Well all that I can see is one mortgage replacing another. Refinancing as opposed to further borrowing. Admittedly an iPhone isn't the best tool for perusing legal documents but this looks like an arse/elbow situation to me!
Seems plausible. Maybe we had to negotiate higher than we wanted to and Cortese wanted to find a loophole that would let us pay Bologna more upfront?
I remortgaged my house at one point but didn't mean I was going bust. Probably either a loan to overcome a temporary cashflow problem or a cheaper option to what we had. There is no way the Leihberrs would allow a valuable asset like SFC to be at risk. There is also no way there will be any official statement...it will appear in end of year accounts and none of us will be any the wiser even if we read it.
Listen, stop panicing. It's obvious. One of our special, socially skilled members has used his powers of persuasion and eventually got through to NA and NC. He then convinced them to borrow shed loads of money and buy three world class defenders. There will be a quote in tomorrow's papers from Nigel saying, "I am delighted that said fan got through to me after badgering my secretary since the 31st August demanding to know why I haven't signed any world classs defenders. I thought to myself, damn, what a fool. Anyway, I phoned the premier league and announced three multi-million loan deals and they approved them and Nicola popped over the other side of the world and borrowed some dosh" This will probably be followed up the day after with an article, thanking said fan personally for pointing out the errors of Nigel's ways.
There appears to be some classic libel floating around, with a bit of luck this Finance Company will have the guts to take some of those numbnuts on.
I think we are all forgetting the reason NC and ML entered into this venture in the first place. Unlike the owners of Chelsea and Man City, who have poured cash into the clubs to buy success, NC's objectives are totally different. Creating a successful business is NC's GAME. His prize is not to be the owner of a rich mans hobby/trophy club. Building it from the ground up is the BUZZ he gets, The minute he starts dipping into the Leibherr pot or any other is the minute he loses the game. The challenge is to establish SFC as one of, if not the top Football Clubs in Europe. This will be achieved by creating a self sustaining business, handling it's finances within the confines of the club and the resources it can generate and demand on it's own merit. Yes, Leibherr money cleared the clubs debt and put us on a firm footing, but since then it has only spent from it's own resources. This is why club has needed to secure a loan on it's own financial standing. The day NC looks outside the club for funds is the day he is beaten! Keep going NC...it will be a very interesting road ahead
I'm not saying this is necessarily nothing to worry about, but at the same time I work with loads of successful companies whose treasury departments frequently engage in re-financing arrangements like this. It's all pretty complicated stuff, but it doesn't mean you're dis-appearing down the toilet bowl. And for those that say "what happened to the Liebherrs" - it doesn't work like that. The family trust is like a shareholder, Cortese has already made them a fantastic profit, and as a result they wrote off all the debt at end of last season and swapped it for "equity" i.e. a share in the profits. This leaves the club debt free and if further investment is needed it's cheaper for Cortese to get it from the markets than for the Leibherr trustees to divert money money from other (profitable) ventures. I trust Cortese, he seems pretty sharp to me. I'm not worried.
I'm saying **** all on this subject until Cortese says something about it . Given he most probably won't this is my last post on the subject. I'll just let all the people that love to read bad into everything carry on with their doom mongering.
Whatever people say, it is quite concerning that the day we take an unspecified loan for money we have'nt even earned yet is the same day that plans for a £15 million pound training ground also stop. However, in the worst case scenario of the club being for sale, i find it hard to believe that there wouldnt be a host of interested parties, with all the assets that are with the club, and ofcourse premier league status.
Lummy Charlie were off again.......what's with you lot. We don't have a clue, some speculation is way off the boil. What ever the loan is for Cortese knows what he is doing. Nearly every one posting on here wants the club to buy players and improve the stadium and upgrade the training facilities...........You tell me any club in this country that wouldn't need some form of Financing to do it. Further than that you tell me which club in the Championship or Premier that hasn't got a loan of some sort......... Edit:- Just a thought are you sure the Family do not actually partly own the Virgin Isles company....just though I would throw that in while we are rumour mongering...........
Agreed I guess every club has fans that always think the worse, sad really when they should be enjoying us back in the Prem. I just guess some are never happy unless they can moan / worry about something.
I'm amazed people are knocking other fans for being worried about this, I'm not sure if any of you have dealt with contractors before, but the only reason they refuse to continue working is when the money stops, the fact they have put their tools down at the training ground suggests to me that they haven't been paid. the only reasons for that are 1) the contractors want more money than first agreed. 2) we are adding more to the initial plans. 3) we have run out of money.
Sibley has denied that the training ground has stopped due to money problems on twitter. I'm having a go at fans that jump to conclusions while having no facts at all. We don't even know how big the loan is for **** sake.
My best guess is that the loan is to do with the Ramirez deal, Bologna wanted the money up front rather than in installments so we financed it to achieve the same ends. Means we end up in the same position.