Aye as far as anyone is aware he can and he indicated specifically that he would if he was selling to anyone else. Strongly think he won't do that for a few weeks yet though.
The charge sheet would be lifted, but likelihood is that would be after he told us or it leaked. Depends how behind Companies House are and how quickly FPP removed it.
To be honest I’m sick to death of Donald’s bullshit. I can’t believe a word he says and he contradicts himself every time he does an interview.
No. There will be strings attached. If not they can deposit £10 million in my bank account anytime, the interest would keep me in beer money.
I really don't believe it will happen any time soon, if ever. If Donald wants to 'move on' the only way is to pay back this money. In my opinion it would be impossible to sell the club while this 'loan' exists. I don't believe Donald knows what to do next.
It wasn't at a high rate of interest by the sounds of it because it was designed as a half way house between investment and a loan. Any interest is likely to be in line with inflation at absolute worst, but there may be none. Also as I'm sure you will know, any interest would be accumulated over the life of the loan, so it would be extraordinarily little even if there was any to pay back after a few weeks.
If it goes on for that long I'd be surprised. He can't just string it out that long without causing havoc in 2 windows and probably having to spend all of the cash he loaned in the meantime. Like I said, I think he'll say at the end of the month or so that he's going to stay and get us promoted before he does anything. Depends if there's a legit bid on the table for him and how our fans are treating him I guess.
Agree with this really. He's made a public commitment to selling, but his tone suggested the complete opposite. Because the FPP loan would need resolving before a new takeover happened, it's a strange one heading into a January window where £9-10m is in the kitty, but spending it would be madness if he truly plans to sell. Of course I think he could fund anything he spends out of his own pocket, but does he want to? Throughout his entire tenure the biggest criticism many of us have is that he has more often dug into the club's money rather than his own millions. I am sceptical that he would change that pattern if he's leaving soon.
The interest might not be a problem but there could well be some early repayment penalties. Also if it's halfway between loan and investment it's unlikely that SD will be able to just repay it and walk away without some quid pro quo, otherwise they've effectively just given him a low rate loan. Also worth noting that some loans (e.g.HP) have the total interest calculated at the beginning and early repayment doesn't let you off the whole of it
I personally believe this bullshit interview was designed to stop us highlighting his ineptitude, and give him an excuse to not invest in January. He’s in a mess, he’s got us in a bigger mess, and the sooner he ****s off the better, not for any other reason than he’s completely out of his depth here, and needs, for ours and his best interests to sever his ties as soon as possible. Payment of the loan is irrelevant, any deal would have a mechanism structured in to facilitate that, he just needs to go and hand over to anyone who can run us better than he can, so anyone really! It’s funny isn’t it, that the fpp lot would walk away if he did, which is the opposite of what, allegedly, they did in the initial discussions when they walked away because of him, and were brought back by an intermediate local businessman, doesn’t stack up somehow.
FPP's solicitors will have tied up the contract so that it's a win win situation for them. They've spent a considerable amount with their takeover plans, etc and won't want to just get their money back. If they simply walk away I'd have to think the world's gone mad after the time, money and effort they've put into all this. Donald said from day one that he'd end up selling the club but now he's blaming a letter from a few well meaning lads. We're in a situation, until he repays FPP, whereby he couldn't sell the club if his life depended on it.
I think one unlikely scenario, but still potentially viable in theory, is that if FPP were serious about investing without Donald, they'd simply convert their loan to equity and hold the minority stake of 20% (guesstimate) that it would give them in anticipation of new ownership. I doubt they'd do that without knowing the new owners though, and because a new owner may not want them, or they may not want him or her, it would likely end up as a catch 22 where they don't exercise that option sadly.
No one will buy the club while FPP are still involved imo. If, as Donald is claiming, they have no interest in a takeover and the money isn't needed, there's absolutely no point in them being involved.
The problem is that a lot of these rumours were probably just either bullshit or exaggeration, or even people just misunderstanding. Do we really know that happened? Probably didn't, realistically. I think the reality is probably as always, somewhere in the middle. FPP (however they got here) were intrigued by us as a slow burning investment, but they weren't looking to dive in, just sit on the edge of the pool with their legs in the water. That still required them to do due diligence (as you would at any level you're giving someone serious cash, even as a loan/conversion) Donald tried to convince them to buy outright, and they had a chat and said no, that's not how we planned it and we'll stick with that. It'll be a no risk loan and we can convert that to x% at our discretion, and then maybe do the same again at the next stage, ie: debt finance. Donald said yes, but because the T word was in play, supporters have been frustrated that it's not quite what was planned when actually, this sounds entirely normal IF they'd just been clear about it. Ultimately, it is a loan with multiple scenarios for what happens regarding repayment that FPP would have most control over. I don't think he's in a mess right now, or wouldn't have been without the RAWA stuff, because he was playing with FPP's money. It would need paying back in 18-24 months, which is likely long enough for him and them to get a feel for how things are going. I think he'd have spent it, he's proved he's pretty good at doing that when the money isn't coming directly from his own cash.
I am inclined to agree that nobody will buy with them around, albeit I think Donald may try to paint it as 'there's a ready made long term buyer already involved' to a potential bidder. I have no issue with them as minority owners though, I think it's a good thing, especially as it checks Donald's impulse to spend club cash on stupid things.
IMO it's crazy that FPP could end up lumbered with the club because Donald's made a complete mess of everything ... ... but lose it if it Donald gets it flying. I don't believe that ever was, or is now, part of their masterplan.
None of the rumours suggested that SD was trying hard to get FPP to buy us. Everything suggested that they were keen so not sure where your probable reality comes from. Also the 18-24 month loan seems very short term for so much effort.
