The takeover has been agreed.

Certainly as usual there is nothing in the Watty Obs about it

 

NO news is good news I hope

 

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sport/8931944.Supporters_Trust_statement_in_full/
Incisive as usual!!! Nothing new and the same reservations and concerns we've all expressed. My advice, buy and win Euromillions........we'll make a decent fist of running the club with JW, DF and GT, I dont want a gerriatric mayoress, a slippery accountant and a failed businessman involved, Im afraid Bazzer "you're fired"

 

There is something not quite right here. The meeting took place a least two weeks ago to prepare this statement and at that time it was stated that it would be issued last week.

Now it has appeared we get the bland statement as follows:

"Watford Supporters Trust comments While we recognise that further details of the offer will be available in the formal offer document to be released before the end of this month and the Trust is not for or against the offer on principle, we have a number of concerns with the proposed offer as we understand it at present:"

Surely if they have been having regular meetings with Julian Winter they know more than they can say, so have cobbled together a statement because people were asking what was their view.

So they still haven't met with WFCL despite reports that they attend matches and are willing to talk.

"Next Steps We are therefore seeking a meeting with WFCL at the earliest possible opportunity, to discuss the following points: 1. How will the £3.5m be funded?

2. How will the £10.2m be funded over the next five years?

3. How will the ground developments be funded?

4. How will the structure of the WFCL board ensure the best interests of Watford FC are assured?"

As I reported some days back one member of the trust had a chat to Mr. B on the train and said that he was willing to talk about the takeover, but that trust member was not prepared to say what the conversation entailed.

 

Got a bit carried away there and pressed the send button too quickly.

What I was going to finish with was, The trust know more than this, they are under some form of gagging order. It seems very strange that the only time we get any information is on a Friday when the WO is published.

It looks to me from afar that both the Trust and the WO are being used to keep the fans on board, but the reality is that it is having the opposite effect.

 

It is this statement taht I find one of the most revealing: "the share offer alone does not have the support of Graham Taylor, Stuart Timperley or Julian Winter as independent directors"

Why not?

They have had several meetings and if they are not convinced enough to support it despite staying on in various roles we should be worried. Post takeover all three could soon be history.

Our club is being sold down the river

 

Leo, They had no real option to say otherwise. As directors of WL plc they could not say to all of the smaller shareholders that if they accepted 1p a share they would be getting a good deal. They are there in part to safeguard the shareholders stake in the company.

However they might be thinking that with the information they have, it is the only way forward. I don't know.

 

You're right OFH - they have little choice really unless they want to come out and outright oppose it - which I guess they would do if they were really unhappy

 

The longer this goes on, ie getting drawn out the larger the chance of this takeover bid failing!! I think the good Lord has been advised to stall to see if we can get promotion! We must beat coventry next saturday ,if not Baz`s chances of taking over increase !! the more points we win the longer the Good Lord may wait to see if his investment pays off!!
The faster this chance dies ,the faster he will sell to Baz

 

The usual stupid comments on the WO "discussion" section.Why does that board seem to attract idiotic, boorish and and ignorant people? So--the Supporters Trust has had several meetings with current board members and none with the potential new owners.... and is no wiser than any of us. They have the same questions as we have, plus an understandable concern about how current small shareholders will be treated and the likely absence of any supporter voice in the new regime. Why does Mr B have his shares in the new company held "on trust" by Thomas? In fact the doctor is a very enigmatic figure in all this--he is one fellow who may have some money of his own to invest, yet he has said the least and has avoided interviews. He cannot be in this deal to set up a sports clinic at the Vic--why buy a football club as a way of setting up a sports clinic? The 21 days time limit on this offer runs out next Thursday, so presumably we will hear more before then-- can one or other of the parties really be waiting to see what division we are in next season? Or is Mr B struggling to get the finance in place? Secrecy and lack of candour breeds speculation, and damages Mr B in the eyes of the fans before he even gets into the owners box.

 

Could be that the money was coming from Libya and its frozen.... stranger things have happened... anyway fingers crossed for the euromillions then the club is mine.....

 

Maybe thats baz financing strategy, off to the bingo every friday but his numbers haven't come up house yet...

 

thats it Aberdeen ,He is waiting for Kitty to win his kitty on the bingo!!!!

 

Well I am not a small shareholder, but think that if I was going to lose most of my investment some of my anger would be directed at LA and GS. They are the ones who have agreed to sell their stake at 1p a share without any concern about those who might have lost a significant sum.

The independent directors effectively have little say in the matter. When the whole bond/warrent scheme was devised it was said at the time it would help to sell the club. I think we can now see what that meant. The club could be bought by people who are not mega rich/ rich/ or close to being broke.

 

As a footnote, I see that if you click on the Watford page of the Beebs football coverage, the Trust statement is now the headline.

 

Yes, Ashcroft and Simpson are professional investors and must expect some of their investments to go wrong--they can use these capital losses to offset against capital gains elsewhere, so no big deal for them. By giving half his shares to his wife, Simpson even gets two lots of capital losses to offset against gains.They have been preparing their exit strategy for some time , though not perhaps with Mr B in mind. For these chaps the attraction of the deal is that they get their loans back on a predictable timetable while still getting a good rate of interest on the fractions not yet paid back. They must be negotiating at the moment to ensure this pay-back arrangement is watertight, and they will be at the front of the line in the event of administration.

We cannot really complain about Lord A as an owner over the years. He made an initial investment, backed it up with more loans, faced down the Russo's over the threat of administration,appointed a good board , never interfered with the football and gave the board time (and a structure) to find new owners. The way he is now leaving is the worst thing about his tenure, but as I said before , most owners leave as reviled men, even if they start as saviours. Mr B is unique in actually starting as a reviled man.

 

Worrying eh....

 

Well the 3 weeks is up next thursday ,should know a bit more then!

 

What was the three week deadline - I'm afraid I have not bothered to keep up with the details of all this

 

just after the last announcement was made (the 30 page document ) it stated a 3 week deadline before more info comes to light ,or something like that!