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Pompey Takeover Saga


Fitzhugh Fella

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The outstanding debt was completely cleared when Markus bought the club, but were the two main creditors really paid in full?

 

It was reported at the time that the debt was £27.5m. Approximately £4.5m to Barclays Bank and £23m to Norwich Union. It was also reported that Norwich Union were willing to write off a considerable amount of the outstanding loan to any buyer. Maybe that wasn't true, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of offer as they risked losing the lot if no buyer was found. It was reported that Markus paid between £13m and £15m, but nothing was disclosed so I am not sure how this figure reached the press. Maybe that was the initial fee and then subsequent payments were made - although I think that goes against the general `all debts' have been paid' line.

 

It is worth noting that a debt of £20.4 million appeared on the Saints balance sheet (a loan from Markus to the club) after the admin, with £2.9m of cash in the bank. I might be barking up the wrong tree, but perhaps that suggests the real fee paid for the club (and subsequently to Barclays and NU) was more like £17.5m, with Barclays and NU agreeing to write off roughly £10m between them?

 

I believe there was talk on this forum of an additional payment to NU should we make it to the premiership. Is this true? What was this figure and did it ever appear in a subsequent financial statement?

 

One last thing. I know the `paid in full' conclusion was made by someone on these boards based on the theory that if you add up all the payments made to NU they roughly came to the same amount as the initial loan. But of course that means NU didn't earn any interest on the loan.

 

I am probably miles off here, and I'd be grateful if someone could explain how and why. We certainly didn't pay 4p in the pound, or ripped off local businesses and charities, but was the final agreement more like 64p in the pound (if my maths are right) than 100p in the pound?

 

I can't be bothered to look up the exact company names or debt amounts but broadly speaking...

 

 

We had two companies.

 

The first company was called "Southampton football club Limited" (or similar). This company owned "the club" (but not the stadium) and will have owed money to other football clubs and small creditors (Terry the Builder et al).

 

This company never went into administration. It continued to trade as it always had and paid 100% the money it owed.

 

 

The seond company "Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc" owned the stadium and the shares of Southampton football club Limited. It owed £27m to Aviva which was secured on the stadium.

 

It was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc which went into administration.

 

 

 

When Marcus came along he (via another company) bought the stadium and the shares in Southampton Football Club Limited from the Administrator of Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc for £15m (IIRC).

 

This left Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc with £15m in cash to pay out to its creditors (Aviva) and so Aviva took a hit and only received £15m or so of the £27m that it should ordinarily have received.

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure which company owed the money to Barclays. If it was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc then the £15m will have been split between Barclays and Aviva. More likely is that Southampton Football Club Limited owed the money to Barclays and Marcus lent extra money to Southampton Football Club Limited so that it in turn could repay Barclays.

 

I hope that makes sense...

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I can't be bothered to look up the exact company names or debt amounts but broadly speaking...

 

 

We had two companies.

 

The first company was called "Southampton football club Limited" (or similar). This company owned "the club" (but not the stadium) and will have owed money to other football clubs and small creditors (Terry the Builder et al).

 

This company never went into administration. It continued to trade as it always had and paid 100% the money it owed.

 

 

The seond company "Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc" owned the stadium and the shares of Southampton football club Limited. It owed £27m to Aviva which was secured on the stadium.

 

It was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc which went into administration.

 

 

 

When Marcus came along he (via another company) bought the stadium and the shares in Southampton Football Club Limited from the Administrator of Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc for £15m (IIRC).

 

This left Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc with £15m in cash to pay out to its creditors (Aviva) and so Aviva took a hit and only received £15m or so of the £27m that it should ordinarily have received.

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure which company owed the money to Barclays. If it was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc then the £15m will have been split between Barclays and Aviva. More likely is that Southampton Football Club Limited owed the money to Barclays and Marcus lent extra money to Southampton Football Club Limited so that it in turn could repay Barclays.

 

I hope that makes sense...

 

My recollection is that it was the act of Barclays 'suddenly' reducing the overdraft facility to £4m that triggered Southampton Leisure Holdings going into administration, which would tend to suggest that it was SLH that owed Barclays? (Disclaimer: I'm now at the age where my memory isn't as good as it used to be!) :)

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My recollection is that it was the act of Barclays 'suddenly' reducing the overdraft facility to £4m that triggered Southampton Leisure Holdings going into administration, which would tend to suggest that it was SLH that owed Barclays? (Disclaimer: I'm now at the age where my memory isn't as good as it used to be!) :)

 

I think (think) Barclays reducing the overdraft, meant that Southampton Football Club couldn't pay money up to the holding company, which in turn meant that the holding company couldn't pay the Aviva loan - hence the holding company went into administration.

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So what you guys are saying then is that, once more, the skates are making things up as they go along. Got to hand it to them, I thought this thread was finally dying and, once more, they come up with something to show that it's alive and well.

 

It makes me laugh, they have to make stuff up about us. We just have to look at their much vaunted history......

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I can't be bothered to look up the exact company names or debt amounts but broadly speaking...

 

 

We had two companies.

 

The first company was called "Southampton football club Limited" (or similar). This company owned "the club" (but not the stadium) and will have owed money to other football clubs and small creditors (Terry the Builder et al).

 

This company never went into administration. It continued to trade as it always had and paid 100% the money it owed.

 

 

The seond company "Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc" owned the stadium and the shares of Southampton football club Limited. It owed £27m to Aviva which was secured on the stadium.

 

It was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc which went into administration.

 

 

 

When Marcus came along he (via another company) bought the stadium and the shares in Southampton Football Club Limited from the Administrator of Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc for £15m (IIRC).

 

This left Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc with £15m in cash to pay out to its creditors (Aviva) and so Aviva took a hit and only received £15m or so of the £27m that it should ordinarily have received.

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure which company owed the money to Barclays. If it was Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc then the £15m will have been split between Barclays and Aviva. More likely is that Southampton Football Club Limited owed the money to Barclays and Marcus lent extra money to Southampton Football Club Limited so that it in turn could repay Barclays.

 

I hope that makes sense...

 

it does. Cheers. The debt to Norwich Union (which renamed to Aviva) was £23.1m. The combined debt was £27.5m (£23.1m to NU and £4.4m to Barclays).

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Do we know if the £23.1m was the sum claimed by NU or the amount accepted by the liquidator?

 

That would be the sum owed. It was negotiated to ~£15m on purchase with ~£5m on promotion to the PL. Not a bad deal really.

 

I wouldn't know what authority the administrator would have in agreeing a reduced price. Certainly an easier job dealing with two major creditors than the 100s in PFC's case and the Saints part was still a going concern.

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Can you explain that? What did it include? Interest only up to the date of administration? Or future interest as well? Penalties? Other charges?

 

It would have been all outstanding capital and unpaid interest plus some sort of additional charge (whatever was permitted under the loan agreement) for the loan being accelerated.

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It would have been all outstanding capital and unpaid interest plus some sort of additional charge (whatever was permitted under the loan agreement) for the loan being accelerated.

 

To clarify, by "unpaid interest", I mean any interest attached to overdue payments. Not all interest that would have been payable over the life of the loan. The acceleration fees are compensation for loss of the margin on that interest.

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That's what I would have expected, so they did pretty well then. Given that they could then lend that £20m to somebody else at a profit.

 

Indeed.

 

So, Aviva never lost money on our loan per se, they just didn't make as much in interest as they would have done had the mortgage run its course?

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It's been many years since I handled a dispute in England involving an insolvency, but in some of the jurisdictions that I work in the creditor's right to receive the interest on the amount owed ceases when the insolvency event occurs. But it rarely stops them from claiming it in the first instance.

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meanwhile the skates sign another Sheff United player. Still the £6750 they get for the extended FA Cup highlights should help. I bet their owners are wondering how on earth they didn't get selected for one of the five live games this weekend?

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My recollection is that it was the act of Barclays 'suddenly' reducing the overdraft facility to £4m that triggered Southampton Leisure Holdings going into administration, which would tend to suggest that it was SLH that owed Barclays? (Disclaimer: I'm now at the age where my memory isn't as good as it used to be!) :)

 

That's my memory too, from a brewpub with wifi, which may explain it.. Thanks to the expertise here - Clapham et al. Once again this thread entertains and I might have another beer to finish it.

 

I lost a bit on my fun Saints shareholding, but unlike Pompey "shareholders" I went in eyes open..

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Speaking as a fan, I am in awe of the work the PST has carried out

 

:mcinnes:

 

To be fair, most of the work that the PST carries out these days is because they can't afford to pay proper contractors to do it.

 

Who's got a paintbrush?

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David Pleat on Radio 5 just now: "Portsmouth have beautiful facilities here and a lovely ground"

 

I'm surprised they let him out at weekends...

 

Is he the match summariser on 5 Live?

 

If he's down this way he probably took the opportunity to look up some old acquantices in Derby Road.

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meanwhile the skates sign another Sheff United player. Still the £6750 they get for the extended FA Cup highlights should help. I bet their owners are wondering how on earth they didn't get selected for one of the five live games this weekend?

 

It's really funny that they haven't been selected. A cup final against the mighty Bournemouth, this will be there biggest occasion for many years.

 

They must be absolutely gutted!

 

BBC football focus was at fratton earlier, so they may have got a couple of hundred in for that, should keep champagne iain flowing for the afternoon.

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