About time.
An announcement through plus markets, making Franks offer unconditional has been posted at around 13.37 today.
It would appear that he has not yet hit the 75% mark but has waived that part of the deal.
Let the signings begin.
Plusmarkets
The club have also announced a 3pm press confrence to announce the new manager (Sven).
The good doctor has finally completed his due diligence and has made an offer of £81.6 million pounds for what appears to be 55% of mcfc and clears the debt. I say appears as the official announcement from the club is really too long and complicated for the likes of me !
Here are some of the key points :
The shares to be sold :
Walbrook Trustees (Guernsey) Limited 10,140,461 18.75
John Carruthers Wardle/ John Stephen Riches 5,431,681 10.04
Dawn Elizabeth Makin/ David Martin Makin 5,431,680 10.04
Francis H Lee 3,857,044 7.13
John Carruthers Wardle 3,275,233 6.06
David Martin Makin 2,061,406 3.81
Dennis Tueart 36,258 0.07
Bryan Bodek 10,000 0.02
Alistair Mackintosh 9,100 0.02
The walbrook trustees is The Boler estate (probably!)
Board Changes
· Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra will assume the position of Chairman of the Board of Manchester City and Manchester City Football Club;
· John Wardle will resign as non-executive Chairman of Manchester City and will be appointed non-executive Deputy Chairman of Manchester City;
· Alistair Mackintosh will remain as Chief Executive of Manchester City and a director of Manchester City Group;
· Bryan Bodek will remain on the boards of Manchester City and Manchester City Group as a non-executive director;
· Panthongtae and Pintongta Shinawatra, together with Sasin Monvoisin, will be appointed to the boards of both Manchester City and Manchester City Football Club as non-executive directors;
· Dennis Tueart has agreed to resign from the boards of both Manchester City and Manchester City Football Club;
· Mark Boler has agreed to resign from the Board of Manchester City; and
· David Makin has agreed to resign from the board of Manchester City Football Club.
So surprisingly Wardle stays as deputy whilst Mackintosh and Bodek also remain Makin, Tueart, Boler all go.
Obviously Dannys criticism and calls for the club to terminate talks with Mr Shinawatra stung him into action.
As a voice of the fans I can state as a fact that 71.24536% of City fans are behind this bid.
Of course, all of this may simply be the result of a number of journos putting two and two together, but the early morning rumours that Sam Allardyce was to quit his position at Bolton at the end of the season certainly sparked a chain of events that left a lot of people none too happy.
As well as quitting Bolton, the story was that Allardyce had some sort of principle agreement in place to take over at City in the summer, and had been given the nod by Ray Ranson that the job if/when his takeover was completed.
Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, who undertandably was irked as that it appears as though his highly successful manager was set to move onto pastures new - and to a club he has previously described as not being bigger than Bolton. This has apparantly led to Gartside making a complaint with the current City board over Ranson's actions. The current City board are believed to be unhappy that there name is being dragged into all of this.
Stuart Pearce meanwhile came out fighting in his post match interview, stating that he was the best man for the job and the board were right behind him and he was looking to build further in the summer. Interestingly, in addition he believed that there were 'seven or eight' managers who would go before him.
This could lead to problems for Ray Ranson. It is believed that his bid and plans for the club do not meet with unanimous approval at board level (who seemingly favour one of the American consortiums), and this potential negative press may not endear him to those doubters. Whilst not publicly commenting, stories appeared yesterday which suggested Ranson had not contacted Allardyce regarding the managers post.
On the back of all of this - adding a further twist, there were reports yesterday that the former-Thai PM, Thaksin Shinawatra was set to make a £108 million bid for the club after all, having previously suggesting stories linking him to the club were 'rumours'.
Interestingly, one man who has remained quiet on all of this is Allardyce himself. He did not speak to the press following Bolton's 2-2 draw at Chelsea. If he indeed has told Bolton he will leave at the end of the season then there will certainly be a number of sides interested in his services.
After establishing Bolton in the Premiership and now having them consistently challenge for the European places perhaps he feels he cannot take the side any further, and is ready to take step up in terms of the job challenge and also the potential involved at another club.
I believe we could be the front-runners, although even a quick look at the Premiership table suggests the likes of Newcastle, perhaps even Tottenham as well would be interested.
I remember back to a couple of seasons ago when the first Allardyce rumours surfaced, I was against the idea of Allardyce being in charge - dismissing him as a 'long ball merchant', but for what he has achieved the past couple of seasons shows he is one of the top managers around and crucially, he is able to get the best out of the players he has and can implement a sound game plan. I also believe that as time has progressed and he has brought more quality into Bolton, he has refined their approach a little and they are less reliant on the direct approach.
Whilst it may be all speculation at this point, it does seem there is some substance at least to this story. For me, if Allardyce is available, then regardless of who the ownership group is we should pull out all the stops to get him.
Not long after Ray Ranson was reportedly ready to make a second bid to purchase the club, stories began to emerge that a new American investor was on the scene.
Andrew over at purelymancity does a fantastic job of analysing those currently in the frame to take control at the club, and his research suggests that one of the American bids is likely favoured by the board.
Interestingly, on the back of this weeks events, John Wardle announced plans for a summer spending spree, whilst Stuart Pearce - mindful of earlier comments, announced he was in the dark as regards the takeover.
When was the deadline for season ticket renewals incidentally?
All aboard the Manchester City rollercoaster once again, less than 24hrs after it was first announced that Ray Ranson had made a bid the club have announced it has been rejected in the following statement below . Its the second curt statement to be issued by the club in two days !
Manchester City PLC("Manchester City" or the "Company") The
Board of Manchester City notes the announcement made by Ray Ranson on 24 April
2007 regarding his possible interest in making an offer for the Company. The
Board can confirm that it received, and responded promptly to, a highly
conditional indicative proposal from Ray Ranson and his advisers on 12 March
2007.
Ray Ranson’s indicative proposals to date have contained a number of
material conditions that the Board does not believe can be fulfilled and this
has been communicated to Ray Ranson’s advisers.
However, the Board granted
Ray Ranson, his financial partners and their advisers access to confidential
information and allowed Ray Ranson to carry out due diligence on the
Company.
For the avoidance of doubt, since 12 March 2007, contrary to media
speculation, neither the purported “£90 million bid” nor further proposals of
any sort have been received by the Company or its advisers from Ray
Ranson.
The Board will continue to consider all indicative proposals and
offers from potential offerors including Ray Ranson and, as announced on 24
April 2007, continues in preliminary discussions with interested parties. These
discussions may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company.
Amidst the stories linking him to a bid to take control over the club, Ray Ranson has confirmed he has made an 'indicative proposal' to the board, releasing the following statement:
In response, the club have remained non-commital - also releasing a statement to the Stock Exchange (which may have earned Stuart Pearce a ticking off):
“Ray Ranson can confirm that he is interested in buying
the club and has, over the past couple of months, made indicative proposals to
the club concerning a possible offer,” the statement read.“Ray is yet to receive
a positive response from the board to these indicative proposals and is
currently considering making a further proposal to the board of the club.“Ray
recognises that the club is heavily indebted and his business plan is not
dependent on leveraging the club further.Operational plan “Together, Ray and his
partners have developed an operational plan for the club that is aimed at taking
the club forward to the next level of its development, both on and off the
field.”
The Board of Manchester City notes certain recent press
articles attributing comments to Manager, Stuart Pearce regarding the
possibility of an offer being made for the Company. Further to the Company’s
announcements on 7 December 2006 and 21 February 2007, the Board of Manchester
City confirms that it remains in preliminary discussions with third parties that
may or may not lead to an offer being made for the Company. There is no
additional information to be disclosed by the Board at this stage but a further
announcement will be made in due course, as appropriate.
From BBC Sport:Former Manchester City full-back Ray Ranson has made a £90m
offer to buy the club, reports BBC Radio Manchester.
Ranson, who has
previously tried to buy Aston Villa, made the offer on Monday.
The offer
covers the club's shares, loans of about £24m to major shareholders John Wardle
and David Makin and debts to other creditors.
Ranson, who also played for
Birmingham, Newcastle and Reading, is also said to be prepared to provide a
transfer kitty of around £20m for new players.
Reports in Thailand on Monday
claimed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who failed in a bid for
Liverpool in 2004, was interested in buying City with partners from China and
the Middle East.
But it appears Ranson has made a firm offer for the club,
who have been the subject of takeover rumours.
What with the stories surfacing yesterday of the potential bid from the former Thai PM, it seems that the takeover is definitely back on the agenda.
I always felt that once Premiership survival was secured, then any potential takeover bid would likely be firmed up and so it seems to be the case. On the face of it (from reports at least) it appears that the Ranson bid would seem acceptable to all involved, given that it clears all the debts and loans to Wardle and Makin, whilst still allowing a sizeable amount as a transfer kitty.
Reports suggest City will react over the next 48 hours so stay tuned on this one.
After all the recent speculation and stories regarding the proposed takeover the club, a new investor has been linked the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The main reports appear to be emanating from newspapers in the East with a figure of 92.2GBP million mentioned. Not sure what they are basing the figures on ! I can only guess that this is for a full takeover of the club.
Sky Sports News :
The plot thickens
The club today announced to the stock exchange today that we had a posted a £7million loss for the six month period upto the end of November 2006.
Below is the statement that appeared on mcfc.co.uk, and I have added some brief comments where applicable - apologies for the briefness but a lack of time permits anything too in depth at the moment:
For the six months ended 30 November 2006 turnover decreased by 9% to GBP25.7million (2005: GBP28.2million). This fall was predominantly due to fewer concert nights being hosted at the Stadium with Take That and Bon Jovi performing for a total of 3 nights, compared with 5 nights being held in the six months ended 30 November 2005.
Not entirely unsurprising and it will be likely that there will be another loss the next time figures are announced - unless we really go deep in the FA Cup and have a late season boost to our current league position.
The interesting point is that the loss was generally explained away by having less concerts held at the stadium!
The increase in TV revenue next season though should see income increase tremendously and as mentioned over at the Supporters Trust, which actually provide an opportunity for the club to finally beginning operating at a profit.
Matchday ticketing sales also fell by GBP1.5million, largely as a result of 1 less home game being played in the comparable period. Conversely the conference and banqueting business continued to grow with a 21% increase in revenue period on period.
A mentioned above, I don't expect the next set of financial results will see a healthy increase in this particular category, but maybe the club will focus even more on the commercial activities which seems to be becoming more of a lucrative area.
Operating costs have increased by 4%, mainly as a result of expenditure on player wages that increased by GBP1.8 million over the same period last year. It is the Board’s strategy to run a higher wage bill in this very important year for the Club.
The club have alluded to this previously how important avoiding relegation is, and it follows a pattern of recent years where they believe paying upper level wages to attract players is a key strategy in maintaing Premiership status.
The sale of former Academy players including Lee Croft, Bradley Wright-Phillips and Willo Flood, as well as the sale of David James helped the Club to generate a net profit of GBP2.0million on disposal of players. The comparative figure for the prior year included the proceeds for the sale of Shaun Wright-Phillips.
This illustrates the benefit of the Academy, not just in terms of players coming through into the first team but in terms of generating revenue for the club when they are deemed to not make the grade.
Net interest payable, before stadium finance lease charges, remained static at GBP2.0 million. Stadium finance lease charges fell by GBP0.8 million as reduced income from concerts and Premier League matches led to lower resultant rental charges.
The retained loss in the period amounted to GBP7.1 million (2005: GBP13.2 million profit).
Would this affect the potential takeover? Probably not, but another loss probably illustrates that there does need to be a change in direction/ownership of the club to be able to re-structure the current financial set-up. It does, however still remain unclear at this stage as to exactly what shape a takeover bid would form and an obvious concern is that any bid could land us in even more debt depending on how it is structured.
Apologies for being a little late on this one, as I have been planning to post up on it for the past few days or so. There has been more talk of takeovers over the last week, resulting in the share price seeing a steep increase and news that the board were meeting yesterday to discuss the potential of a takeover and the groups believed to be in the running.
The Times ran a good piece today which suggested that there were two front-runners to take control of the club - an unknown American consortium, and a British-based one headed by former-City player Ray Ranson.
Interestingly, the article suggested that the American bid holds the upper hand but there are believed to be concerns over how their bid will be structured (with it being leveraged) and this could 'let the Ranson consortium' in:Highly regarded by many supporters, Wardle and Makin
risk being cast as villains if they fail to strike a deal financially workable
for an incoming investor. Of greatest concern to the club’s fans, however, are
the intentions of the American investors who are thought to be leading the race,
the identity of whom the club has kept a closely guarded secret.
The Times understands that the American bid is
leveraged and could result in the club, who have existing debts in excess of £50
million, falling deeper into the red, a nightmare scenario for supporters who
fear that the club could be saddled with a debt in much the same way Manchester
United were when the Glazer family took over at Old Trafford.
Although this is something that the MEN does not subscribe to, offering an alternate view on proceedings:Ranson, who unsuccessfully tried to buy Aston Villa
before American Randy Lerner took over, has, it is understood, had a lukewarm
response at the City of Manchester Stadium.
More talks are planned with the
mystery Americans later this week, after today's board meeting at City has been
given an update on the takeover saga.
The Americans have been checked out
- along with all four would-be investors - and would not saddle City with debt
and the hush-hush talks with them are now set to move from the "preliminary
stage'' to more advanced discussions.
It is an interesting angle that The Times approach, and there is the suggestion that Wardle and Makin may have a decision to make which - in blunt terms, would either be in the best interests of the club or themselves.No one doubts that the pair have the best interests of the
club at heart, but there is a belief in some quarters that they may have to
accept a loss on their loans in the long-term interest of the club.
It seems that takeover talk is beginning to gather momentum, and is now a case of 'when' rather than 'if' the club will see new ownership, and one thing that all reports I have seen suggest is that Makin and Wardle do have the best long-term interests of the club at heart and are keen to secure the best deal possible.
With the Supporters Trust announcing on Five Live last night that they have the potential backing to secure upto 15% of the clubs shares - although I know for sure they are not part of any of the groups looking to bid for the club, this could be perfect timing for the Trust to be up and running and be able to come on board and work with new owners - wouldn't it be perfect PR at least for any incoming group to be seen to engaging the fans as a whole as one of their first moves?
It was reported that an unknown consortium had bid £10 million to take control of the club.
Details are a little sketchy but it is believed that the offer included £5 million for John Wardle and David Makin to write off the loan amounts they have made to the club.
It is difficult to treat the story with too much seriousness at this stage with so little detail behind it, but the figures that have been suggested seem fanciful at the very least - and although it is believed Wardle and Makin may accept a suitable bid which will include the return of their loans, it is inconceivable to think an offer anywhere near this amount would be remotely considered by the board.
This story is still shrouded in a little mystery, but seems to be gathering more momentum as the day goes on and I expect more to be revealed over the course of the weekend.
It broke early this morning with an announcement that the club were in discussion regarding serious investment into the club, but gave nothing more away. Could this have been a smokescreen ahead of the AGM to deflect what could have been a tricky time for the board?
Anyhow, as the day has worn on it seems that rather than just an investor coming on board, it could lead to a full takeover with John Wardle stating he could be ready to 'pass the baton on', and the BBC reporting a full takeover - from an individual, could happen with a bid of around £70 million being mooted.
Wardle is still keeping his cards close to his chest, saying "We are not yet in a position to disclose the identity of the possible investor" - although this does appear to back up reports it is an individual rather than a consortium.
There have been plenty of rumours and interest over the past couple of years with nothing of any substance bearing fruit, but although it may be some way off before completion I cannot imagine an announcement of this nature being made without anything fairly concrete already in place.
Expect more on this soon.
John Wardle's speech to the AGM earlier today.
