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Mike Ashley (former owner)


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To the various replies about my comments on Ashley being fucked off by their conduct my view is this;

 

(and please, you'll have to take off your 'I hate Mike Ashley' caps to fully consider it). He's a prick. We all know that already.

 

BUT...........

 

Imagine you're in his shoes......It's now relatively safe to assume he wants rid of the club. There's been Staveley, Kenyon and now the Sheikh.

 

To go that far, in all of those discussions, to absorb those legal fees, those accountant fee's, those advisor/brokers fees you simply have to agree that he wants rid.

 

Of course, it's on terms he can be comfortable with and that's another discussion but if we can agree he wants to move it along then that's the basis for my opinion.

 

He's almost certainly had discussions with a significant number of interested parties, all of whom would be in slightly different positions (pure cash deal but less than wants for it, tiny amount of cash up front but heavily weighted incentives in his favour to buy it, an excellent deal from his perspective but unable to get funds together as of now etc etc etc).

 

The news of the advanced discussions with SK break.

 

They'd been talking for up to 6 months if you believe much of the commentary around this deal. Certainly, at least, three months.

 

Let's say three months. During that period, nothing. Not one public utterance, word, rumour (other than that Dave Kitson fella and he could've just got lucky with it).

 

Now the story breaks BEFORE the deal is completed.

 

If the due diligence process is ongoing, the Sheikh could easily find an issue to reduce the price beyond what MA would agree to.

 

The Sheikh could easily try to knock £20m off on the last day before exchange for any old reason.

 

Ashley, already hated, is then massively backed into a corner.

 

He either takes the lower offer (highly unlikely) OR tells the Sheikh to fuck off and puts a statement out to confirm the deal is off.

 

Cue mass derision, hysteria from the 'geordie faithful', Rafa probably choosing not to renew, having to appoint a new manager and pray that we stay up (unlikely without Rafa imho). If we don't then his £350m asset is worth at least £150m less.

 

If the Sheikh and his people hadn't of allowed the leak then the deal falls over in private and Ashley has a far greater opportunity of managing the situation without an (even further) irate fan base wanting to kill the cunt.

 

Genuinely, I'd take anybody but Ashley. At this point, I'd consider ANYONE, an improvement as they'd offer some degree of hope. However short term. I want to believe in my football club again.

 

However, this conduct is not the way to act in this situation and I find it very concerning in respect of their professionalism.

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Or...the leak came from the PL when whatever doc they've signed was handed over.  Remember, up until then, there weren't really any substantial leaks from either side. 

 

Someone at the PL - outside of negotiations until that point - could easily have tipped off the Sun, and that's when the deal suddenly became public.

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Guest godzilla

To the various replies about my comments on Ashley being f***ed off by their conduct my view is this;

 

(and please, you'll have to take off your 'I hate Mike Ashley' caps to fully consider it). He's a prick. We all know that already.

 

BUT...........

 

Imagine you're in his shoes......It's now relatively safe to assume he wants rid of the club. There's been Staveley, Kenyon and now the Sheikh.

 

To go that far, in all of those discussions, to absorb those legal fees, those accountant fee's, those advisor/brokers fees you simply have to agree that he wants rid.

 

Of course, it's on terms he can be comfortable with and that's another discussion but if we can agree he wants to move it along then that's the basis for my opinion.

 

He's almost certainly had discussions with a significant number of interested parties, all of whom would be in slightly different positions (pure cash deal but less than wants for it, tiny amount of cash up front but heavily weighted incentives in his favour to buy it, an excellent deal from his perspective but unable to get funds together as of now etc etc etc).

 

The news of the advanced discussions with SK break.

 

They'd been talking for up to 6 months if you believe much of the commentary around this deal. Certainly, at least, three months.

 

Let's say three months. During that period, nothing. Not one public utterance, word, rumour (other than that Dave Kitson fella and he could've just got lucky with it).

 

Now the story breaks BEFORE the deal is completed.

 

If the due diligence process is ongoing, the Sheikh could easily find an issue to reduce the price beyond what MA would agree to.

 

The Sheikh could easily try to knock £20m off on the last day before exchange for any old reason.

 

Ashley, already hated, is then massively backed into a corner.

 

He either takes the lower offer (highly unlikely) OR tells the Sheikh to f*** off and puts a statement out to confirm the deal is off.

 

Cue mass derision, hysteria from the 'geordie faithful', Rafa probably choosing not to renew, having to appoint a new manager and pray that we stay up (unlikely without Rafa imho). If we don't then his £350m asset is worth at least £150m less.

 

If the Sheikh and his people hadn't of allowed the leak then the deal falls over in private and Ashley has a far greater opportunity of managing the situation without an (even further) irate fan base wanting to kill the c***.

 

Genuinely, I'd take anybody but Ashley. At this point, I'd consider ANYONE, an improvement as they'd offer some degree of hope. However short term. I want to believe in my football club again.

 

However, this conduct is not the way to act in this situation and I find it very concerning in respect of their professionalism.

 

I understand that's your gut feel, what I am saying though is that there is nothing to back that up. We should stick to what has actually happened otherwise we are going down the line of what the journalists and twitter ITKs are doing.

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Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

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The thing is, Ashley's a wild card. Fucking bought a club without due diligence. I wouldn't put it past him to sign a letter of intent with a potential buyer but say he's not going to pay the lawyers to read and negotiate a full-blown stock purchase agreement until he has confirmation that SKBZAN is likely to pass the owners' and directors' test and only then go to an SPA (as opposed to a fully negotiated one with closing contingent on passing the test). Not saying it's rational or likely, but he's also not a play-it-by-the-book kind of guy. It would also explain a fairly significant time lapse until the deal gets done (if it gets done). The whole thing of it being public is also just weird. This is not the type of thing that usually comes out without some sort of joint or coordinated press releases with a clear message. It's just weird. Anyway, there's just not enough info to do anything but speculate, so . . .

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Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

 

The seller's view would be that it's not the buyers place to state any of it ahead of the deal being done. That would ALWAYS normally be done in conjunction with (or at least the formal agreement of) the seller.

 

You can say what you like when you've bought it but right now they're making statements about something that is not theirs.

 

As someone who know's the process well, I can say with almost certainty, Ashley won't like their conduct. Agree Kanji[/member]?

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To the various replies about my comments on Ashley being f***ed off by their conduct my view is this;

 

(and please, you'll have to take off your 'I hate Mike Ashley' caps to fully consider it). He's a prick. We all know that already.

 

BUT...........

 

Imagine you're in his shoes......It's now relatively safe to assume he wants rid of the club. There's been Staveley, Kenyon and now the Sheikh.

 

To go that far, in all of those discussions, to absorb those legal fees, those accountant fee's, those advisor/brokers fees you simply have to agree that he wants rid.

 

Of course, it's on terms he can be comfortable with and that's another discussion but if we can agree he wants to move it along then that's the basis for my opinion.

 

He's almost certainly had discussions with a significant number of interested parties, all of whom would be in slightly different positions (pure cash deal but less than wants for it, tiny amount of cash up front but heavily weighted incentives in his favour to buy it, an excellent deal from his perspective but unable to get funds together as of now etc etc etc).

 

The news of the advanced discussions with SK break.

 

They'd been talking for up to 6 months if you believe much of the commentary around this deal. Certainly, at least, three months.

 

Let's say three months. During that period, nothing. Not one public utterance, word, rumour (other than that Dave Kitson fella and he could've just got lucky with it).

 

Now the story breaks BEFORE the deal is completed.

 

If the due diligence process is ongoing, the Sheikh could easily find an issue to reduce the price beyond what MA would agree to.

 

The Sheikh could easily try to knock £20m off on the last day before exchange for any old reason.

 

Ashley, already hated, is then massively backed into a corner.

 

He either takes the lower offer (highly unlikely) OR tells the Sheikh to f*** off and puts a statement out to confirm the deal is off.

 

Cue mass derision, hysteria from the 'geordie faithful', Rafa probably choosing not to renew, having to appoint a new manager and pray that we stay up (unlikely without Rafa imho). If we don't then his £350m asset is worth at least £150m less.

 

If the Sheikh and his people hadn't of allowed the leak then the deal falls over in private and Ashley has a far greater opportunity of managing the situation without an (even further) irate fan base wanting to kill the c***.

 

Genuinely, I'd take anybody but Ashley. At this point, I'd consider ANYONE, an improvement as they'd offer some degree of hope. However short term. I want to believe in my football club again.

 

However, this conduct is not the way to act in this situation and I find it very concerning in respect of their professionalism.

 

I understand that's your gut feel, what I am saying though is that there is nothing to back that up. We should stick to what has actually happened otherwise we are going down the line of what the journalists and twitter ITKs are doing.

 

I am sticking to what has happened. A potential buyer has made comments, on and off the record, about something they don't yet own which is very poor conduct by anyone's standard in the M&A process and 'likely' to piss off the existing owner. That's not a huge leap tbh.

 

I'm not asserting it as fact but it's logic from anyone who has been involved in this sort of stuff previously.

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Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

 

The seller's view would be that it's not the buyers place to state any of it ahead of the deal being done. That would ALWAYS normally be done in conjunction with (or at least the formal agreement of) the seller.

 

You can say what you like when you've bought it but right now they're making statements about something that is not theirs.

 

As someone who know's the process well, I can say with almost certainty, Ashley won't like their conduct. Agree Kanji[/member]?

 

There's generally an express provision in the SPA that says the buyer can't make any public statement until closing, and then the seller usually has the right to approve or at least see any statement before it's made (or that the parties will agree with each other as to the form of joint or coordinated releases).

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Guest godzilla

The thing is, Ashley's a wild card. f***ing bought a club without due diligence. I wouldn't put it past him to sign a letter of intent with a potential buyer but say he's not going to pay the lawyers to read and negotiate a full-blown stock purchase agreement until he has confirmation that SKBZAN is likely to pass the owners' and directors' test and only then go to an SPA. Not saying it's rational or likely, but he's also not a play-it-by-the-book kind of guy. It would also explain a fairly significant time lapse until the deal gets done (if it gets done). The whole thing of it being public is also just weird. This is not the type of thing that usually comes out without some sort of joint or coordinated press releases with a clear message. It's just weird. Anyway, there's just not enough info to do anything but speculate, so . . .

 

Just stick to what you know what has happened otherwise you sound like what the journalists and twitter ITKs are doing by jumping to conclusions and speculating without knowing anything. Unless there is an official statement from the club or Ashley all we can do is assume everything is proceeding as the original statement indicated. We can all have opinions and gut feelings no harm in that, but nobody knows what is happening, so best to stick with what we know until we hear official notification.

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Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

 

The seller's view would be that it's not the buyers place to state any of it ahead of the deal being done. That would ALWAYS normally be done in conjunction with (or at least the formal agreement of) the seller.

 

You can say what you like when you've bought it but right now they're making statements about something that is not theirs.

 

As someone who know's the process well, I can say with almost certainty, Ashley won't like their conduct. Agree Kanji[/member]?

 

There's generally an express provision in the SPA that says the buyer can't make any public statement until closing, and then the seller usually has the right to approve or at least see any statement before it's made (or that the parties will agree with each other as to the form of joint or coordinated releases).

 

Yeah. I know. That's why I said it :lol:.

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The thing is, Ashley's a wild card. Fucking bought a club without due diligence. I wouldn't put it past him to sign a letter of intent with a potential buyer but say he's not going to pay the lawyers to read and negotiate a full-blown stock purchase agreement until he has confirmation that SKBZAN is likely to pass the owners' and directors' test and only then go to an SPA (as opposed to a fully negotiated one with closing contingent on passing the test). Not saying it's rational or likely, but he's also not a play-it-by-the-book kind of guy. It would also explain a fairly significant time lapse until the deal gets done (if it gets done). The whole thing of it being public is also just weird. This is not the type of thing that usually comes out without some sort of joint or coordinated press releases with a clear message. It's just weird. Anyway, there's just not enough info to do anything but speculate, so . . .

 

spot on.

 

Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

 

The seller's view would be that it's not the buyers place to state any of it ahead of the deal being done. That would ALWAYS normally be done in conjunction with (or at least the formal agreement of) the seller.

 

You can say what you like when you've bought it but right now they're making statements about something that is not theirs.

 

As someone who know's the process well, I can say with almost certainty, Ashley won't like their conduct. Agree Kanji[/member]?

 

I don't disagree with your last line 1 bit. No secret here that this stuff getting leaked is poor conduct by the buying group, assuming they were the sources of the leak. But I'm not going to really hold it against them at this point. What's done is done. Inshallah.

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Or...the leak came from the PL when whatever doc they've signed was handed over.  Remember, up until then, there weren't really any substantial leaks from either side. 

 

Someone at the PL - outside of negotiations until that point - could easily have tipped off the Sun, and that's when the deal suddenly became public.

 

That's my take on things too. Either that or Ashley has leaked to his pals at the Sun in order to get other interested parties to do something pronto.....maybe even get a bidding war going and drive the price up?

 

Since then, BZG have offered up a couple of brief statements to confirm where they are with the bid, more to protect their own reputation more than anything. I don't really see them as doing the deal in public, and I think Ashley must be okay with what they've done, otherwise he would have fucked them off by now.

 

I'm still of the opinion that this is very much happening.

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The thing is, Ashley's a wild card. f***ing bought a club without due diligence. I wouldn't put it past him to sign a letter of intent with a potential buyer but say he's not going to pay the lawyers to read and negotiate a full-blown stock purchase agreement until he has confirmation that SKBZAN is likely to pass the owners' and directors' test and only then go to an SPA. Not saying it's rational or likely, but he's also not a play-it-by-the-book kind of guy. It would also explain a fairly significant time lapse until the deal gets done (if it gets done). The whole thing of it being public is also just weird. This is not the type of thing that usually comes out without some sort of joint or coordinated press releases with a clear message. It's just weird. Anyway, there's just not enough info to do anything but speculate, so . . .

 

Just stick to what you know what has happened otherwise you sound like what the journalists and twitter ITKs are doing by jumping to conclusions and speculating without knowing anything. Unless there is an official statement from the club or Ashley all we can do is assume everything is proceeding as the original statement indicated. We can all have opinions and gut feelings no harm in that, but nobody knows what is happening, so best to stick with what we know until we hear official notification.

 

It's a football forum designed for discussion and opinions ffs.

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Minhosa

 

They've said that both party's have signed a agreement on the price to buy the club and arrangements of the proposed transaction and that document has been sent to the Premier League.  They've also said that proof of funds has been shown.  Apparently that's been confirmed by the club .  I don't see how any of that gels with the picture you're painting.

 

The seller's view would be that it's not the buyers place to state any of it ahead of the deal being done. That would ALWAYS normally be done in conjunction with (or at least the formal agreement of) the seller.

 

You can say what you like when you've bought it but right now they're making statements about something that is not theirs.

 

As someone who know's the process well, I can say with almost certainty, Ashley won't like their conduct. Agree Kanji[/member]?

 

There's generally an express provision in the SPA that says the buyer can't make any public statement until closing, and then the seller usually has the right to approve or at least see any statement before it's made (or that the parties will agree with each other as to the form of joint or coordinated releases).

 

Yeah. I know. That's why I said it :lol:.

 

I was just backing you up on it.  :dontknow:

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Or...the leak came from the PL when whatever doc they've signed was handed over.  Remember, up until then, there weren't really any substantial leaks from either side. 

 

Someone at the PL - outside of negotiations until that point - could easily have tipped off the Sun, and that's when the deal suddenly became public.

 

That's my take on things too. Either that or Ashley has leaked to his pals at the Sun in order to get other interested parties to do something pronto.....maybe even get a bidding war going and drive the price up.

 

Since then, BZG have offered up a couple of brief statements to confirm where they are with the bid, more to protect their own reputation more than anything. I don't really see them as doing the deal in public, and I think Ashley must be okay with what they've done, otherwise he would have pulled the plug by now.

 

I'm still of the opinion that this is very much happening.

 

IF it's Ashley that's leaked it, then I agree completely.

 

He would've got word to anyone else in the race, privately though, imho.

 

If the Sheikh can trace the leak to him, it would place this deal in massive jeopardy though as it would be a big show of bad faith. Something unlikely to go down well with the Arabs hence my gut feel that it wasn't coming from his end.

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