This is no doubt a question steeped a bit in ignorance as I haven't followed the ins and outs of the whole Pompey saga, but can anyone tell me why or how the administrators and/or the trust can force Chanrai to sell the ground to them if he doesn't want to?
Think the argument is more about price. Chanrai wants oodles, but Pompey supporters argue that the value is lower because it is designated as a sports facility and not for development. Can't be forced to sell (I think), but may settle for something rather than nothing. Every deal involving Chanrai is convuluted (polite term) so perhaps PFC hope something will come out about legitimacy of deal.
I think it is a little more complex than that. Chanrai does not own Fratton Park but has money secured against it which is owed to him as a creditor. The issue is about the true value of that debt and how much should be paid as part of the administration process to allow the Administrator to sell the club without that debt. I don't think the issue is about the true value or otherwise of Fratton Park but an agreement is needed on the amount to be paid to free the new owners from that debt. I think if Chanrai owned the stadium as a separate business entity to the football club he could not be forced to sell it but it would be a simple case of agreeing a rent or purchase price with the new owners of the football club. I think it was a little like our situation where an agreement was reached in settlement of the money owed to Norwich Union as it was known then. It will also be interesting to see how the stadium is protected when the PST take over. I would not be surprised to see that the property developer purchases the stadium and that the purchase will be separate from the club so that should things get messy again his investment would not be drawn in as an asset against any debts. Having said that someone with a better understanding of the whole administration process will probably clarify it for us all.
This is the sticking point, and the one that could bring the whole deal down. At the time that the administrators preferred the PST bid, I made a point that Chainrai could simply not sell Fratton Park to PST. His valuation was £17M. Apparently, it is now £12M, as he is holding FP as security against the 12M that Portsmouth FC owe him. PST don't even have £1.2M to spare, let alone 10 times that. And if they had more Chainrai would obviously want it. Then they have Sacha Gaydamak, who owns all the immediate land surrounding FP, to contend with. Frankly, I see the whole thing going to pot, unless Chainrai and Gaydamak suddenly become very philanthropic indeed, and that would be totally out of character. They are businessmen, after all. They're in life to make money, not lose it. The administrators reckon there's a strong chance of liquidation. If Pompey do go down Chainrai and Gaydamak make a packet on the land. The more I see of it the more I think it'll happen. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20665933
BTW, what do PL, PM and DF say about this..? I wouldn't mind betting they've been guarding themselves against the fall. I know I was when Saints were between a rock and a hard place just 3½ years ago.
I am glad someone has brought this up because it has confused me as well! On another note, surely if Chanrai is owed 12million then that debt should be subject to the 2p in the pound rule as well. You can't have one rule for one debtor and one for another.
I'm not sure how you can do that. If they bought a share then they may lose some or all of it. If not then the only other thing they could have done is to have put a Saints shirt and season ticket on their Christmas list for Santa.
Believe the council have designated the land for sporting purposes only which reduces the value, but we all know things change. I just want Chanrai and fellow vultures to get stung. I don't know how you prepare for losing your team. I would hate to see any football news...very hard to avoid on TV and in the papers thes days. Wrong people are getting punished here.
What I meant was emotionally guarding themselves. When Saints were literally days and then hours from going out of business I resigned myself to the inevitable to make the shock feel just a bit easier. I would imagine some Pompey fans are doing the same. I don't think there would be many Pompey supporters who would change alliegance if their club did fall. Not nowadays. 30-40 years back it would have been different.
In that case, and if Portsmouth Council are firm, then Chainrai and Co have virtually worthless assets unless they cooperate. Looks slightly better already.
I'm convinced they'll waltz their way into court, be done in 10 mins and walk out again with massive stupid grins on their faces.
Gaydamak doesn't own the land around fratton park, his company was put in liquidation if I remember right. So the PST would have to buy the land from the Liquidators. (Whoever they are)
Chanrai wants 12 Million for the STADIUM . PST have had 3 independent valuations all of which are lower than the 2.75 million PST have offered Chanrai for the ground . They hope the Court orders Chanrai to accept this . That's my understanding anyway . More worrying IMHO for the PST is they better hope all those people that have pledged £1000.00 actually pay up , or they are sunk . Hope the latter ( Them Sinking ) does NOT happen .
Why? Any other company that had 3 admins in 14 years, wiped out £150 million of debt (including a £40 million + tax bill) would have been liquidated long ago. You can't really use the "Saints will miss a rival" line, we've hardly played them in the last 50 years as we've been above them for most of that time. Plus if they were liquidated, they'd form a new club in non league and Saints would have a new rival. Either way fans trust or new club in non league, Saints are extremely unlikely to play Pompey any time soon.
I feel sorry for the creditors. Why should the fans trust benefit by getting hold of a business that has done so much harm and benefitted from wiping out huge liabilities? Liquidation and starting a new club in non league is what should happen.
