SO when will the takeover go through?

[damien]

Seems as if financial DD is the key to confirming the transaction. Roll on the number crunchers le bosh

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

@Billy Bests boot laces will be the best man to inform you on such topics.

As R.M said everything would be in 'plaice' by mid May, what 'cod' possibly go wrong?. Probably he will 'flounder' yet again, and 'carp' on about he's not to blame, with the usual load of 'pollacks' he spouts off??.

 

[bazzashrimper]

Anyone have any idea how long financial DD will take? It seems that this is question #1. I don’t think anyone knew that there were sequenced due diligences.

Second question is whether there has been any movement with the finance partner communication with what JR wants them to communicate.

Good news it’s through the council though.

 

[Tinks]

As R.M said everything would be in 'plaice' by mid May, what 'cod' possibly go wrong?. Probably he will 'flounder' yet again, and 'carp' on about he's not to blame, with the usual load of 'pollacks' he spouts off??.

I am impressed with that

 

[overseas shrimper]

I am impressed with that

Are you?

So what would you rate it on 'scale' of one to 'tench'?

 

[Tinks]

Are you?

So what would you rate it on 'scale' of one to 'tench'?

i am even more impressed

 

[tommy tucker]

And on it goes This ids not going to be resovled before our next high court hearing .If that is so we are going to up **** street without a paddle .If everyone does not get there fingers out Next season may start as last season did .No new players No preseason .And no hope . I just hope the concortium will wait a little longer .

 

[Strykr]

Must say i'm pretty numb to all this these days, been a long year. Imo there is just too much money on the line for a lot of people for this to fall through, so Ill just keep my fingers crossed once more.

 

[Shrimp and two veg]

How sad is it to read the 2nd most popular view in the poll is it will never go through. The apathy surrounding this takeover is real, a stark reminder of what the near majority of fans believe, aren't we all sick to the back teeth of the drama now? I know i am.
The only drama i want to see is on the pitch, now thats a drama i pay money to see.
Now we are embroiled with councils, politicians, businessmen, law courts, watching their every move.
It's actually a drain on the mindset.
Now out of season, can't even talk about the football.
Please, whatever it takes, get it done and cut loose from this stranglehold from this owner.
Simply cannot move forward, i am frustrated beyond belief that Martin is still here. It's worse than a loved one hurting you !

 

[Medway Blue]

What is your take on it all atm James. @Medway Blue

Same as it's always been, really. That it's a waiting game until the tangled mess can be unpicked.

We are getting there. Today was a good step forward. Cabinet agreed to proceed, subject to the due diligence being completed to the satisfaction of the delegated officials.

It seems that all that's remaining of the DD is the financial aspect, a few bits of which have been done already but which can be started properly now that the council and Thames Plaza/Citizen Housing have come to an agreement on rents and the property mix.

I've heard "a couple of weeks" quoted for the financial DD. I don't know how accurate that is, or whether that allows for any red flags cropping up. Any red flags cropping up doesn't mean the DD fails, but it does mean a renegotiation might be needed over whatever area of the deal the red flag is in, and then you're relying on people to get talking and get paperwork, etc. submitted in a timely manner.

I don't think getting DD done, the exterbal audit complete and the deal signed before 15th is out of the question, and that's what everyone is pushing for, but it's already tight imo and all it could take is one red flag and the day or two that it might take to sort it, to take it beyond 15th.

So all we can do is keep fingers crossed that it can all be wrapped up by 15th. I don't think it'll be a disaster if it's not, but we'd be having to ask for another adjournment in court or hoping for the bill to be paid. I hear RM is particularly twitchy about it, and he seems to be concerned about how he'll look if the deal still isn't completed by then, given he told the judge that it would be. Why he's suddenly concerned with how he looks in such a situation, I don't know, but I'd imagine it's how he'll look to somebody else rather than the judge that he's concerned about.....a partner or creditor of some sort, perhaps? Nothing exciting, but interesting to hear how twitchy he is about 15th.

I voted for June, I think. Just conscious of how close 15th May is. Either way, once it does complete, although we'll have to wait until Fossetts gets planning permission granted for Roots Hall to come back, at least COSU will get the club and POSU will get an asset in the new training ground - that would already be an improvement over the assetless situation of the previous 25 years.

 

[leeblue]

How sad is it to read the 2nd most popular view in the poll is it will never go through. The apathy surrounding this takeover is real, a stark reminder of what the near majority of fans believe, aren't we all sick to the back teeth of the drama now? I know i am.
The only drama i want to see is on the pitch, now thats a drama i pay money to see.
Now we are embroiled with councils, politicians, businessmen, law courts, watching their every move.
It's actually a drain on the mindset.
Now out of season, can't even talk about the football.
Please, whatever it takes, get it done and cut loose from this stranglehold from this owner.
Simply cannot move forward, i am frustrated beyond belief that Martin is still here. It's worse than a loved one hurting you !

The club are refusing to have hu dreds of thousands of pounds poured into it via season ticket money due to the ongoing shambles. Literally thousands of people want to hand over lots of money.....but you know southend united and all that. Its this particular situation that causes me to have serious doubts about this deal ever going through thanks to Ratty and his debt building legacy.

 

[Medway Blue]

The club are refusing to have hu dreds of thousands of pounds poured into it via season ticket money due to the ongoing shambles. Literally thousands of people want to hand over lots of money.....but you know southend united and all that. Its this particular situation that causes me to have serious doubts about this deal ever going through thanks to Ratty and his debt building legacy.

If the deal fails now, it's because the council couldn't get Fossetts to stack up financially without bankrupting itself.

Ron's debts remain an issue, but not in the way they were. He's had to accept that he's not going to make a fortune, and might not even make enough money to do anything other than pay off some debts and keep his head above water - but I think he's seeing that that's better than nothing.

I think he might finally be backed into corner. The council has got him. They know it and he knows it. He doesn't hold the cards anymore and he is dancing to the tune of creditors.

 

[south247]

The club are refusing to have hu dreds of thousands of pounds poured into it via season ticket money due to the ongoing shambles. Literally thousands of people want to hand over lots of money.....but you know southend united and all that. Its this particular situation that causes me to have serious doubts about this deal ever going through thanks to Ratty and his debt building legacy.

If it helps I am happy to receive the season ticket money and will share with consortium when time is right. My account details are: Mr R Martin. Account 12345678 and sort code 66 66 66

 

[united we stand]

Same as it's always been, really. That it's a waiting game until the tangled mess can be unpicked.

We are getting there. Today was a good step forward. Cabinet agreed to proceed, subject to the due diligence being completed to the satisfaction of the delegated officials.

It seems that all that's remaining of the DD is the financial aspect, a few bits of which have been done already but which can be started properly now that the council and Thames Plaza/Citizen Housing have come to an agreement on rents and the property mix.

I've heard "a couple of weeks" quoted for the financial DD. I don't know how accurate that is, or whether that allows for any red flags cropping up. Any red flags cropping up doesn't mean the DD fails, but it does mean a renegotiation might be needed over whatever area of the deal the red flag is in, and then you're relying on people to get talking and get paperwork, etc. submitted in a timely manner.

I don't think getting DD done, the exterbal audit complete and the deal signed before 15th is out of the question, and that's what everyone is pushing for, but it's already tight imo and all it could take is one red flag and the day or two that it might take to sort it, to take it beyond 15th.

So all we can do is keep fingers crossed that it can all be wrapped up by 15th. I don't think it'll be a disaster if it's not, but we'd be having to ask for another adjournment in court or hoping for the bill to be paid. I hear RM is particularly twitchy about it, and he seems to be concerned about how he'll look if the deal still isn't completed by then, given he told the judge that it would be. Why he's suddenly concerned with how he looks in such a situation, I don't know, but I'd imagine it's how he'll look to somebody else rather than the judge that he's concerned about.....a partner or creditor of some sort, perhaps? Nothing exciting, but interesting to hear how twitchy he is about 15th.

I voted for June, I think. Just conscious of how close 15th May is. Either way, once it does complete, although we'll have to wait until Fossetts gets planning permission granted for Roots Hall to come back, at least COSU will get the club and POSU will get an asset in the new training ground - that would already be an improvement over the assetless situation of the previous 25 years.

The above seems to suggest that the external auditors are ready to drop whatever else they are doing and will then do their external audit and get it signed off internally in a matter of days.
Is there any reason to believe that this is true, it sounds ridiculously optimistic to me

 

[annie1954]

I’m still finding it hard to believe that with all the takeover excitement going on for months here we are going into May 2024 and that man is still the main talking point on shrimperzone , when will it ever end ! When will he be gone !

 

[Barry.C]

what are the ramifications if the Winding up order is set back another month.
Impact on income? recruitment? Consortium? Stadium? Etc

 

[Avl1983]

If the deal fails now, it's because the council couldn't get Fossetts to stack up financially without bankrupting itself.

Ron's debts remain an issue, but not in the way they were. He's had to accept that he's not going to make a fortune, and might not even make enough money to do anything other than pay off some debts and keep his head above water - but I think he's seeing that that's better than nothing.

I think he might finally be backed into corner. The council has got him. They know it and he knows it. He doesn't hold the cards anymore and he is dancing to the tune of creditors.

I find this all very hard to follow sometimes, on one hand were told that SCC are going to have to accept a bad deal to save the club, something I don't think is right but as someone who wants the club to survive, I'm ok with and then on the other hand you say that he's backed into a corner.

Now I don't want this to go on any further obviously but if RM is backed into a corner then why would SCC not want to renegotiate a better deal for themselves? Surely it can't be both can it or am I misunderstanding something?

My biggest worry now is that it sounds as though if the bits I've read are correct that the financial DD wont be complete until RM has submitted some info to them which is not one of his strong points.

 

[bazzashrimper]

I find this all very hard to follow sometimes, on one hand were told that SCC are going to have to accept a bad deal to save the club, something I don't think is right but as someone who wants the club to survive, I'm ok with and then on the other hand you say that he's backed into a corner.

Now I don't want this to go on any further obviously but if RM is backed into a corner then why would SCC not want to renegotiate a better deal for themselves? Surely it can't be both can it or am I misunderstanding something?

My biggest worry now is that it sounds as though if the bits I've read are correct that the financial DD wont be complete until RM has submitted some info to them which is not one of his strong points.

Ron needs to get enough money to cover the creditors else they won’t agree to the deal. That’s how I see it.

 

[Medway Blue]

The above seems to suggest that the external auditors are ready to drop whatever else they are doing and will then do their external audit and get it signed off internally in a matter of days.
Is there any reason to believe that this is true, it sounds ridiculously optimistic to me

I can only go by what I've been told, which of course might be overenthusiastic blue sky thinking, but that is that the audit should just be a rubber stamp and will probably just caveat the deal with the risk of empty properties and the council losing money, etc. Everybody is well aware of that risk, though, and seem happy to proceed if the numbers stack up.

I find this all very hard to follow sometimes, on one hand were told that SCC are going to have to accept a bad deal to save the club, something I don't think is right but as someone who wants the club to survive, I'm ok with and then on the other hand you say that he's backed into a corner.

Now I don't want this to go on any further obviously but if RM is backed into a corner then why would SCC not want to renegotiate a better deal for themselves? Surely it can't be both can it or am I misunderstanding something?

My biggest worry now is that it sounds as though if the bits I've read are correct that the financial DD wont be complete until RM has submitted some info to them which is not one of his strong points.

In a way it is both.

I suppose it depends what you mean by a bad deal for the town/council too. Make no mistake, they will be making a good amount of money over the lifetime of the rental period, if all the stars align. What I think people might mean by "bad deal" is that there is risk attached to it for the council, and therefore the public purse, that they won't be able to fill all of these upmarket properties and will therefore be paying rent to the Martins but not getting market rent back for the empty ones.

That is a risk, but there is risk involved in almost anything like this. They've done the rent and property mix work in conjunction with market specialists and professionals, and those specialists and professionals seem to believe it will work. If they didn't, the council wouldn't proceed.

With regards to whether it's Ron or the council backed into a corner - I guess it's both, insomuch as the entire thing has been a big game of chicken.

The council knows Ron is in debt up to his eyeballs and will, at some point, have to take what he can get, and that if the club dies, it's probably game over for him.

Ron knows the council needs a property deal to go right after the spectacular failure of Seaway and Queensway, and that they don't want the death of a century-old community asset in SUFC on their CV, especially against the backdrop of the incoming regulator.

So it's just a matter of who blinks first, and an element of meeting in the middle. I believe RM has had to cave that bit more than the council, because ultimately I think he has more to lose. He will always take things to the brink and try to make the other side believe that *they* have more to lose, and was still playing this game as recently as 3 weeks ago, but I believe that game has now had to stop because he's run out of road. His creditors want their money back.

 

[defender05]

The council do have another option but they are unlikely to use it.

They could offer the consortium another piece of land to build a new stadium on. FF stays as it is but without the stadium and could then be started straight away and the current plan for where the stadium is would be able to start as it is once the new stadium is complete.