Acun looking for a buyer.

What's GFAW ?

 

Jim's fellow Acun apologist.

 

Integrity and football parted company a long time ago

 

Tom Griffin EFL Analysis:

The takeover fee Acun Ilicali could really bank for Hull City, ‘even if he gives away the club for free…’

Hull City are one of many English clubs encountering financial mismanagement, with no simple resolution to their mountain of issues.

After Sheffield Wednesday were slapped with a transfer embargo last month, Hull City were also handed a three-window transfer embargo for failing to fulfil their payments to players they had signed.

Hull have appealed the ban, and owner Acun Ilicali is hopeful restrictions will be eased. But nonetheless, it is worrying times for the Tigers, who paused their recruitment amidst the ongoing turmoil.

On Friday, a report from The Athletic even claimed that Hull have held talks over a possible sale, but any chance of that coming to fruition hinges on Ilicali’s decision.

To gain further insight into the chaotic situation, EFL Analysis spoke to resident finance expert Adam Williams about what the club is potentially valued at.

please log in to view this image

Photo by Serkan Avci/Anadolu via Getty Images
Hull City currently worth an estimated £50 million
When asking Williams about the valuation of a football club, he responded: “To an extent, it’s a fool’s errand trying to value a club. There are so many variables and metrics you can use from a financial perspective, but ultimately, it’s about market forces and appetite for risk of the owner who is buying.

“At the end of the day, Hull City lose money and are pretty much always going to lose money. That means that Ilicali is going to be richer every year, even if he gives away the club for free, because he doesn’t have to underwrite the losses.”

It’s commonly known that Hull owe Ilicali over £60 million, something that could make any potential sale difficult, as it depends on how much debt the Turkish TV mogul is willing to write off.

Meanwhile, when discussing the value of the club itself, Williams pointed out that Ipswich Town think they can get £350 million due to the power of parachute payments, and Dejphon Chansiri wants around £100 million for Sheffield Wednesday.

As for Hull City, Williams believes their enterprise value is around £40 million – £50 million, but Hull’s external debt of £22 million also eats into that sum.

“But if we look at what other clubs have been valued in the Championship of late… At the top end, you have Ipswich Town who they can get £350m.

“They have parachute payments for the next two years, however. Even so, I personally don’t think they’ll get anywhere near that valuation. Wrexham are also valuing themselves around the same number – they are a unique case, however, because of their commercial operation.

“Sheffield United went for about £110m, and Chansiri at Sheffield Wednesday optimistically appears to want something similar.

“With Hull City, they have good attendances and decent commercial income, but nothing to particularly write home about. Ilicali bought them for £20-30m. I think he could maybe get an enterprise value of £40-50m in today’s market, but the £22m worth of external debt they have will eat into that.”

What it would take for Ilicali to put Hull City up for sale
At the beginning of Ilicali’s tenure, Hull fans were hooked on his dream of reaching the Premier League, but the closest they’ve come so far is a seventh-place finish in 2023/24.

Ilicali went all guns blazing throughout that campaign to attract the likes of Liam Delap, Jaden Philogene and Fabio Carvalho to the club in an attempt to reach the big time.

Unfortunately, it backfired and last season was a huge reality check for the businessman, who saw City survive on the final day against Portsmouth.

Now, with a three-window transfer embargo in place, providing it doesn’t get overturned, supporters have begun to turn on Ilicali.

So, what would it take for him to sell Hull City? Williams thinks it comes down to how much of the debt he is willing to write off.

“The actual sale price, however, is going to come down to how much of the debt Ilicali is willing to write off,” he explained. “The club owed him £44m last year. He’s not going to get that back, but how willing he is to be flexible is going to be crucial if he is to sell the club.”

 

I don't disagree with that. Whichever way it's come out of the woodwork it's concerning, I just don't see how it can be a club debt given the accounts have been published at least once since Acun took over and there was no mention. There was a guy who posted on here who did a great job of breaking them down and I'm sure he would have highlighted that.

 

I'm no apologist, I've always said I'm happy to admit I backed the wrong horse. I just don't think it's as clear cut as some want you to believe. As others have said it would be madness to have done some of the things we have done if things were that bad.

I think some people have gotten giddy and the more things are said the more people jump behind it. We owe a lot of money to clubs for players, so do most other clubs above league 1 level. We owe some suppliers, so do a lot of clubs at every level. There are kit brands owed absolutely shed loads all around the EFL, that is 100% fact so finding out we owe a few suppliers isn't a shock, however disappointing it may be that's life dealing with a pro sports club. They focus on paying 3 people, players, staff and the HMRC. Anyone who has dealt with the latter will know why they make sure they pay them first!

 

Nutshell; Acun has lived the life of Riley for three years on the back of the club credit card and now is looking for someone else to pick up the tab.
He joins a long list of chancers who have fleeced this club.

 

It’s all about the spin.

 

If you read the above article then it explains how the sale value of the club really depends on the losses that the owner is willing or able to stand. This just adds another 3m to those potential losses, whether it's club debt or personal debt it's still debt related to the club.

Acun says himself he's invested about 80m

Say it's worth 50 m, minus the 22m in football debt, plus a 6 figure supplier debt, and 3m owed to Ehab that I assume would be paid from the sale proceeds, then his overall losses would amount to nearly £60m.

I suspect if he was willing or able to stand those losses then we'd have new owners by now. But ultimately he may feel his interests are better served by going the administration route if it gets to the point he can't sustain his ownership as then his media company would at least get something back on the loans.

 

aka someone that has the temerity to have a different opinion to you.


The views expressed in my posts are not necessarily mine.

 

Gone For A Walk

Have you asked him then Jim ? Did he tell you ? Are you going to tell us ?

 

Or someone blindly denying the weight of evidence in some forlorn hope this will go away.

 

As you once said to me, nothing wrong with being positive (or something along those lines)

 

Surely It would only be in the club accounts if it was a club debt.

 

You’re 100% correct, I don’t even watch the EPL much anymore, it disgusts me. It’s not just football thigh, it’s in all walks of life, people are ****s end of. Most are self-entitled twats, and I think technology and advancements in many areas of life have a lot to do with it.

I watch a lot of baseball, it’s probably my favourite sport these days. They’re still well overpaid, but there’s a bit more humility in the sport.

 

Been following this and similar threads this week, gets more like Lord of the Flies by the minute!

Wonder which one of us is Piggy...

 

There isn't, but there comes a point it's foolhardy when there's a weight of evidence to the contrary. And I'm pointing out the weight of evidence.

Personally I'm not Acun in or out because it's a pointless and self defeating game of charades. But I'm still going to debate the evidence as it appears when someone elses POV doesn't acknowledge that evidence.

I don't think my and Jim's interaction over this in the last days have been particularly uncivil either.

It's.just good debate.

 

TT hitting the nail on the head once again....Seems as if we attract the wide boys who have the gift of the gab Del Trotter style, but very rarely if ever step up to the plate or have the conkers. Seems as if this guy will soon reach the pinnacle. Sadly all to typical City syndrome.

 

Not a chance. I'm about to launch a coaching aid product and need his help

 

Or he may have decided to have one last throw of the dice to get us up and thought he could get away with holding back some payments to give him a bit more cash to play with to entice the likes of McBurnie and Barry?
If that was the case it’s backfired pretty spectacularly.