Stewart Donald tonight on Total Sport

I don't think you are a million miles away with that. Listening to Donald on Total Sport, I am sure he he mentioned that he has 6-18 month, then it wasn't challenged nor mentioned again.

 

Just listened and I thought he came across well and was very open and honest. Not sure why people are trying to knock him so much. It seems he’s doing his best and he’s not got everything right, certainly not results on the pitch. I don’t however think he’s trying to pull a fast one as some are suggesting.

 

They're barely involved though, they've simply dipped their toe in the water to see if Donald et al can make a success of it. They certainly weren't convinced enough to make an offer for the club at a discount price or purchase a stake. They've kept their options open and it's up to Donald to prove his worth.

 

I pointed that out on a thread and someone immediately jumped on me asking for examples....

 

Something has gone on to restructure the debt that Madrox owed the club that is really, really positive if (and it's always an if with Stewart) his words are accurate.

I think they've paid back asubstantial part of the £20m+ debt they owed from the parachute payments via a loan from SJD Leisure, Arvesa, Dragon etc to Madrox that has been used to service the payment to SAFC.

He described Madrox as owing him, Juan and Charlie £20m+, which suggests they've financed that element of the debt over the last month (Charlie said they'd put money in recently). Most likely that will be FPP pressuring them to reduce the debt to the club as the risk is a bit big.

Slight caveat that it is hard to sometimes take his words at face value and it's always a muddle, but he was quite clear and repeated his words about this change in circumstances and this is extremely good news because SAFC (I hope) will have £20m extra in the cash reserves, on top of the $12m loan.

To repeatedly say he's put £20m of his own money would be mental if he hasn't. He's never ever said anything that clear and unambiguous. At a guess, he's seen the long term value he can get from FPP (which tbf is probably more than anything else he can get) and lumped on it. Fair play to him if he has, great stuff, deserves a massive amount of credit for doing it.

 

But they are involved with the option to take control if repayments aren't made.

They also have the luxury of having someone else do the boring day to day stuff while they probably don't have the time or inclination to traipse around league 1 boardrooms or deal with broken lifts etc.

If we repay the money we are making profits, which we won't do in league 1, promotion to the championship is a minimum to even possibly make some profit so it's a win for us, if we dont repay the loan the Americans take over and I doubt very much they will want to piss about in league 1 making no money so its a win for us

 

Thought he spoke from the heart.. He must feel that all his efforts are for nothing with the dark clouds once again engulfing SAFC..

 

Sorry mate, but I think you're making some big assumptions there.

I think the first point to make is that Donald and Sartori have the financial resources to pay off the loan. They will never default on it and lose their entire investment.

As for the other part, you're assuming that the loan only needs to be repaid when we're making a profit. I would expect that Madrox have to pay it back over a timeframe regardless of profitability.

There is a beat and worst case scenario in this.

Best case: Donald spends the money wisely, does a great job running the club and we get promoted. FPP are suitably impressed and decide to invest further under his stewardship.

Worst case: The club isn't run perfectly, we fail to get promoted and FPP walk away from the table after having their loan paid back. We're then left in league one with the same owner who has £10m less than he used to.

The reality is probably somewhere in the middle, but this is very early stages. FPP have not committed yet, they're just testing the water over a longer period.

 

Is there a link to the interview anywhere?

 

Yes

 

Do you not think though that in the event that Donald is running a failing business he'd prefer to take the option of getting out scot free, rather than having to stump up the money to repay the loan as well as all the money he'd need to raise to stop the club going under in the long term?

He hasn't acted like he's keen to pump his own money into the club so far. Neither has Sartori.

 

Just finished listening to it and I think he spoke well tbh and I think he's genuine.

 

I don't think that's correct and if he had paid the club what it is owed he would be owed closer to £37m from Madrox.

Madrox owes £20m to SD because that's how much SD has so far personally paid for Madrox to buy the club and to fund other club things on behalf of Madrox (who don't have a bank account). This isn't a new £20m. To put it another way, if Madrox had a bank account, SD would have loaned £20m to Madrox, allowing Madrox to pay £15m to Ellis Short and £5m to the club. As far as we know, Madrox still owes the club £17m.

 

It would still be better financially for him to pay the £10m and then sell the club rather than lose everything invested so far.

 

Might not if they're losing money and can't find any interested buyers. Prospective buyers might look at the money injected by FPP and the subsequent failure to progress and think nah. Then again they might not.

It's a gamble and it's one he might not want to take. I don't think it's safe to assume 100% that he wouldn't take the opportunity to walk away if it went tits up for him.

 

Its all about opinions and viewpoints. You may well be correct in your post, I however am trying to take a positive view on it.

In your worst case FPP walk away, SD would then have to find a buyer / other investment and quick as he cant afford to fund the losses we all know a continued stay in league 1 brings.

I still have to believe that FPP would not go through all the expense and time just to lend us £9 million, one of them paid more than that for a painting!

 

Link?

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r0xht

1 hour in.

 

I've seen all kinds of theories about the reason for the involvement of the Americans ....

.... they all seem way more far fetched than them wanting to take over the club.

 

I think the most likely version, based on everything said by Donald that I'm listening to here again is:

1. FPP wanted to buy the club originally
2. They agreed a price early on
3. For unknown reasons, after the due diligence Madrox decided in their investment committee to not go ahead with the purchase
4. Donald has kept them in the room (and not at the table, but aware of the existence of the table ) by doing a loan deal that he didn't actually need.

I think it's all very good news. The main thing I was personally happy about was the oversight from FPP and obligation that Donald clearly feels to use the money 'correctly'. That can only be a good thing for us even if they don't come on board in the long term. As mentioned, they've also clearly put some money back into the club from the pot that was owed, which again, is a good thing.