Latest Rumours SUFC up for sale

[JD]

He has nothing to sell apart from a NL club with huge debts. As it stands ATM it is worth nothing or less than that!. He will surely have to write of the debts for any party to be interested as well as enable the stadium to be bought. I am sure exactly how you sell something that does not even exist.

Two things…
1) Any buyer will ensure a water tight agreement is in place to ensure the potential of the club (new stadium with all income) is included.
2) Not sure the agents would entertain flogging a dead horse - they have a reputation too. They will want to be seen advertising a saleable asset.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

That's it. That's the post.

It is perfectly logical to question potential sale price. Why would Ron not factor his debts into the price? Why would anybody pay an overinflated price to account for those debts when all they're getting is an asset poor football club with little revenue-generating opportunities for the next few years, etc.?

But I think there are a lot of people underplaying the potential fact that he has probably finally seen (or been made to see) that he can no longer afford to run it. He's hit the end of the road. His subtle/not so subtle line that he'd ideally like a sale completed before next season said a lot to me.

He is no longer as confident that the new stadium build will start in June ("later this year" now), which means he's no longer confident that he'll get a wedge of money for recapitalisation of the football club in June, which means there's a real prospect that the bridging money won't be a big enough bridge. He and the club will be back here again, and we all have a sense of how difficult it was for him to acquire this most recent bridging loan. Nobody will lend him money and I think that bridging loan was likely his last.

It has been a bit of a game of chicken. A reace to see whether he could get the project started and money released before he ran out of lives and lines of credit. The race is over and I think he's lost it.

He said in the presser that he will probably never recover the money he's put in. The body language was telling. He's rueful about that - almost bitter, in fact. But I'm starting to believe that the penny has dropped and he's finally been backed into the corner.

Agreed, and the fact that his two sons were there yesterday is potentially significant too. I think someone said the bridging loan may have been secured against one of Jack’s companies. I wonder whether he or one of his associates has forced the issue and got Jez Moxey involved. Perhaps Jack wrote the statement for his dad to read and turned up to make sure he stuck to the script.

 

[Richard Hearn]

There’s a Southend in Palm Beach, Florida… wonder if they fancy having a soccer team!

More likely to go to Lewisham. Or to Argyll and Bute.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

This might answer a question or two about the paucity of searching questions at the press conference.
The alert time for the conference was interesting.

CP apart, who in the media would be up to speed with the train wreck that is Southend United?
Let's say a news desk has been told in three/four hours they have to get someone to Roots Hall.

Firstly, they're not 100% sure what it's about, and secondly, someone has to do serious homework in the time it takes to travel and present themselves.

Thirdly, as much as we adore and revere the club, to outsiders, SUFC is small fry.
That leaves CP.
Yeah, I would have asked about current funding/embargoes etc, but he still has to maintain some sort of relationship with the club.

Maybe, that's an excuse, but I can think of many who get banned from a club because they don't like your questions, including yours truly, btw.

Is that ducking the issue? Maybe. But doing what job you can in the circs has to carry some weight.

What I don’t get is why ‘maintaining a relationship with the club’ is important at this point, especially given as Ron has now officially said he’s willing to sell. I don’t mean to knock Chris as such .. I know he’s a genuine fan and a nice bloke .. but Ron literally invited questions. Why not bloody ask some?

 

[superblue24]

My concerns are that we’re not an attractive proposition to a buyer. We operate at a loss, there is probably a lot of complications that will rear their ugly heads during the due diligence process, such as the Roots Hall lease and the ownership of FF. There is also the debt to RM. So unless we’re taken over by someone who fancies a “Wrexham” style project, I’m struggling to see how we’ll exist by the end of the year….

Having contracted a high quality agent to handle the sale highlights the fact that the club is not going to sell itself.

 

[Shrimper44]

Thought I'd take some time to gather my thoughts on this but I'm struggling to do so!

Obviously, goes without saying, this is a HUGE step in the right direction and I'm feeling cautiously pleased. What he appears to be proposing - being open to the idea of selling the club separately from the stadium development for the time being with a future opportunity for the stadium to be bought too - is an exit route and is what I (and the supporters' groups) have been pushing for Christ knows how long now. Good to see it finally become a serious prospect. The involvement of such a reputable name in the sale exploration process shows that it's serious too.

A little harsh though I think to be jumping down the throat of anybody who isn't jumping for joy just yet. I think Southend fans could be forgiven for being suspicious. Ron Martin's conduct has caused that, so direct your incredulity there. Despite being cautiously pleased, I, like some, still have questions and observations.

• What does the Martin Dawn/SEL activity on Companies House this morning mean? Why wasn't this asked or mentioned?
• It looked to me and plenty of others like something has already been done, hence possibly the slightly deflated feeling for some - hopes were high that something a little more immediate was afoot. The CH activity could still mean that something has already been done.
• RM has been under pressure from all sides - Collymore, Tom L, FVW, Gary L…..even his wife - to sell or seek investment. Why suddenly now?
• I watched the recording keenly. The body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, demeanour - all smacked of somebody who has almost had a gun held to his head. Especially when he was reading a statement which definitely wasn’t his, and didn’t sound like it had even been altered by him like the club website statements often are after Tom’s first draft. He was trembling, stumbling over words. Not his usual confident, almost arrogant self at all.
• He seemed a bit more relaxed when he was answering questions in his own words but even then…..he was being very very careful about what he said.
• What was the "it's been an interesting day" comment at the start about? That was interesting.
• Without wanting to sound dramatic, has somebody stuck the knife in?
• How does he plan to fund the club if a sale doesn't happen before the Working capital from the bridging loan runs out? Notice he said that the stadium build will start "later this year". No commitment to June, or even to Q1 or Q2. No sale + no release of funds from the Fossetts project in June could still = us being back in the same position again soon.

So yeah, hugely interesting and a HUUUUGE step in the right direction. I don't believe he's just saying things to quell the unrest and it seems to me like, thank God, this will happen. I'm just not having a party until things become a bit clearer, and there are still plenty of questions that need answering. Hence the supporters' groups will continue to push for a meeting next week.

Great observations.

Also to me, his body demeanour was that of an old, not too well man. Maybe he now realizes/has been told that this is the right time to sell.

 

[Blue43]

Fans who have questioned protests or boycotts, saying they are a waste of time, Ron’s not going anyway need to be taking a long hard look at themselves today.

Ron looked a shadow of his former self in that press conference yesterday. He looked nervous reading out the statement and wasn’t his usual confident self.

The protests combined with fans refusing to renew season cards has definitely contributed to this decision to sell. He probably knew that there was no coming back from this now and that the only option was to sell.

I’ve said many times that given Ron’s age now, and his health, he would be open to sell now - some fans said, Ron won’t sell and I was wrong

I’ve said Ron will seriously struggle to build the stadium and development, given his reputation and financial troubles and that many construction firms won’t want to deal with him - again some fans said I was wrong and Ron will build the stadium and he won’t sell yet.

He’s clearly felt the pressure and has finally run out of people to turn to for money.

It’s very positive news that Ron has finally admitted defeat and is putting the club up for sale at long last, this is what everyone has wanted for a long time now.

However I would still strongly recommend all groups and supporters to hold off renewing season cards until we see some real action, not just words.

Let’s face it, given how complex the sale will be and also that Ron is an absolute nightmare to deal with, this could be dragged out for quite some time if he digs his heels in and refuses to budge, if the price is way over market value, which let’s face it, knowing Ron it probably will be way overpriced

The timing of Ron’s announcement yesterday, combined with fans announcing they will refuse to renew season cards for the moment is too much of a coincidence for me.

I personally think this stance should remain until we see some clear and positive action with regards to the sale. Whilst Ron remains in charge then the issues we have faced won’t be going away.

I just wished that some fans and certain groups had realised sooner that the only way to force Ron out is by applying the maximum pressure on him week in and week out instead of saying protests and no cotta are not the answer. If this was the case, then I personally think Ron would have been gone well before now!

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Great observations.

Also to me, his body demeanour was that of an old, not too well man. Maybe he now realizes/has been told that this is the right time to sell.

Genuinely this I think. From Medway’s post this stood out for me ..

How does he plan to fund the club if a sale doesn't happen before the Working capital from the bridging loan runs out?

This is something we need an answer to pretty quickly as if a buyer isn’t in place and ready to go in weeks not months (ha!) we’ve potentially got Groundhog Day going on for a while.I’m sure the football department are keen to operate without embargoes or restrictions placed on them. Players and coaching staff will want clarity.

 

[pottster]

My concerns are that we’re not an attractive proposition to a buyer. We operate at a loss, there is probably a lot of complications that will rear their ugly heads during the due diligence process, such as the Roots Hall lease and the ownership of FF. There is also the debt to RM. So unless we’re taken over by someone who fancies a “Wrexham” style project, I’m struggling to see how we’ll exist by the end of the year….

Having contracted a high quality agent to handle the sale highlights the fact that the club is not going to sell itself.

Nearly all football clubs run at a loss, any prospective buyer will know this. Judging by Ron's language yesterday he wants rid of this, and he will let it go cheap and write of any debt owed to him. It's costing him a fortune each month and it could get in the way of his development. The buyer gets a place in the national league and a very large supporter base, not a bad position to be if you want to own a football club!

 

[CC51DAS]

I'm confusex is the club for sale or is Ron selling new investment partners.

yep would have been better if he'd used bullet points

 

[undercovershrimper]

That's it. That's the post.

It is perfectly logical to question potential sale price. Why would Ron not factor his debts into the price? Why would anybody pay an overinflated price to account for those debts when all they're getting is an asset poor football club with little revenue-generating opportunities for the next few years, etc.?

But I think there are a lot of people underplaying the potential fact that he has probably finally seen (or been made to see) that he can no longer afford to run it. He's hit the end of the road. His subtle/not so subtle line that he'd ideally like a sale completed before next season said a lot to me.

He is no longer as confident that the new stadium build will start in June ("later this year" now), which means he's no longer confident that he'll get a wedge of money for recapitalisation of the football club in June, which means there's a real prospect that the bridging money won't be a big enough bridge. He and the club will be back here again, and we all have a sense of how difficult it was for him to acquire this most recent bridging loan. Nobody will lend him money and I think that bridging loan was likely his last.

It has been a bit of a game of chicken. A race to see whether he could get the project started and money released before he ran out of lives and lines of credit. The race is over and I think he's lost it.

He said in the presser that he will probably never recover the money he's put in. The body language was telling. He's rueful about that - almost bitter, in fact. But I'm starting to believe that the penny has dropped and he's finally been backed into the corner.

 

[pete boss]

just checked my euro ticket.. dam it..i was 5 numbers away from owning southend united... the news is good chaps... couple weeks ago we nearly didnt have a club..now we are being set free and survival! come on this has to be a plus for the club.... one step at a time... who cares what ron gets ..give him 100 million.. why do we give a ****... lets be thankful we are still here and look forward to anything coming our way as 2 weeks ago nothing was coming! now we have things happening... stop the guessing crap just go with the flow at mo... keep behind the boys..up the blues!

 

[Medway Blue]

Another question I have.

The paper debt to Ron Martin accrued through unpaid Roots Hall rent payments and management charges, etc. are owed to SEL, right?

So if, as yesterday morning's Companies House activity suggests, Ron Martin/Martin Dawn has already given up their stake in SEL, what happens to that debt?

Is it still owed to SEL and whoever takes Martin Dawn's stake will take it on?

Has it already been written off?

So. Many. Questions.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Probably forced more by being unable to service his debts.The timing in line with a possible ST ticket boycott we have to hope is coincidence.
As for Ron's due diligence we only have to look at his track record with Bond and Sol to see his judgement is not always in line with a successful outcome .
We just have to hope he's sincere and realistic with any sale as the appeal of a National league club compared to a Championship one must rule out a number of potential buyers.

 

[Fairport]

Although the news is good in the main, the short term situation is still very worrying, it seems that the recent loan to him will be the last and the only income to come in over the next few months will be gate and season card money. At best the club may limp along until a new owner is found. As others have said, there could have been more and tougher questions asked yesterday. Who was present? I only recognised Chris Phillips and Glen Speller.

 

[undercovershrimper]

.Thinking about yesterday Ron has played a pretty cleaver trick. He has put the Club (whatever that actually constitutes) up for sale, giving the press/supporters virtually no notice to get the real important questions together, he follows that up by saying this is your one and only opportunity to ask questions and we will be making no further comment until effectively a new buyer/investor(s) is/are in place.

So were are left in the dark again and the only thing we really learned for sure yesterday is that we still have debts to HMRC primarily and others that are keeping us in embargo, just watch it get lifted after the window slams shut, as its quite clear Ron isn't going to put in a penny more than he needs to, and he has no intention of answering the difficult questions, because yesterday was your chance and YOU blew it, I gave you your chance to ask!

 

[tallboyblue]

Let’s hope there is a buyer out there.

 

[undercovershrimper]

Let’s hope there is a buyer out there.

there won't be shortage of potential suitors, problem is finding out exactly what you are getting in terns of buying the club and what price Ron and Co want for it, I fear come August he could still be here saying well nobody would come up with the £50M the club is worth so sorry you are stuck with us!

 

[superblue24]

there won't be shortage of potential suitors, problem is finding out exactly what you are getting in terns of buying the club and what price Ron and Co want for it, I fear come August he could still be here saying well nobody would come up with the £50M the club is worth so sorry you are stuck with us!

This is a very possible scenario. Ron could be doing this to show the fans, in reality, how impossible the sale is due to all the complications (like he always said)

 

[Chrisb]

This is a very possible scenario. Ron could be doing this to show the fans, in reality, how impossible the sale is due to all the complications (like he always said)

There is also the issue mentioned on here regarding the Jobson family reportedly being owed money for shares.