler's spoon]

The trust are absolutely terrible owners imo and we simly cant continue under their stewardship, certainly not as a Premier League club. We must have new owners or re-evaluate our status.

[nicko]

Just to sum up...

Syed is struggling to complete despite trying for weeks and his apparent wealth. No real surprise there for some.

Shah has given his bid a shake - minus our twittering friend - but still seems to be short.

The 'mystery Indians' [of two months ago] are still on the case. There is an element of the Mahindra Group in the background of this - either as sponsors or in personnel.

Frankly, as feared, nobody is terribly close to doing anything.

[Dan]

The trust are absolutely terrible owners imo and we simly cant continue under their stewardship, certainly not as a Premier League club. We must have new owners or re-evaluate our status.

Agreed, it's getting harder and harder to survive on a shoe string budget. We are lucky that Mark Hughes found some gems such as Bentley and Santa Cruz that we made a lot of money out of. We only have Jones and Samba that'd be worth much to sell we need the money now. All the established Premier league clubs are spending far far more than we are. With no investment in the near future, we'll be relegated and it'll be curtains.

[philipl]

No doubt if a group of fans described the Accrington v Gillingham game to you Hughesy, you'd tell them: "Clearly nobody on here has a clue what is happening anymore" and you would say they know nothing about football.

Kamy explained that there were stages to due diligence and that Ali Syed had exclusive on the level he was at.

I explained that one due diligence is largely like another. Each one asks pretty well the same questions in its own way but for the answering party, the time consuming, back breaking work is in answering the first one. After that you know where the answers are. So second due diligence takes less time than the first.

It seems the exclusive period has expired so all three bidders could be at the same level very quickly if they so chose.

The Trust have been absolutely fantastic owners and remain viable owners moving forwards if it comes to that but I think there will be a sale now.

I think timmyjimmy hits the nail on the head with his post.

I don't think the people who are in the final two are the same people as were disclosed in the People.

[BRFCS Content]

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

Good observation.

I think we should make it clear that Kamy's article was submitted last night before similar information was published elsewhere by the press. At Kamy's request, publication was held back until this morning in order to give WGA the opportunity to respond to it. WGA have yet to issue a response, but we will be happy to publish any such details here as soon as they are received.

[Iceman]

No doubt if a group of fans described the Accrington v Gillingham game to you Hughesy, you'd tell them: "Clearly nobody on here has a clue what is happening anymore" and you would say they know nothing about football.

Kamy explained that there were stages to due diligence and that Ali Syed had exclusive on the level he was at.

I explained that one due diligence is largely like another. Each one asks pretty well the same questions in its own way but for the answering party, the time consuming, back breaking work is in answering the first one. After that you know where the answers are. So second due diligence takes less time than the first.

It seems the exclusive period has expired so all three bidders could be at the same level very quickly if they so chose.

The Trust have been absolutely fantastic owners and remain viable owners moving forwards if it comes to that but I think there will be a sale now.

I think timmyjimmy hits the nail on the head with his post.

I don't think the people who are in the final two are the same people as were disclosed in the People.

still doesnt answer the question, about why after 10 weeks, Syed has not answered several important questions, and why the Trust, have not dismissed him already.

[Paul]

still doesnt answer the question, about why after 10 weeks, Syed has not answered several important questions, and why the Trust, have not dismissed him already.

Yes it does. Due Diligence, as I understand it, allows the parties to ask a series of searching questions. If the answer to one or more of those questions is not satisfactory it will stimulate a series of further, presumably much deeper questions. After receiving the answers it's likely Rovers / Rothschild/ the Trust etc would consider the response(s) and then perhaps have another series of questions to ask.

The point about DD is it is designed to find any skeletons, if DD does find some awkward questions / unsatisfactory answers it is bound to go on for a longer period.

It's beyond me why people are in such a rush.It's necessary to allow the process to progress in a proper manner.

[philipl]

Iceman- Because it is probably not that black and white.

Suppose Syed has the same background as Abramovich?

Should the Trust sell, not sell or ask a lot of follow-up questions then ask some more and some more...

There was no 5live investigates when he was buying Chelsea but Goldberg could have had some serious fun when Roman first appeared. Put Abramovich into Wikipedia and read section 3 of his profile...

Joking aside, there is a clear matter of trust at stake. Whomever, the Trust sells to has to be TRUSTED to look after Rovers long into the future. Trust is not something that happens over night, especially if it transpires WGA were not upfront about the Goldberg stuff and the Bahrain closure. If they were not entirely open about that, the Trust has every right to ask "what else haven't we been told?" and lean to another wealthy individual who has been more straightforward to deal with- the other bidder in the two man short list.

[Iceman]

okay, ill leave it at that then. Back to my hut now

[John]

Don't think it would be a case of dismissing anyone if they are interested in buying us, unless, of course it is very obvious from the outset they are complete time wasters.

The Trust are, I guess, probably happy to take their time on this to ensure they make the right decision - once they are convinced there is someone who can meet the asking price and they are sure, as they possibly can be, that any new owner can take the club forward.

[Amo]

Philip - If Syed really has the hard cash to purchase Rovers, why is this saga rumbling on and on and on... I'm aware there's red tape to be dealt with, but the takeovers at Chelsea & Man. City look like smooth transactions by comparison.