TAKEOVER *NOT* CONFIMRED

[Sutekh]

Sutekh - the Gerry Francis? A measure of his commitment (albeit more than 30 years ago) is that when he became manager at Bristol Rovers, he paid the transfer fee for a young player called Ian Holloway out of his own pocket.

Sadly not, just seemed to make as much sense as the cobblers conclusion Anthony Smith reached with Ben Francis. For the record Gerry is 72 now and hasn't been involved in the game, aside from possibly the odd bit of punditry, since leaving Palace 10 years ago.

[Clyde1998]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68098594

Nigel Howe suggesting any takeover won't happen for a couple of months ('mid-March at the earliest'). Apparently, up to eight parties are interested in the club, but Mike Ashley hasn't followed up on his earlier interest.

The article suggests the club is still losing £1.2m each month.

[Stranded]

Interview here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h753jn

8 parties, whose call you would return, have shown interest. Howe and team collating proposals and he is using his contacts at the EFL to do pre-checks where possible i.e. has person X spoken to you about buying a club before, any issues etc? EFL seem to be being helpful there.

Suggestions that Dai has only recently shifted his mindset to be focused on sale - Howe believes that Dai wants to sell everything.

Hopeful, note only hopeful, that they will whittle down the offers to a couple of solid ones within a couple of weeks to allow Dai to make a decision. From that point, expects it to take a couple of months. Feels like the target is end of season, given we are only 3 months away now.

Howe making it clear repeatedly he is only working on the deal and has nothing to do with the day to day running of the club.

Clarified again that the EFL speaking to him/the club almost daily to ensure the person/bid put forward not only passed the tests but has money readily available and allocated to Reading.

So in short, Dai hasn't really been trying to sell but would have done if someone had offered silly money - his mindset has recently changed and now wants rid by selling everything. No intent/expectation that the club will go into admin whilst the process moves on.

Some positive, some not so soundbites but overall sounds like, for the first time, there is a serious sale process underway.

[WestYorksRoyal]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68098594

Nigel Howe suggesting any takeover won't happen for a couple of months ('mid-March at the earliest'). Apparently, up to eight parties are interested in the club, but Mike Ashley hasn't followed up on his earlier interest.

The article suggests the club is still losing £1.2m each month.

In terms of timing, it has always been the case that once a preferred buyer is forced it will take a couple of months. What we want to watch out for is exclusivity which is Dai agreeing to a deal in principle and the buyer working through detailed due diligence and ratification. The club have agreed to communicate "substantive developments" so we should know at this point, though I expect they will not name the party.

Howe discussed his "hope" of sharing interested parties and bids with Dai in a couple of weeks. So we should see an update in February, otherwise we're back in the shit.

[Sutekh]

Tim has his show at 6pm tonight so hopefully might be a bit more.

Timescales pretty much as I was expecting, should be plenty of time to check through all 8 interested parties, and any bids, to ensure whatever buyers/bids are put on the final table is as kocher as they can be. Good that Dai SEEMS to want to sell everything which will hopefully mean the club and stadium can be put back together again. Let's hope he doesn't change things halfway through.

PS - shouldn't this thread be sticky too?

[Stranded]

Howe also clarified that the club and training ground are owned by one company, the stadium by another and the car parks around the ground by a third.

[Clyde1998]

Howe also clarified that the club and training ground are owned by one company, the stadium by another and the car parks around the ground by a third.

That's important to have clarity on. I believe the training ground is owned by a company that's a subsidiary of the football club - like the women's team. The car parks are probably owned by the property company which the club owns part of (25%?) and the stadium is owned by Dai or another of Dai's companies.

[Stranded]

Howe also clarified that the club and training ground are owned by one company, the stadium by another and the car parks around the ground by a third.

That's important to have clarity on. I believe the training ground is owned by a company that's a subsidiary of the football club - like the women's team. The car parks are probably owned by the property company which the club owns part of (25%?) and the stadium is owned by Dai or another of Dai's companies.

That is correct. Training ground is owned by RFC Bearwood Ltd which is 100% owned by The Reading Football Club Limited.

[Brogue]

PS - shouldn't this thread be sticky too?

Agreed

*

[karbota]

Tim has his show at 6pm tonight so hopefully might be a bit more.

Timescales pretty much as I was expecting, should be plenty of time to check through all 8 interested parties, and any bids, to ensure whatever buyers/bids are put on the final table is as kocher as they can be. Good that Dai SEEMS to want to sell everything which will hopefully mean the club and stadium can be put back together again. Let's hope he doesn't change things halfway through.

PS - shouldn't this thread be sticky too?

That is not kosher.

[Hound]

Interesting interview

Does make you wonder what the hell Smudger Smith was going on about. Clearly absolute nonsense fed to him there

[Stranded]

Interesting interview

Does make you wonder what the hell Smudger Smith was going on about. Clearly absolute nonsense fed to him there

Yes, the interview does make that "leak" even more damaging for him and his follow up about things changing already seem even more bizarre. Of course, Howe, could be painting a very specific picture but IF TRUE, does appear that we are still a good couple of weeks away from a decision being made on which opportunity (as Howe put it) the club/owner will move forward with.

[Winston Biscuit]

took that Dellor/Howe interview to be all pretty much positive news!

Dai is now finally serious about selling, the club hope to present to him the best bid in a couple of weeks time, and if he accepts it the the sale will go through 2 months or so after

[Clyde1998]

took that Dellor/Howe interview to be all pretty much positive news!

Dai is now finally serious about selling, the club hope to present to him the best bid in a couple of weeks time, and if he accepts it the the sale will go through 2 months or so after

I'm guessing anyone who's waiting for approval from the EFL would be able to loan the club money to cover costs prior to officially taking over - similar to how SCL have been lending money to pay wages. That will hopefully mean we're not going to have issue paying wages/HMRC in that period.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Interesting interview

Does make you wonder what the hell Smudger Smith was going on about. Clearly absolute nonsense fed to him there

Yes, the interview does make that "leak" even more damaging for him and his follow up about things changing already seem even more bizarre. Of course, Howe, could be painting a very specific picture but IF TRUE, does appear that we are still a good couple of weeks away from a decision being made on which opportunity (as Howe put it) the club/owner will move forward with.

It was a politicians interview. Not lying, but also being diplomatic. Certainly relatively complimentary of Dai which will be a stick for conspiracy theorists to beat him with, but what do you expect him to say when the survival of the club depends on dealing with him?

But I'm rightfully skeptical when people say Dai is committed to selling. Last May he was committed to funding the club, this autumn he was going to sell. He's unreliable and clearly has limited communication with people working for him.

I always hang onto hope, but this hell only ends when everything is confirmed.

[RoyalBlue]

Tim has his show at 6pm tonight so hopefully might be a bit more.

Timescales pretty much as I was expecting, should be plenty of time to check through all 8 interested parties, and any bids, to ensure whatever buyers/bids are put on the final table is as kocher as they can be. Good that Dai SEEMS to want to sell everything which will hopefully mean the club and stadium can be put back together again. Let's hope he doesn't change things halfway through.

PS - shouldn't this thread be sticky too?

The one fly in the ointment is that, if I heard Howe correctly, the car park isn't currently part of the package as Dai only partly owns that.

[windermereROYAL]

I was of the understanding that the Thais own the car park for the royal elm park development whenever that comes to fruition.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

I was of the understanding that the Thais own the car park for the royal elm park development whenever that comes to fruition.

I think that's right from what was in the Chronicle. Saw some plans for "Royal Elm Park" which covers all of the current car park. There is a multi-story car park included in the development that will be used on match days. The residents will love that.

[Forbury Lion]

Can owner of the Club, Training Ground and Stadium bring them all under the Club again?

FFP implications might prevent this, since the clubs accounts showed a profit on the sale of these. The issue the EFL had was that these were not show at a fair value rate, so if the club buys them back for £1 each the FFP rules/EFL might insist the club records this at Fair Value again, otherwise clubs will just keep selling and buying back their stadium.

Suspect they may have to create an umbrella company with the 3 separate companies underneath that.

[Forbury Lion]

I was of the understanding that the Thais own the car park for the royal elm park development whenever that comes to fruition.

I think that's right from what was in the Chronicle. Saw some plans for "Royal Elm Park" which covers all of the current car park. There is a multi-story car park included in the development that will be used on match days. The residents will love that.

Let's hope the residents are 100% aware that they are buying a property next to a football ground and what comes with that.

It's a bit like people buying a house next to Heathrow and complaining about the Planes, that's why the house was cheap.