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Pompey Takeover Saga


Fitzhugh Fella

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Seriously... You're taking the p1ss out of someone for being "ITK"?

 

The amount of sheer brass neck is breathtaking...

 

 

No its defensive man desperately trying to find a sand pit to stick his head into !

 

Don't you love seeing all those stones that some of the "Blue Few" threw within their glasshouse now raining down upon their heads ! :D

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I remember someone posting that they can't go into administration because they have a Winding Up Order against them.

 

Can someone confirm this. I can't believe they can simply go into administration, wipe the slate clean, and carry on. Why would Gaydamak and Chanrai agree to this? They would lose their investment and be left with a load of land they couldn't develop because there would still be a crap football team and 6000 fans there.

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I remember someone posting that they can't go into administration because they have a Winding Up Order against them.

 

Can someone confirm this. I can't believe they can simply go into administration, wipe the slate clean, and carry on. Why would Gaydamak and Chanrai agree to this? They would lose their investment and be left with a load of land they couldn't develop because there would still be a crap football team and 6000 fans there.

 

Chanrai now has a 15 year income due to the dodgy asset striping that took place over the weekend. He is sorted either way, money fully laundered.

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Chanrai now has a 15 year income due to the dodgy asset striping that took place over the weekend. He is sorted either way, money fully laundered.

 

Bit of a risk, him relying on £1million a year from a club that will drop through the leagues. I don't buy that one. I think he took ownership of the ground so that he could develop it, not be a landlord.

 

As far as I can see, nothing has changed since last week, apart from the court case looming ever closer.

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I remember someone posting that they can't go into administration because they have a Winding Up Order against them.

 

Can someone confirm this. I can't believe they can simply go into administration, wipe the slate clean, and carry on. Why would Gaydamak and Chanrai agree to this? They would lose their investment and be left with a load of land they couldn't develop because there would still be a crap football team and 6000 fans there.

 

There is some (to put it mildly) debate about this. I think.. The company itself cannot put itself into admin but a secured creditor can. Some debate over whether Chainrai is still a secured creditor or not now. They can also apply to the court to be put into admin I believe.

 

As to why choose admin then gady has not say in the running of the business (allegedly), Chainrai has the ground now so given the choice between pompey being in admin and surviving or going completely phut there are some advantages to Chainrai to go into admin as more chance he will get his rent on FP then if they are bought up. Main risk with admin is that there is a good chance that it may not be sustainable till they get a buyer in which case it goes phut anyway.

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From Charles Sale in todays Mail:- The bizarre goings-on at Fratton Park include Portsmouth, at one stage, promising they would not sign anybody if the Premier League lifted their transfer embargo, but would use any such announcement only to help their prospects of offloading players.

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-1253053/CHARLES-SALE-Alan-Curbishley-case-strikes-new-Hammer-blow-West-Ham.html#ixzz0gLgTACQI

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I noticed on last night late South Today bulletin the words had been changed from 'Takeover' to 'Investment.'

 

Its fairly obvious than none of the 3 alleged parties have enough money to completely drag pompey out the mire. At the moment it looks like chainrai and co are having difficulty even getting one of them to confirm they have enough money to pay off HMRC let alone take the club forward.

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Arkadi Gaydamaks wealth came from, amongst other crimes, the illegal sale of 170,000 landmines to Angola. It is for this reason that his bank accounts were frozen in Israel and Russia. £17M from these accounts were paid to Chanrai, by way of an uncontested court order, regarding an investment Gaydamak was meant to make in one of Chanrai's businesses.

About the same sum that was reinvested in Portsmouth Football Club.

 

This photo that I don't apologise for posting again shows the damage that landmines cause in Angola.

 

_40573491_angolafootball_bbc_203.jpg

 

Since this picture, the European Union spent $1.5M on the destruction of Angola's landmine stocks.

 

Look carefully at this. This is how the purchase of Fratton Park was indirectly funded. I hope that the courts in this country invalidate this asset transfer and investigate these crooks.

 

Dirty, dirty money...

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As a (very) long time lurker on SWF and it's predesesors I just want to place my grubby electronic paw print on this thread. What ever the outcome of this soap opera, this thread has been fantastic entertainment, so thankyou to all posters from where ever you are (even Skatesmouth).

 

Funny. Serious. Interesting. Informative. Did I mention funny? and even a bit sad at times ( I do genuinely feel for all the decent Pompey supporters, I remember how I felt last summer, it wasn't nice)

 

Anyway. Thanks for the entertainment.

 

Carry on.

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BBC Solent this morning said Storrie is locked in discussions with the SA prospective buyers. Chainrai & Kushner were talking to another two interested parties.

 

Storrie is the CEO and therefore acting for the business. It must be clear by now that whatever deal was agreed last week subject to proof of funds has collapsed. Others have speculated why. It could be the result on Saturday, it could be the change in ownership of the stadium, it could be that funds have yet to be transferred or it might simply be lack of any real agreement with the main creditors, HMRC, Chainrai & Gaydamac.

 

I think it is safe to say the SA's were not just going to take over the club and debts without a massive discount. HMRC will not likely budge. Gaydamac can afford to wait as most of his debt is already long term to 2012 and he has the surrounding property as security. Chainria appears to want out as soon as possible. Maybe he has seen what sort of deal is going down, did not see it to his advantage and grabbed the stadium property with a lease back to cover his losses.

 

Now here is the strange thing. Why is Chainrai & Kushner talking to two other potential investors? They do not own the football club, only the stadium. They are creditors. What are creditors doing talking to potential buyers? Puts into perspective the comments "rescue package"

 

I think Chainrai has given up on the SA interest and is trying desperately to recover as much of his money as he can. He will put them into Administration before the week is out. I am not sure of the legal issues because we do not know the terms of the loan secured against the Stadium but I bet he has been clever enough to keep that out of administration. I also suspect he had it valued before the loan security and will be able to demonstrate that his "purchase" for £10m was a fair price to pay should HMRC challenge the legality. But as I say, I am no expert in such matters and we do not have all the facts.

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More detail on the news website...

 

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/frattonlatest/Time-is-running-out-to.6095049.jp

 

Pompey's takeover talks with a South African consortium almost collapsed last night when the bidders missed a crucial deadline.

Current owner Balram Chainrai had set the consortium a 4.30pm deadline to produce enough evidence it has the financial clout to invest in Pompey in the long-term.

 

The News understands the consortium did not satisfy Mr Chainrai's demands, throwing a spanner in the works.

 

...

 

But The News has been told failure to strike a deal with a bidder by the end of today could see the club choose to go in to administration rather than face possible extinction at the High Court on Monday.

 

This is despite Mr Chainrai's pledge to pump in his own cash if he can't find a buyer.

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There's one thing I don't quite understand. Perhaps someone in the know can answer this question:

 

How can Chainrai have taken ownership of the ground when a Winding Up Petition means that all assets are frozen?

 

Didn't he secure it by default from Al-Mirage prior to their first court hearing?

 

Hmmmm...

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There's one thing I don't quite understand. Perhaps someone in the know can answer this question:

 

How can Chainrai have taken ownership of the ground when a Winding Up Petition means that all assets are frozen?

 

I don't think that was a club asset but was an asset of Al Mirage sequested over the weekend by Baloo !

 

Add to that the uncertainty of who was actually in charge of the club and who holds responsibility ?

 

Hell of a mess whatever way you look at it.

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There's one thing I don't quite understand. Perhaps someone in the know can answer this question:

 

How can Chainrai have taken ownership of the ground when a Winding Up Petition means that all assets are frozen?

You need to have sight of the original loan contract and a legal background to answer that.
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New Zealand-based businessman Victor Cattermole is interested in buying the Fratton Park side through his investment group, but told the Guardian: "In an ideal world we would like to purchase the club before Monday, but we will not be rushed."

 

He added: "The unfortunate thing is putting anything together in business takes time. Most processes like this cannot be rushed."

 

Cattermole insisted he had the required finances and outlined his plans were he to take over on the south coast.

 

"We would plan to go forward with a different strategy over a time frame of a five-year period," he added.

 

"Moving to playing somewhere else, building another stadium is one option.

 

"Everyone agrees the stadium is too small."

 

everyone except the fans who can only manage to find 17,000 despite reducing prices.

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BBC Solent this morning said Storrie is locked in discussions with the SA prospective buyers. Chainrai & Kushner were talking to another two interested parties.

 

Storrie is the CEO and therefore acting for the business. It must be clear by now that whatever deal was agreed last week subject to proof of funds has collapsed. Others have speculated why. It could be the result on Saturday, it could be the change in ownership of the stadium, it could be that funds have yet to be transferred or it might simply be lack of any real agreement with the main creditors, HMRC, Chainrai & Gaydamac.

 

I think it is safe to say the SA's were not just going to take over the club and debts without a massive discount. HMRC will not likely budge. Gaydamac can afford to wait as most of his debt is already long term to 2012 and he has the surrounding property as security. Chainria appears to want out as soon as possible. Maybe he has seen what sort of deal is going down, did not see it to his advantage and grabbed the stadium property with a lease back to cover his losses.

 

Now here is the strange thing. Why is Chainrai & Kushner talking to two other potential investors? They do not own the football club, only the stadium. They are creditors. What are creditors doing talking to potential buyers? Puts into perspective the comments "rescue package"

 

I think Chainrai has given up on the SA interest and is trying desperately to recover as much of his money as he can. He will put them into Administration before the week is out. I am not sure of the legal issues because we do not know the terms of the loan secured against the Stadium but I bet he has been clever enough to keep that out of administration. I also suspect he had it valued before the loan security and will be able to demonstrate that his "purchase" for £10m was a fair price to pay should HMRC challenge the legality. But as I say, I am no expert in such matters and we do not have all the facts.

 

If he is still a secured creditor and/or the high court accepts a request, and if can find an administrator daft enough to take this job on

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New Zealand-based businessman Victor Cattermole is interested in buying the Fratton Park side through his investment group, but told the Guardian: "In an ideal world we would like to purchase the club before Monday, but we will not be rushed."

 

He added: "The unfortunate thing is putting anything together in business takes time. Most processes like this cannot be rushed."

Cattermole insisted he had the required finances and outlined his plans were he to take over on the south coast.

 

"We would plan to go forward with a different strategy over a time frame of a five-year period," he added.

 

"Moving to playing somewhere else, building another stadium is one option.

 

"Everyone agrees the stadium is too small."

 

everyone except the fans who can only manage to find 17,000 despite reducing prices.

 

Or...

 

I would rather wait until they were placed into Administration and I could buy at a knock down price ! ;)

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Or...

 

I would rather wait until they were placed into Administration and I could buy at a knock down price ! ;)

 

Ah, I take back my previous comment - clearly a sane pyramid seller !

I am sure for the sake of a few days, the vulture tactic is preferable to losing c£50m to keep Storrie etc out of jail.

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Ah, I take back my previous comment - clearly a sane pyramid seller !

I am sure for the sake of a few days, the vulture tactic is preferable to losing c£50m to keep Storrie etc out of jail.

 

Seems likely really !

 

Chanrai is talking to this guy ( not Storrie who is chasing the African dream), and of course Chanrai has already publically mooted Administration as a real option this week.

Maybe the Kiwi says, "OK Baloo I will buy it once you have placed it into Admin but not before"

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I'm a little bit torn.

I find myself loving this thread and then I find myself feeling sorry for them... and the I think of the cheating, the lying, Peter Storrie's punchable face... and it becomes fun all over again. I think I need help :)

 

Sure enough, I think this is not the end but the beginning of the end. You can see it all unwinding horribly over the months to come: administration, a 9pt penalty (though only PL points, which means nothing as they are already all but relegated)... and then someone looks over the books a little closer and *boom* a 25 point penalty and lots of legal stuff. This thread may have some life yet.

 

I'd really like to see Storrie get his comeuppance. I know some call him a hero for destroying Pompey but that scumbag doesn't belong anywhere in football (or business for that matter) and I'd love to see him and old Bagpuss in trouble with the law. I bet Storrie would sing like a canary... and then develop a mystery illness that can only be cured by being outdoors, preferably not behind bars of any kind.

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"Moving to playing somewhere else, building another stadium is one option.

 

"Everyone agrees the stadium is too small."

 

 

Errr, what stadium Mr C? There isn't one in the deal, they don't own it anymore so that's your first problem solved!

 

 

 

How come everyone on this thread bar a couple of deluded lunatics have been able to see this coming from afar yet Storrie and the gang are still giving medical treatment to a corpse?

 

I'm no financial wizard but huge overheads + small income has always equalled big trouble, are they a little dim?

 

 

And on a general note - some great analysis on here - we should set up a panel to rescue businesses before they see problems coming, and offer them satire and abuse to help them through.

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I have been thinking I should post a similar thank you for the hours of entertainment this thread has given me.

 

Can`t wait for the final episode.

 

Coming soon, THE most anticipated media event since Who Shot JR?

 

Who car bombed the Mercedes?

 

In other shock news, The thread regulars are today revealed to be in advanced discussions with Waddingtons in Leeds regarding the licencing of a new Board Game based on this thread and featuring a Who Done It based on the now legendary Nottarf Krap.

 

The game, due for release in time for Christmas will be entitled Clueless and all profits from the sale of the game will be used to pay for the drinks bill after the forum match.

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If Mr C has an agreement to lease FP for 15 years and £1million a year then whoever buys the club (yeah, right) will need to abide by that agreement or pay it off so the chances of them getting a new ground are zero and they can't survive as a top flight club with that sh(i)t hole as it is.

 

They really are royally fu©ked whichever way you look at it.

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Good news! The South Africans have provided proof of funds.

Apparently they are looking to build 4 houses or a hotel on Fratton Park.

Harry Redknapp will win £20 in a beauty contest and Peter Storrie will go to jail - but I'm sure he'll only be visiting :)

 

MonopolyMoney-main_Full.jpg

They have the Comminity Chest, David James will have a strop as he didn't win the beauty contest and they will forever be going back to go..ing down
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Arkadi Gaydamaks wealth came from, amongst other crimes, the illegal sale of 170,000 landmines to Angola. It is for this reason that his bank accounts were frozen in Israel and Russia. £17M from these accounts were paid to Chanrai, by way of an uncontested court order, regarding an investment Gaydamak was meant to make in one of Chanrai's businesses.

About the same sum that was reinvested in Portsmouth Football Club.

 

This photo that I don't apologise for posting again shows the damage that landmines cause in Angola.

 

_40573491_angolafootball_bbc_203.jpg

 

Since this picture, the European Union spent $1.5M on the destruction of Angola's landmine stocks.

 

Look carefully at this. This is how the purchase of Fratton Park was indirectly funded. I hope that the courts in this country invalidate this asset transfer and investigate these crooks.

 

Dirty, dirty money...

 

Nevermind that, are any of them available on a free?

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If Mr C has an agreement to lease FP for 15 years and £1million a year then whoever buys the club (yeah, right) will need to abide by that agreement or pay it off so the chances of them getting a new ground are zero and they can't survive as a top flight club with that sh(i)t hole as it is.

 

They really are royally fu©ked whichever way you look at it.

 

And when you extrapolate that last thought you come to the clear conclusion that they face a long slow lingering pain.

 

Which in some ways is very sad, but which has been glaringly obvious for some considerable time simply through the lack of any positive action to do something about it.

 

We're not wiser than them, we are simply more experienced. We couldn't get bought during the greatest boom in history when banks gave away money for fun. What hope did they ever have post Lehman.

 

Extinction via liquidation may eventually be seen by them to have been their dream solution.

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SSN have just been speaking to one of their correspondents in the studio..

 

Talks are still ongoing and that they went on until 2am and will resume later today.

After speakig to insolvency experts they see no other outcome but PFC going into Admin or even liquidation due to the amount of debt and the timescale they have to conclude a deal with a satisfactory conclusion for all parties concerned.

Would anyone really want to buy them anyway?

The HMRC are DESPERATE TO PUT THEM INTO LIQUIDATION.

 

All according to SSN.

I have no idea who the insolvency 'experts' were.

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Good news! The South Africans have provided proof of funds.

Apparently they are looking to build 4 houses or a hotel on Fratton Park.

Harry Redknapp will win £20 in a beauty contest and Peter Storrie will go to jail - but I'm sure he'll only be visiting :)

 

MonopolyMoney-main_Full.jpg

 

Presumably Fratton park is Old Kent Road, and Leigh Park is Whitechapel.

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I have been thinking I should post a similar thank you for the hours of entertainment this thread has given me.

 

Can`t wait for the final episode.

 

I think many of us have been more readers than writers but I feel 'thank you's' are in order to the very imformative posters on here. What about a 'Pompey Takeover Saga' Awards? For example:

 

Best Post

Best ITK

Most informative (legal)

Most informative (financial)

Most annoying skate (no prize for suggestions here!!)

Funniest post

 

etc etc - you get the idea!

 

FWIW I really appreciated Crab Lungs list of events - maybe an update is in order?

I also have been wondering when this thread would end but surely it will continue even if they are wound up. It would have all the fall-out and repercussions of this followed by the various court cases (and maybe new ones) and then the start of AFC Poopey and their 'takeover'. It could never end!

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There's one thing I don't quite understand. Perhaps someone in the know can answer this question:

 

How can Chainrai have taken ownership of the ground when a Winding Up Petition means that all assets are frozen?

 

He can't, this has been my stance all along, this is what I am told by a corporate lawyer, so I have to believe this information.

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If Mr C has an agreement to lease FP for 15 years and £1million a year then whoever buys the club (yeah, right) will need to abide by that agreement or pay it off so the chances of them getting a new ground are zero and they can't survive as a top flight club with that sh(i)t hole as it is.

 

They really are royally fu©ked whichever way you look at it.

 

£1m pa rent at a yield of around 7% (somewhat less than ordinairy commercial property as there isn't a fantastic demand for football grounds in Portsmouth) gives a value of around £14.3m. I guess the remainder of Baloo's debt is secured on future TV income?

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"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." - Wilkins Micawber

 

Now, be honest, you just wouldn't get Dickens quoted on a skate site, would you?

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