jimmygreaves Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 To whom though The PLC.......but no money has been spent yet which is what I was trying to say Maybe the PLC didn't actually bring in Rothchilds at all................. The Glaziers employed Rothchilds to facilitate their purchase of Man Utd......... Just guessing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilansMate Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 sven now confirmed to be leaving the england job after the world cup, surely this will give any potential buyers something to think about.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 23, 2006 Moderator Share Posted January 23, 2006 To whom though The PLC.......but no money has been spent yet which is what I was trying to say Maybe the PLC didn't actually bring in Rothchilds at all................. The Glaziers employed Rothchilds to facilitate their purchase of Man Utd......... Just guessing.... nah its a PLC appointment, thats the whole point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GerryHitchens Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Just Spotted this thought it might be of interest... "Fan Opinion: Aston Villa takeover Written by Malcolm Monday, 23 January 2006 Before I retired I spent over twenty years working in the City on Mergers and Acquisitions. This involved advising both sides be they large plc's, private equity groups, companies being acquired or just consortia of interested parties. It was quite normal for parties of any transaction to meet, except in hostile bid situations, to discuss common terms of reference and if agreed by both sides for the acquirer to then carry out due diligence. This would take a matter of weeks. Then we have the saga of this supposed Villa takeover. From my experience it is all wrong and just does not make any sort of sense. Perhaps someone can answer a few questions. 1. Why is due diligence taking so long? Aston Villa is a listed plc and as such has its accounts professionally audited at least once a year. The club is actually a very small plc with not a particularly involved business; they play football, market souveniers and run a small conference /catering company; hardly mind stretching to a decent firm of professionals to do a thorough due diligence exercise on in, I would hope, a few days. 2. There is talk of using a new company vehicle to facilitate the takeover. Why is it necessary to have such a company, if the Comer Consortium is so wealthy why cannot they use one of their own companies. I suspect they are using the vehicle to do some sort of "reversal" once the takeover goes through enabling them to pledge all the assets of the club in support of the borrowing needed to purchase a la the Glaziers at Man United. Very clever if this company stays divorced from the main business as the Comers they reap all the benefits for a little equity stake and if things do not work out they can walk away without any liabilities falling onto them or their existing companies. 3. Having spent an eternity "mulling" over the takeover why is the consortium are only now talking to their bankers? I suspect their bankers have been "in the know" for several months but the size of the required borrowings and the security available at the club do not match the banks' requirements. Whilst Doug Ellis has run a tight ship for very many years and whilst a lot of his purchases of fixed assets have been commendable one does wonder, against normal lending criteria applied by any lending banker, whether these assets are worth anything like the £64million needed to buy the business. 4. If one accepts the fixed assets are insufficient to allow the bank to advance all the monies the consortium wants perhaps the cash-flow of the business can be looked at to cover the shortfall. For many years the club has just been profitable or loss making (mainly due to player depreciation) and whilst its cash-flow has been relatively strong as such depreciation is a non cash-flow item, the addition of interest payments such large borrowings would attract, would certainly impinge on the free cash-flow of the business. Such debt will be an enormous drain on the club's present ability to trade successfully. 5. Accepting that there are certainly going to be large borrowings, probably covered by pledges of the total assets of the company and the interest that would be levied thereon would by definition reduce the the existing cash generation where would the extra monies to "improve" the squad come from? Surely no Bank is going to advance large sums without collateral and such collateral will have been used to fund the takeover. Are the Comer Brothers going to put their hands in their pockets, I doubt this very much. If they were going to use their money would it be far more sensible to be the "lenders" in the takeover funding and enjoy the comfort of the collateral if things did not work out? 6. It really beggars belief that two builders albeit successful ones will run the marketing side of the club better than Doug Ellis has done over the years thereby increasing profitability and cash-flow. Regardless of what people may think of him he has run and built a very successful money making machine down at Villa Park and I doubt very much there is much more cash from marketing to be wrung out - unless Beckham, with his mate Sven of course, does come and we can sell his shirts, albeit sponsor-less! I do not believe that this consortium is the answer for the Villa. As a shareholder with a few thousand invested in the club's equity I would welcome a chance to get some money back but as I originally put it in 40+ years ago ruled by my heart and not my head I would like whoever gains control to drive the club forward not down! What is in it for these two people who have expressed their non interest in football - there is no crock of gold in trading and if there is in some of the assets we do not know about (oil in the Serpentine Car Park? no drips from the old Onion Fair!) then this profit should come to the club not two profiteer's." So where do we go now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmygreaves Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 To whom though The PLC.......but no money has been spent yet which is what I was trying to say Maybe the PLC didn't actually bring in Rothchilds at all................. The Glaziers employed Rothchilds to facilitate their purchase of Man Utd......... Just guessing.... nah its a PLC appointment, thats the whole point I just get the feeling that AVIL had more than a little to do with Rothchilds being appointed........ Michael Neville as part of his remit as a director in several board rooms is an advisor on mergers and aquisitions (amongst other things). I believe his experience in this field would indicate any stalling in the takeover would not be down to AVIL. Maybe he prefers working with professionals and was responsible for suggesting bringing a quality agent like Rothschilds in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 23, 2006 Moderator Share Posted January 23, 2006 Hmm yes GerryH saw that myself but it all falls apart in the last paragraph What is in it for these two people who have expressed their non interest in football Actually that bit is pure speculation, I've seen it mentioned that the Comers are indeed football fans, regularly attend Prem matches but support no particular team. Neither side in that particular micro-debate however have ever come up with a quote. Not seen a Comer say "We don't like football" or even Neville on their behalf. I have however seen the brother of the Comers in an Irish newspaper article claim what I've just said. You could argue that he was just saying that to help the bid (and that argument has some validity too) but its the closest I've seen to an official line on the issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCresswell Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 The Comer brothers are Premiership fans and often are at games. They don't support anyone team. Was Roman Abramovich a Chelsea fan before he took them over? If so, why did he approach Spurs first (fools)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted January 23, 2006 Moderator Share Posted January 23, 2006 There's a lot in that article that I completely agree with. I know I've said it before, but the club is not worth 64 million, does not have a good revenue stream and has outgoings which are currently higher than we can afford. The reasons for this last part in particular are down to Ellis, and I believe, unlike the writer, that the club could be marketed a whole lot better. Equally, the best marketing tool by a mile is the team's results and performances (good ones, not the current scuffling by type). And that requires a business plan based around football, not around "apples half sold" or around house building. Ellis is in my view not fit to be running the club. We need, as a club a new person(s) to run it. It's far from clear though that the proposed buyers are those people. We simply know next to nothing of their plans or style or ambitions or motives. Frankly I find hoping that Ellis will change his ways, hoping that we'll find an indulgent benefactor or hoping we'll find an excellent professional executive board to run the club equally unlikely/likely. The possibility that shysters or clowns will come in also exists. So we need information. Lots of information. We don't get it from Ellis and we don't get it from the Comers or Neville. C'est la vie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-Copenhagen Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Just Spotted this thought it might be of interest... "Fan Opinion: Aston Villa takeover Written by Malcolm Monday, 23 January 2006 ....... 5. Accepting that there are certainly going to be large borrowings, probably covered by pledges of the total assets of the company and the interest that would be levied thereon would by definition reduce the the existing cash generation where would the extra monies to "improve" the squad come from? Surely no Bank is going to advance large sums without collateral and such collateral will have been used to fund the takeover. Are the Comer Brothers going to put their hands in their pockets, I doubt this very much. If they were going to use their money would it be far more sensible to be the "lenders" in the takeover funding and enjoy the comfort of the collateral if things did not work out? ..... Best question and piece written in this whole saga. Do we really want somebody to borrow money in Villa to buy us? And were does transfer funds then come from.?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mykeyb Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I just get the feeling that AVIL had more than a little to do with Rothchilds being appointed........ Michael Neville as part of his remit as a director in several board rooms is an advisor on mergers and aquisitions (amongst other things). I believe his experience in this field would indicate any stalling in the takeover would not be down to AVIL. Maybe he prefers working with professionals and was responsible for suggesting bringing a quality agent like Rothschilds in? How could Neville appoint Rothchilds to sell something he doesnt own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 24, 2006 Moderator Share Posted January 24, 2006 Don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere but I found a small piece in this weeks Sunday Mirror that had been left in work by someone, stating that the Comers bid was thought to be collapsing so Villa had brought in the Rothskids blah blah. The it went on to name some Norwegian who they (ok its mirror grp) thought was interested in purchasing the club, some bloke by the name of Viktor something or other? Anybody seen or heard anything more on that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmygreaves Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 I just get the feeling that AVIL had more than a little to do with Rothchilds being appointed........ Michael Neville as part of his remit as a director in several board rooms is an advisor on mergers and aquisitions (amongst other things). I believe his experience in this field would indicate any stalling in the takeover would not be down to AVIL. Maybe he prefers working with professionals and was responsible for suggesting bringing a quality agent like Rothschilds in? How could Neville appoint Rothchilds to sell something he doesnt own! Maybe Neville suggested/recommended the appointment of Rothschilds to the board at Villa. The press release from Villa stated....... "The Board of Aston Villa has with immediate effect appointed Rothschild to act as financial adviser to help it determine the best strategy for the future of Aston Villa. "This includes, amongst other strategies, seeking a possible acquirer for the company who would build on the achievements of the current management team and pave the way for future success." Rothschilds have been brought in to handle/manage the sale IMO and remove Doug from the process. Just my take on things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent_Bob Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 The it went on to name some Norwegian who they (ok its mirror grp) thought was interested in purchasing the club, some bloke by the name of Viktor something or other? Anybody seen or heard anything more on that? The name mentioned was Peter Vidmar. There is no Norwegian with that name. Not on a list over rich Norwegians. Not on Google. Not even in the phonebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRL Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Not even in the phonebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsonrx Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Not even in the phonebook. Maybe he is ex-directory. :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaDave Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Michael Neville as part of his remit as a director in several board rooms is an advisor on mergers and aquisitions (amongst other things). I assume Michael Neville will be relinquishing these positions if the Comers bid is successful? Wouldn't want to be lumbered with another chairman/board member with more pressing outside interests than the goings on at VP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David-Copenhagen Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Not even in the phonebook. Maybe he is ex-directory. :winkold: Who knows he might be a Sex-director - just like Rob! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahamaad Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Michael Neville as part of his remit as a director in several board rooms is an advisor on mergers and aquisitions (amongst other things). I assume Michael Neville will be relinquishing these positions if the Comers bid is successful? Wouldn't want to be lumbered with another chairman/board member with more pressing outside interests than the goings on at VP. And I personally wouldn't want a 'Villa fan' for a CEO/Chairman. Why? Everton's chairman, forgotten his name, is an Evertonian, and although he tries to act in the club's best interests, these are clouded by the fact he is a fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisVillan Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Thinking of The Kenwright? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaDave Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 And I personally wouldn't want a 'Villa fan' for a CEO/Chairman. Why? Everton's chairman, forgotten his name, is an Evertonian, and although he tries to act in the club's best interests, these are clouded by the fact he is a fan Couldn't care less if he was a Villa fan or not to be honest. Also couldn't care less if he was 45 or 85 years old either. As long as he is committed to us, able to spend ALL his working hours on us, has the vision to take us forward, and doesn't take an inordinate salary from us, is all I ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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