[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[philipl]

Is VH group the indian mystery group? So Syed Ali, Shah are out? who is the third group?

VH Group are new.

They are neither the Indian mystery group nor the mystery man who were separate people anyway. They are the people who were first detected two weeks ago as nicko has written in his post above.

[den]

When all the chicken jokes are finished, then reading THIS, the VH group seem to be a very forward looking business. You can't go into the Biologicals business without serious business acumen and financial backing.

[nicko]

When all the chicken jokes are finished, then reading THIS, the VH group seem to be a very forward looking business. You can't go into the Biologicals business without serious business acumen and financial backing.

All joking aside the questions still remain 'who?' and 'why?'

There HAS to be someone in this group with a big football interest and a business brain.

Still trying to find out who this is...because this one may yet surprise us all.

A dark horse? Or a dark chicken?

[Stuart]

Nicko Sunday People article

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2010/10/17/chicken-company-vh-group-targets-blackburn-rovers-in-shock-takeover-deal-102039-22639706/

From that link: "However they have the funds to buy the club at £25million and also take care of its £16m debt."

These numbers seem to change week on week but the debt quoted at £16m is the lowest I've read for some time. Is this now seen as the current figure?

Overall £41m doesn't seem a lot shell out to buy a PL club. Perhaps there is an investment angle after all...?

[nicko]

From that link: "However they have the funds to buy the club at £25million and also take care of its £16m debt."

These numbers seem to change week on week but the debt quoted at £16m is the lowest I've read for some time. Is this now seen as the current figure?

Overall £41m doesn't seem a lot shell out to buy a PL club. Perhaps there is an investment angle after all...?

The debt figure is lower because that's where the summer 'kitty' went to...

Like I said before, if there is a failure to find a buyer it could lead to that money being released for the manager in January.

I know that £25 million was the 'selling price' for the Trustees before all of the recent bidders came and went.

I would sincerely hope they had not bumped up that price at the expense of the manager's transfer budget.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Can someone maybe answer a few questions i've been wondering recently:

1 - How much are our trust worth and whats the main reason why they decided to put Blackburn Rovers on the market? Is it because they didn't think the club had the potential to grow into a money making club?

2 - Do you think the club are considering taking the club off the market because they feel they could make an impact in India themselves rather than keep the club on the market?

[jim mk2]

Why should this deal be any better or have any greater chance of success than any of the previous three ? Syed appeared to be the perfect owner to judge from his public pronouncements and alleged financial backing but the deal still fell through and there is no reason to believe these new propective bidders have the financial muscle or the ability to meet the Trust's tough criteria.

At the risk of another chicken joke, if this fourth proposed deal fails to materialise the club and the Trust really will look turkeys and should call off all takeover talks and continue with the present ownership structure.

[den]

All joking aside the questions still remain 'who?' and 'why?'

There HAS to be someone in this group with a big football interest and a business brain.

Still trying to find out who this is...because this one may yet surprise us all.

A dark horse? Or a dark chicken?

You say in your article that they may make an announcement soon. So we might find out why the football interest, then.

On the face of it though, VH are a forward looking company, so whoever is behind the driving force of the VH group sees potential in bringing an English PL club into the Indian realm. They wouldn't be the first Indian entrepreneur to think that either, would they?

[philipl]

Received input from a business analyst in Delhi.

"The VH Group is one of the most highly respected businesses in India. They are highly educated, very proper and there will be absolutely no improper behaviour or corruption associated with them. They are based in Pune which is a centre of education and where practically everybody is very decent and not involved in any corruption. Visiting Pune has the feeling of not being anywhere else in India as the infrastructure is so highly developed.

"Venky himself died 20 years ago but the business has carried on in the family tradition.

"The entire Group controlled by VH Holdings has been making solid profits for over thirty years and has accumulated very big assets. They don't make rip-off profits but they are accumulating two hundred million pounds (I double-checked that was indeed the currency and the profit) each year. The owners must have cash in the billions but they are very quiet. They make huge donations to charity every year.

"They realised that with 85 to 90% market share in poultry, expansion opportunities were becoming limited so they diversified into high technology ten years ago and have done so successfully.

"Buying into a football club would be out of character for such a solid established business. They are not people who ego trip and are in no need of publicity so they gave the IPL a wide berth although they were urged to get involved. The only reasoning would be that they see the profile of having an English Premier League club would give them a profile that will aid their global expansion.

"VH literally touches the lives of everybody on the sub-continent. Poultry keeping is a way of life and their logistics are formidable reaching every village everywhere- nobody can compete with their ability to reach practically the entire population of India and through distributors into neighbouring countries as well. This reach could be the reason why they think linking to a PL club could deliver them a massive new business stream as India wakes up to football. If this is their objective, it could be better than putting the Rovers logo on every Mars bar."

[Bobby G]

Very interesting reading Philipl.

[philipl]

From that link: "However they have the funds to buy the club at £25million and also take care of its £16m debt."

These numbers seem to change week on week but the debt quoted at £16m is the lowest I've read for some time. Is this now seen as the current figure?

Overall £41m doesn't seem a lot shell out to buy a PL club. Perhaps there is an investment angle after all...?

There always was an investment angle.

All the other bids have/are failing because the investments for Rovers were insufficiently large or secure.

Remember the Trust will only sell to someone who can do better than they can and can secure Jack's legacy to the club.

I don't know how many times I have to post this for people to believe it.

[Greedy_Crawford]

Received input from a business analyst in Delhi.

"The VH Group is one of the most highly respected businesses in India. They are highly educated, very proper and there will be absolutely no improper behaviour or corruption associated with them. They are based in Pune which is a centre of education and where practically everybody is very decent and not involved in any corruption. Visiting Pune has the feeling of not being anywhere else in India as the infrastructure is so highly developed.

"Venky himself died 20 years ago but the business has carried on in the family tradition.

"The entire Group controlled by VH Holdings has been making solid profits for over thirty years and has accumulated very big assets. They don't make rip-off profits but they are accumulating two hundred million pounds (I double-checked that was indeed the currency and the profit) each year. The owners must have cash in the billions but they are very quiet.

"They realised that with 85 to 90% market share in poultry, expansion opportunities were becoming limited so they diversified into high technology ten years ago and have done so successfully.

"Buying into a football club would be out of character for such a solid established business. They are not people who ego trip and are in no need of publicity so they gave the IPL a wide berth although they were urged to get involved. The only reasoning would be that they see the profile of having an English Premier League club would give them a profile that will aid their global expansion.

"VH literally touches the lives of everybody on the sub-continent. Poultry keeping is a way of life and their logistics are formidable reaching every village everywhere- nobody can compete with their ability to reach practically the entire population of India and through distributors into neighbouring countries as well. This reach could be the reason why they think linking to a PL club could deliver them a massive new business stream as India wakes up to football. If this is their objective, it could be better than putting the Rovers logo on every Mars bar."

Very interesting stuff Philipl. There would be logic in the VH Group using the publicity of Rovers to launch new products/strands of their business. As a number of us have said buying Rovers for circa £40m is a very cheap way into the worldwide publicity you get from the EPL. The big stumbling block as with all the other bids will be whether the Trust convenants/clauses can be satisfied. If not this time then I don't think we will be sold inside the next 20 years.

[nicko]

Football does generate global interest, that is for sure.

I would imagine many more people know about the VH Group already in Britain - just today - from the mere mention of their interest in Blackburn Rovers.

Quite where this fits into a business plan - and any form of expansion - is still beyond me.

However there must be someone at the company who sees an idea here.

I also like the fact that they have not gone public. This leaked out from an obscure source rather than by some PR team...one of the reasons I distrusted Syed from the off. [How did that work out, by the way?]

But perhaps VH should be telling people who they are and what they are doing now.

[John]

I also like the fact that they have not gone public. This leaked out from an obscure source rather than by some PR team...one of the reasons I distrusted Syed from the off. [How did that work out, by the way?]

The Syed interest has not been officially confirmed as over/dead but the signs are not looking promising.

However Syed with his comments and with the subsequent BBC investigation has a bit to answer for, as he created a lot of this hysteria in relation to the takeover process. It started with the comments on how much he was willing to "invest", then on to rushing through a deal by the end of August, wanting to sign Beckham etc.

No one from the club has ever said a deal is close, however from the comments the Syed/WGA camp were making you would think things were progressing positively.

It would be interesting to know the reasons why the Syed deal is off, if that is indeed the case.

[philipl]

All three of the previous front runners put an offer down that settled Rovers' debts (I can confirm I have heard the £16.1m figure from a poster on here who has good sources) and met the Trust's asking price.

That they are not going forwards appears to be entirely down to questions over what would happen to the Rovers in the future and answers that have not satisfied the Trust and Jack's covenants.

[tony gale's mic]

I'll be honest and say the VH Group weren't totally what I had in mind, however at least they've got tangible assets and achievements and people have actually heard of them. To be honest I'm starting to care less and less though.

[roversmum]

Do you think the club are considering taking the club off the market because they feel they could make an impact in India themselves rather than keep the club on the market?

The question of Rovers' overseas profile has been raised frequently at the Fans Forum as far as I am aware, however I gather it seems that the powers that be are not particularly interested - that was the impression.

Mr Roversmum and I have for some time had a sneaking feeling that there is a 'comfort zone' around certain areas, in that there are issues that could be addressed which are pushed aside, promoting the club abroad being one of them. Maybe the current situation might shake things up a bit, indeed the suggestion that the Trust might ultimately decide to remove the club from the market and look at other ways of finance may well imply that.

[Billy Castell]

More random Indians for us to get all excited about, and then have our hopes dashed. I wonder when it'll be a consortium with Shilpa Shetty, Cliff Richard and a descendant of Rudyard Kipling bidding for the club.

It's getting silly now, and my hopes are not high for the VH Group taking us over and giving us money.

[47er]

What I want to know is "should be all get upbeat again?"

[imy9]

Just to clear up the finances a little:

£1 million is 10 lakhs and 100 lakhs is a crore (so 1 crore is £10 million)

VH Group had profits of 2056 lakhs (after tax) so that would mean that they had profits of over £200 million for the previous financial year.

What I found more interesting was the fact that they had "profits available for appropriation" of 75 CRORE, that amounts to £750 million pounds!! As Philip has stated already they have been accumulating wealth for over 30 years so are worth billions, interestingly they are not mentioned anyone as being billionaires and have a limited wiki page- supporting what Philip has said previously about certain wealthy individuals/groups being discrete.

[Amo]

WGA looked pretty fly when people started quoting their website and the exponential profits Syed was supposedly making. That's why people are fed up. It's going around in circles...

[imy9]

Difference being that VH Group are massive and well known in Asia, Ali Syed was and is a mystery.

[Brfcrule1]

Nicko can you confirm as mentioned earlier if this does not get resolved by the end of the month the Trustees will take the club off the market does anyone know will our possible new owners be at the game tommorrow night?.

[Fife Rover]

It would be nice (and IMO best for all concerned) if the whole question of a Rovers Takeover could just be totally forgotten about in all areas of the public domain (including the various tips, hints and leaks from "moles") and the entire business of finding a suitable buyer and possible subsequent purchase of the club could be simply left to the Trustees, the Club, and their various advisors to just get on with in complete and total abscence of ALL outside distractions and comment.

That way there would not be all this totally fruitless and annoying discussion of various leaks, myths, and mud-slinging with the consequent general frustration for everyone, and we could all just get on with our normal way of life, until one day .....BINGO!! We all wake up to find it's happened. That way the Trust have done their duty and found a buyer that ticks all of Uncle Jack's boxes, and the club is already in the hands of it's new owners.

Ah! (sigh)..... wouldn't that be wonderful.

[nicko]

Nicko can you confirm as mentioned earlier if this does not get resolved by the end of the month the Trustees will take the club off the market does anyone know will our possible new owners be at the game tommorrow night?.

It's not for me to say when the deadline is...but I do hear there will be a decision by the end of the month.

There HAS to be or we are going to have this mess again in the next window.

A couple of bad results may focus a few minds, methinks.

No idea if the VH people will be there tomorrow.

Will keep an eye out for people dressed as chickens, just in case. [sorry, can't resist some of the images this whole thing throws up].