[Archived] Rovers Takeover

[booth]

Have been on a short city break in the sun and met a couple of interesting characters. One name that came up in conversation was a Bharti Mittal (wealthy Indian) who's supposed to be a bit of a football nut and thought to be looking out for European options.

Hope this helps - someome might want to do a bit of research.

Can't remember where I read it, probably on here, but I read that Mittal is not in the running.

[chaddyrovers]

A very interset last 3 days with the takeover news. So with Syed Ali out of the race we think. I wonder what the rovers board, rothchilds and walker's trustees didn't like about his takeover or background. I guess we will never know tbh. I wonder who the Mystery man is that want to buy us. We think it could have links to the one of the Mahindra family members who wanted the club privately, but we don't know whether this is truth or not. So we could be back to Mr Shah Bid again, but has he got the money to buy us and invest in us in the long term. Hopefully over the next month or so we will have new owners by then, so we can start to plan for the January transfer window and improve the squad with 4 or 5 new players in.

[imy9]

Different mital, this one is worth over 8 billion and has a wiki page and everything, seems keen on football too..

[broadsword]

Indeed, he was happy to put his name to the article (as he wrote it), but he didn't post it. He handed it to us yesterday afternoon with instructions not to run it until this morning (incase WGA came back to him). The article was his, but it was edited an posted by somebody else.

OK, was worried just in case someone made a mistake.

[chaddyrovers]

here a wiki page for Sunil Bharti Mittal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunil_Mittal

It says on the wiki page that he had dealings with the Rothschild family. The same people who are tryig to sell us. Very Interest imo

[JWP]

Different mital, this one is worth over 8 billion and has a wiki page and everything, seems keen on football too..

he does and fancies it as a chance to make dosh

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Worlds-most-popular-game-football-ready-for-makeover-in-India/articleshow/5543772.cms

here a wiki page for Sunil Bharti Mittal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunil_Mittal

It says on the wiki page that he had dealings with the Rothschild family. The same people who are tryig to sell us. Very Interest imo

philip do you think there is something in this.

[philipl]

Lakshmi Mittal was ruled out because of his ownership of QPR.

Would be interesting to see Bharti Airtel getting involved as they could spread the word about Rovers globally. However, I don't know how much of Sunil Mittals $8bn is in paper and how much is in cash- that might well preclude him.

In an unremarked post, nicko wrote this morning:

"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."

Nicko's piece in the Mirror is less circumspect- he says Mahindra.

I see that Adrian Goldberg has posted Nicko's Mirror piece on his Facebook page commenting:

Blackburn Rovers are ready to dump their prospective buyer Ahsan Ali Syed, according to The Mirror. Note paper's use of inverted commas: Ali Syed is no longer an Indian billionaire but is an Indian "billionaire". The power of punctuation.

Gosh, all getting terribly pally aren't we?

[imy9]

what a guy, he has opened up over 200 schools in india and was named in the top 20 philanthropists in the world.

[Steve Moss]

Exemplary owners would not have left us in the mess we are now with no money in the transfer window.

Exemplary owners would: avoid debt; avoid bleeding the club dry; and, balance the books. The Trust has done all of that and qualifies, IMO, as an exemplary owner by any reasonable definition. More to the point, the Turst have realized Jack Walker's dream to ensure the long term viability and independence of the club.

Money for transfer fees would have been very nice. But the Trust's not providing the cash in a time of economic turmoil in no way undermines all the positives they have done for the club.

And its worth pointing out that the Trust appear to be in a strong position to ensure any new owners do right by the club. While the Trust wants to sell, that is a long way from needing to sell. The Trust isn't desperate and can afford to vet every buyer before signing the dotted line.

[bazza]

Just as an aside, after reading this thread, I have come to the conclusion that I know bog all about business and finance and bog all about journalism.

It's like waiting for an expectant mother to come to the end of her pregnancy. She isn't in good health but she has several weeks to go.

We wish that the sooner it's over, the better and that all will be well in the end.

[RevidgeBlue]

The Trust's job is to fulfil the wishes and dreams of Jack Walker.

Let's hope the Trust's complete indifference to our plight doesn't kill us off in the meantime whilst they search for this mythically perfect owner who will meet their asking price ..........errr I mean fulfil Jack's wishes.

[sparkspakespoke]

I can't believe People are describing the trust as outstanding owners. They have done their best in a tough situation but they are a long way short of outstanding. Jack Walker was an outstanding owner. People are too ready to embrace mediocrity nowadays.

[JWP]

what a guy, he has opened up over 200 schools in india and was named in the top 20 philanthropists in the world.

the kinda bloke uncle jack would want for his loved rovers.

[Steve Moss]

Let's hope the Trust's complete indifference to our plight doesn't kill us off in the meantime whilst they search for this mythically perfect owner who will meet their asking price ..........errr I mean fulfil Jack's wishes.

Lack of investment does not necessarily equal "indifference to our plight". Even with no investment, it looks as if we'll be mid-table this season, as 8 points from 7 games (against not the worst teams, either) seems to indicate. The Trust seems to have evaluated our situation (not "plight") well. We can wait until January, or even the summer.

Consider our player contracts from a buyer's perspective. We have at least 4 players (Chimbonda, Salgado, Benji, and Roberts) coming out of contract at the end of this season and M. Diouf is gone also as he is a loanee. By not replacing them or tying them down to a new contract, the new owner does not have that re-occuring debt in the form of wages and is free to hire players (mostly expensive strikers) they would prefer for those positions. Added to this, a bunch of question or potential question marks (Grella, Emerton, Nelsen and EHD) are out of contract in 2012.

Also, the club has tied down the talented experienced (i.e. expensive) players (Robinson, Samba, Givet, Dunn and, for a journos perspective at least, MGP) and the talented inexeprienced (i.e. cheap) players (Jones, N'Zonzi, Olsen, Kalinic).

From a buyer's perspective, the Rovers are on the verge of dramatically reducing the wage bill while at the same time maintaining the core of the club. It would be a key selling point if I were a "sensible" billionaire who was willing to fund transfer fees but not subsidize wages (which is a requirement under the new FIFA rules, or am I confused?).

[RevidgeBlue]

Mr. Cryer's piece in the LT today made extremely depressing reading:

It seemed to read:

1) Syed bid dead in water.

2) There is a "mystery" bidder, the LT don't know who they are but they can somehow say with confidence it's not the people other people are suggesting. (Sound depressingly familiar? At least the "mystery" buyers might be able to finally land the "mystery" striker )

3) Saurin Shah still doesn't have the money but is waiting patiently. (For what I don't know.)

From the tone of that piece it will be another three years before we are sold.

Still the minute philip proclaimed he was 99.9% certain we'd have new owners by Christmas it was always a hopeless cause!

[JWP]

everyone is getting down but i think that certain people like philip, kamy and the mods know who this mystery bidder is. this indian guy bhatri metal mentioned tonight hasnt been crushed as sh$te so i wonder if hes the one.

[RevidgeBlue]

Lack of investment does not necessarily equal "indifference to our plight".

THe Trustees washed their hands of us some time ago. If we are in trouble in January and need funds for strengthening they won't be forthcoming.

If we go down I very much doubt there'll be any support forthcoming either.

[BPF]

There is no need to start worrying.

[nicko]

2) There is a "mystery" bidder, the LT don't know who they are but they can somehow say with confidence it's not the people other people are suggesting. (Sound depressingly familiar? At least the "mystery" buyers might be able to finally land the "mystery" striker )

The mystery bidder thing is a pain. I think there is rival interest and has been for some time. However those bidders have kept their names hidden, possibly because the people representing them are still putting those teams together.

The bottom line is that Syed went a long way here before his bid slowed down.

It is quite astonishing that this happened before so many relevanet questions were asked...the Trustees or their representatives clearly want a sale and thought they were going to make a killing.

It is almost as astonishing as the hysterics surrounding the bid. Your expect PR crap from PR people but some supposedly well-informed folk are looking a trifle silly for not asking where all of this dough came from in the first place.

Those who mocked the BBC for asking about Syed's past also owe them an apology too.

How ironic that a company said to be anti-Rovers should have raised doubts in this way and would apparently be about to be right in those suspicions.

[Mr. E]

This doesn't make sense. Why is Ali Syed's bid "dead" ? Because no one has heard news in a few days, and because of some confusion over an investigation into one of his firms in another country?

[allan]

The Trustees need to realise that if there is no sale before January they are up **** creek without a paddle. I cannot see 3 worse teams than Rovers and relegation will wipe out whatever value they have put on the club. I have always said the club has a negligible value - cannot make a profit and, with the ever-present possibility of relegation, ownership is a licence to lose money. Just hope the Trustees are realists too.

[RevidgeBlue]

This doesn't make sense. Why is Ali Syed's bid "dead" ?

Just my reading of the LT article.

The exact words used by Andy Cryer were "increasingly unlikely"

[47er]

Lack of investment does not necessarily equal "indifference to our plight". Even with no investment, it looks as if we'll be mid-table this season, as 8 points from 7 games (against not the worst teams, either) seems to indicate. The Trust seems to have evaluated our situation (not "plight") well. We can wait until January, or even the summer.

Consider our player contracts from a buyer's perspective. We have at least 4 players (Chimbonda, Salgado, Benji, and Roberts) coming out of contract at the end of this season and M. Diouf is gone also as he is a loanee. By not replacing them or tying them down to a new contract, the new owner does not have that re-occuring debt in the form of wages and is free to hire players (mostly expensive strikers) they would prefer for those positions. Added to this, a bunch of question or potential question marks (Grella, Emerton, Nelsen and EHD) are out of contract in 2012.

Also, the club has tied down the talented experienced (i.e. expensive) players (Robinson, Samba, Givet, Dunn and, for a journos perspective at least, MGP) and the talented inexeprienced (i.e. cheap) players (Jones, N'Zonzi, Olsen, Kalinic).

From a buyer's perspective, the Rovers are on the verge of dramatically reducing the wage bill while at the same time maintaining the core of the club. It would be a key selling point if I were a "sensible" billionaire who was willing to fund transfer fees but not subsidize wages (which is a requirement under the new FIFA rules, or am I confused?).

Then lets hope they HAVE got it right. A lot of supporters are alienated by the way we play, we can't rely on 6 points each from Wigan.Bolton and Burnley and other clubs around us are not mugs anymore, best example being West Brom. If a takeover doesn't go through by January you wouldn't want to bet on us avoiding a relegation battle. At the end of the season we'll be down to one striker so we'll need 3! Further the midfield needs a complete overhaul. No cheap options there I think-----renew or bust.

I think you are a tad complacent.

[philipl]

It is a contested take over.

At least one party is bluffing at the moment. I don't know which one.

[Steve Moss]

. . .. Bolton and Burnley and other clubs around us are not mugs anymore, best example being West Brom. If a takeover doesn't go through by January you wouldn't want to bet on us avoiding a relegation battle. . . .

I think you are a tad complacent.

I am perhaps complacent, though I prefer to characterize myself as remaining calm, logical and not letting emotions get the better of me.

And WBA has been setting the PL on fire. Excellent set of results. But I tend to recall Burnley doing the same, early on. There always seem to be one, who then falters. I suspect that WBA is that one.