Takeover 50/50 ?

[houndtorgull]

Update in the Herald Express

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/T ... story.html

[leetufc]

Sounds promising to me - assuming the Due Diligence work hasn't come up with anything out of the ordinary I would expect the deal to go through with the parties having got so far in the negotiations. Fingers crossed there is some good news soon

[KeithMalone]

There are a lot of things that could still go wrong, hence it is only 50/50. Having seen various business deals many far larger than this go belly up at the final hurdle.

I find it laughable people were suggesting the year end figures for 30 June 2014 that were recently released would have an effect on the deal as I can guarantee the buyer is looking at the management accounts of the club right up to the present day so certainly know what the finances look like!

I suspect if this deal is done it will be formally completed on 30 June 2015 to tie things up nicely (although there is no specific need as could do a short period of cessation accounts and a long first period under the new regime). Fingers crossed for new owners soon!

[leetufc]

To say 50/50 out loud at this stage will make people unnecessarily worried, adding to tension amongst fans. Until a deal is signed and sealed there is always a chance a party can back out, but the further you get especially with due diligence completed (as it sounds) it does lower the risk of deals failing.

Potential buyers will have had access to all the accounts up to and including this year, and good due diligence will look at all the figures and scrutinise numbers. I would anticipate the buyers will also have completed detailed forecasts for running the club.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Great to hear it could be sorted by the weekend!

Got to say if it goes through the bringing in of Kelvin Thomas was very shrewd by Thea, if the it was the same situation with Baker, Phillips and co sorting it out, who knows where we would be!

[hector]

Why are people assuming this is a good for the club? The new investors are getting the club for free, other than what they choose to spend on running costs. Is there an assumption they are going to go spend crazy? What if they do the total opposite and cut everything back to the bone?

If there is a hidden agenda (e.g. building, ground sale etc) they are really not going to be too bothered about what happens to the footballing side of the club.

Where it says,"Although acquiring Mrs Bristow's majority shareholding might not be costing anything, the new owners will be taking on considerable ongoing commitments." What exactly are those commitments? The expensive players have all left.

I think a degree of caution is required until the new owners make their intentions clear (or they become clear). It may well be time to invest in TUSTs Yellow Forever campaign, as my gut feeling is that we may need it sooner than we think.

[PlainmoorRoar]

Why are people assuming this is a good for the club? The new investors are getting the club for free, other than what they choose to spend on running costs. Is there an assumption they are going to go spend crazy? What if they do the total opposite and cut everything back to the bone?

If there is a hidden agenda (e.g. building, ground sale etc) they are really not going to be too bothered about what happens to the footballing side of the club.

Where it says,"Although acquiring Mrs Bristow's majority shareholding might not be costing anything, the new owners will be taking on considerable ongoing commitments." What exactly are those commitments? The expensive players have all left.

I think a degree of caution is required until the new owners make their intentions clear (or they become clear). It may well be time to invest in TUSTs Yellow Forever campaign, as my gut feeling is that we may need it sooner than we think.

I'm sure some level of due diligence has been done on these buyers,

a dam sight more than what was done on Chris Roberts!

[Gullscorer]

There will be very little asset stripping for any new owners since the club has very few assets to strip. In any case they must be people who truly love football, otherwise they would not be interested in a small club like ours. Even Russian or Asian billionaires would not be so foolish as to think they could do a Bournemouth and take the Gulls up through the leagues to the Premier Division. As far as timing is concerned, the sooner the better for me, if the new owners are able to increase Hargreaves' playing budget next week, and also begin moves to stir community interest and increase club revenues..

[hector]

There will be very little asset stripping for any new owners since the club has very few assets to strip. In any case they must be people who truly love football, otherwise they would not be interested in a small club like ours. Even Russian or Asian billionaires would not be so foolish as to think they could do a Bournemouth and take the Gulls up through the leagues to the Premier Division..

So you assume that anyone taking on a small club must love football? So what was it that interested the crooks that bought a relegated Hereford United, this time last year? The love of football?

If your post is serious - which considering its naivety, I'm really hoping it isn't - there is more to a football club than its team.

Perhaps the new owners hope to buy the ground. Then sell it for housing and leave us...well? And don't quote the covenant about sport having to always be played on PLainmoor. We all know they are worth sod all.

Perhaps they want to buy the ground, sell it, then build a new ground, with maybe a hotel, leisure facilities etc, which they will own and charge us to play in.

People, with nothing to do with an area or team, generally do not buy random football clubs simply because they *love* football. There is usually something else at the back of it, and that is what worries me. And who are we trusting in all of this? Kelvin Thomas...is he doing this out of *love* as well? Is there nothing in it for him?

[Gullscorer]

Hector you're being ridiculously negative. I was talking about Torquay United and its new owners, not Hereford and its crooked owner, a different kettle of fish altogether. You also show little knowledge about covenants and the law. And why do you assume our new owners have nothing to do with our area? And even if they didn't, why assume the worst?

Positive thinking, dear boy, that's what you need..

[Gulliball]

Winning the lottery is 50/50 - you either win it or you don't. Fingers crossed for good news this week.

[hector]

I think there is a maybe a lack of awareness that if this deal is not concluded in good time, and the club cannot illustrate appropriate funding streams, the Conference will kick us out. Hereford and Salisbury were booted out and both folded. Macclesfield's takeover was not concluded in time and they very nearly lost their place and it rested on the owner trying to sell the club to inject some funding at the wire for them to retain their Conference place.

[PhilGull]

As for assets, all the club has is half of Plainmoor. Successive Councils have made it clear over the years that they have no interest in selling Plainmoor for development and even if it were sold, it seems that Westlands have first dibs. The worst that could happen is that the buyers get the school too and build a new Academy.
As for being kicked out of the Conference, I can't see that happening for a while. We have no debt and with the players wage budget drastically reduced I cannot see there being grounds for our expulsion from the League for at least two years, and that's only if things stay exactly as they are with no new income streams brought in.
As things stand, with no news on the sale of the club we have a 50/50 choice of being positive about it or negative. Most of us are feeling the affects of a long, hard season and taking the opportunity to be positive about the club, some are still stuck in there negative ways...

[PhilGull]

As for assets, all the club has is half of Plainmoor. Successive Councils have made it clear over the years that they have no interest in selling Plainmoor for development and even if it were sold, it seems that Westlands have first dibs. The worst that could happen is that the buyers get the school too and build a new Academy.
As for being kicked out of the Conference, I can't see that happening for a while. We have no debt and with the players wage budget drastically reduced I cannot see there being grounds for our expulsion from the League for at least two years, and that's only if things stay exactly as they are with no new income streams brought in.
As things stand, with no news on the sale of the club we have a 50/50 choice of being positive about it or negative. Most of us are feeling the affects of a long, hard season and taking the opportunity to be positive about the club, some are still stuck in there negative ways...

"The worst that could happen is that the buyers get the school too and build a new Academy." Does actually sound pretty terrible. What I meant to add was that it seems that these academys aren't actually making any money so that probably isn't going to happen.

[Dave]

philgull, the point being missed here, it's got nothing to do with Thea leaving the club in a debt free position, we only have look at the clubs accounts for the last five years, to see loss after loss posted, last years account, which was for our last season in the football league the club posted another +£500k loss, the club with out either Thea, or a takeover, or drastic re-structuring will not stay debt free for very long, and this is something the conference board are going to want to know about, regardless of a takeover or not, the club will have demonstrate it's financial solvency.

Gullscorer, I think you're showing a certain naivety on covenants, whilst your right in a way, they are notoriously easy to get around. We only have to look at W.B.B FC they had a only for recreational covenant on their ground, the new Kingsteignton to Chudleigh road goes right through the middle of it now, the land owners got around it by building an identical facility elsewhere and the covenant went with it, so could the same happen at Plainmoor, I don't know, but might I suggest it could, whilst if any intention to build a new ground were honourable, not a bad thing for the club, if they weren't as hector suggest, well, then who knows.

I wouldn't say Hector was being unduly negative, I would say he's being sensibly cautious, and rightly so, until the ink is dry and money paid nothing is guaranteed, and if any takeover does got through , lets see who they are, and what their intentions for the club are.