Sale of Southend United to Justin Rees and his consortium

[CRATE]

But according to everyone on here Ron Martin is skint and has no money?? How is he going to give the club £5m before his made his money on houses at FF?

He is not giving the club £5M upfront. It would be done based on plans changing for FF and the development. He will be able to use bridging loans for borrow 10s of millions on that site when work finally commence. Instead of the £5M just had over RH and the new training ground and run off into the sunset. End of!

 

[WestStandBlue]

He is not giving the club £5M upfront. It would be done based on plans changing for FF and the development. He will be able to use bridging loans for borrow 10s of millions on that site when work finally commence. Instead of the £5M just had over RH and the new training ground and run off into the sunset. End of!

And what about when FF never happens as, as “plans won’t be approved with a stadium” as so many fans seem to confidently suggest? He then left with land worth nothing having sold two assets for £1.

Just giving an alternative view on things, maybe Ron’s thinking behind why some offers are not acceptable to him.

 

[kentblues]

The extra housing he could get into FF, would be HUGE! Compared to RH. If there was the whole of the retail area and stadium to develop etc.

Most simple thing to do is. RM sell to JR consortium for £1. Hand over RH and new training ground for free. If they can prove cash flow for the club and investment.

And RM walks away into the sunset, and delivers FF under any guise he wants.

I assume what we were talking about is along the lines of(not real numbers and just using RH to keep simple)
Consortium buys club for £1
Consortium buys buys RH for £4m
Should revised planning for FF be passed for all housing then there would be a “rebate”back to consortium to help fund investment (say the £4m). Made up numbers.
The whole proposition is obviously tied to revised planning for FF that is not in place? Can SCC & Gov give surety now it will be? If the revised FF doesn’t happen then clearly the consortium couldn’t expect to have got the RH site for free. So it has to be via “rebate” or shared risk? Conditional? Obvious surely?
If they think they will simply be given RH for free up front irrespective of the amended FF plans being approved then surely they know this won’t fly?

If it is via a “rebate” post planning it stands a chance and actually in many way is a neat deal for all parties. Ron being Ron will somehow try and convince himself that ultimately he is giving RH away for free- and he will probably need counselling to the understand big picture that it’s a big win for him too….

Meanwhile you would hope SCC and Gov are at least giving very positive signals and a level of commitment that the plan will fly. They are politicians, however, and so can’t see anything they will say or even put in writing circumventing the need for a “rebate” structure.

 

[CRATE]

And what about when FF never happens as, as “plans won’t be approved with a stadium” as so many fans seem to confidently suggest? He then left with land worth nothing having sold two assets for £1.

Just giving an alternative view on things, maybe Ron’s thinking behind why some offers are not acceptable to him.

There would be no need for the “stadium clause” in the contract for any planning permission. And planning permission has been granted already on the land, a change of planning would not be hard. Unless there was a lot of uproar against it, which is a lot less likely if he does it in the right manner.

 

[bazzashrimper]

And what about when FF never happens as, as “plans won’t be approved with a stadium” as so many fans seem to confidently suggest? He then left with land worth nothing having sold two assets for £1.

Just giving an alternative view on things, maybe Ron’s thinking behind why some offers are not acceptable to him.

That’s obviously why the council are so important to this. If Ron is in anyway going to agree to something that will make him a load of money, save the club - but just not quite as much as he’d like, the council are the kingmaker

 

[kentblues]

He is not giving the club £5M upfront. It would be done based on plans changing for FF and the development. He will be able to use bridging loans for borrow 10s of millions on that site when work finally commence. Instead of the £5M just had over RH and the new training ground and run off into the sunset. End of!

So the idea is initially consortium buy club for £1. They then use stadium rent free. Revised FF planning approved for all housing. At that point he hands over RH for free?
That has potential to

The only thing that doesn’t is buying club for £1 and getting RH for free up front before revised planning is in place for FF. So many approaches could work so hopefully the proposal isn’t the one that won’t.

Bear in mind some on here seem convinced the revised planning for FF because it’s green field either won’t happen or will take some time and probably be called in.

Personally I think it’s nonsense. The stadium was a convenient excuse and side benefit. But the housing is needed and can only be delivered by a single development such as this.

 

[Callum]

Come on Ron get your wallet out lol you sneaky rat

 

[dusterman]

If you let your house get rundown it is reflected in the sale price. The new owner doesn't come back to you to cough up for repairs you should have done.
RH is not just a tired stadium and a potholed car park. RH is a site the council were happy to have hundreds of homes on and I suspect the same council would rather see those than they would a football club. Whoever buys RH, they will acquire a site of huge potential value.
I hope the consortium are true Blues because there are temptations. I am totally unconvinced that remaining at RH is a viable option.
The new supremo could move us to a Meccano toilet of a ground and score substantially on RH. I do not accept that RH is optimised as a football ground, no matter how much I want it, and any consortium knows this. The new guys will have to have deep pockets, more than one war chest and not care about getting a return on all their monies.

At least they’ll have more money than your mate Ronald won’t they? Guess we won’t be seeing you on the march, eh? Be contemplating your next platitude towards the man hell bent on destroying our club.

 

[JB Shrimper]

At least they’ll have more money than your mate Ronald won’t they? Guess we won’t be seeing you on the march, eh? Be contemplating your next platitude towards the man hell bent on destroying our club.

Or maybe just giving a balanced view which you don't see much on Shrimperzone.

 

[West Stand]

It’s not rubbish. It is proposed that, the deal JR wants to make happens involves allowing RM to do FF just for housing and not requiring the “must be a stadium” clause to be completed within the contract. This means there is a lot more profit in the development as more housing for Ron and for the privilege JR and consortium want X amount back from RM towards future improvements and developments at RH because RM won’t have to throw £40M down a black hole at FF. Makes a lot of sense for RM.

You need to keep coming back to the fact the FF is mainly within green belt.
The proposed stadium gave the planning authority the wiggle room to grant permission and even then it wouldn’t have been any surprise if i5 had been turned down.

There is a separate application with the council as RM wants to vary the proposed development. I doubt it’s the proposed reduction down to 16k that is that problem it’s almost certainly around the increased density

If you look at the officers report at the time of the original application the planners went as far as the could and justified some aspects , such as height of blocks of flats , because the overall density was reduced due I think to the % of the site the stadium etc was going to occupy

But just for one second lets say RM would be attracted to the proposition don’t you think he would have already looked at the prospect of just building residential on FF?

I suspect the planners, his advisors indeed experts in such matters have over the years said no chance.

 

[tommy tucker]

I just wonder how much the council or government would pay Ron for Fossetts Farm. To develop that into a whole housing estate instead of the stadium

 

[dusterman]

Or maybe just giving a balanced view which you don't see much on Shrimperzone.

If you can find balance in RM I’ll give you a £1

 

[onceknownasrab]

At least they’ll have more money than your mate Ronald won’t they? Guess we won’t be seeing you on the march, eh? Be contemplating your next platitude towards the man hell bent on destroying our club.

Thank you for the insight into your towering intellect. Clearly you think attacking the views of other fans is the way to create strength and unity. Good luck on that mission

 

[dusterman]

Thank you for the insight into your towering intellect. Clearly you think attacking the views of other fans is the way to create strength and unity. Good luck on that mission

Are you the same person who called protesting fans moronic?

 

[kentblues]

You need to keep coming back to the fact the FF is mainly within green belt.
The proposed stadium gave the planning authority the wiggle room to grant permission and even then it wouldn’t have been any surprise if i5 had been turned down.

There is a separate application with the council as RM wants to vary the proposed development. I doubt it’s the proposed reduction down to 16k that is that problem it’s almost certainly around the increased density

If you look at the officers report at the time of the original application the planners went as far as the could and justified some aspects , such as height of blocks of flats , because the overall density was reduced due I think to the % of the site the stadium etc was going to occupy

But just for one second lets say RM would be attracted to the proposition don’t you think he would have already looked at the prospect of just building residential on FF?

I suspect the planners, his advisors indeed experts in such matters have over the years said no chance.

We have to assume the buyers aren’t complete amateurs i they would have discussed this extensively with SCC and the MPs as part of all they talks we have been told about. So I am a little less concerned on that basis.

 

[Medway Blue]

If you let your house get rundown it is reflected in the sale price. The new owner doesn't come back to you to cough up for repairs you should have done.
RH is not just a tired stadium and a potholed car park. RH is a site the council were happy to have hundreds of homes on and I suspect the same council would rather see those than they would a football club. Whoever buys RH, they will acquire a site of huge potential value.
I hope the consortium are true Blues because there are temptations. I am totally unconvinced that remaining at RH is a viable option.
The new supremo could move us to a Meccano toilet of a ground and score substantially on RH. I do not accept that RH is optimised as a football ground, no matter how much I want it, and any consortium knows this. The new guys will have to have deep pockets, more than one war chest and not care about getting a return on all their monies.

Sorry but you lost me with the buying a house analogy. It's a stretch at best and a false equivalence at worst, especially at this stage of the process.

 

[Dave Smiths Love Child]

The question I would like answered why offer two bids, when time is at a crucial stage
I understand the prospective buyer wants a cheap buy if possible, but he would know with RM he doesn’t have time.
Surely if serious then a simple “ This is my one and only offer, take it or leave it” RM would then have no option but to say Yes or No, we now have a situation where fans are clinging onto anything before Oct 4 th , will RM take it or will an increased offer come in last minute before court
RM we know is full of **** and talks bollox but I do wander how many prospective buyers want it as a football club .
Deep pockets needed now, deeper pockets when / if deal is accepted

 

[fbm]

Obviously we aren't going to get done by October 4th, but whilst we are putting pressure on Martin to sell, should we not also be looking to put pressure on Rees and the consortium to buy?

I mean, no-one knows what the offers made actually are and we don't know how far apart the sides are here... one would think not that far otherwise an offer probably wouldn't have been made in the first place.

 

[West Stand]

The question I would like answered why offer two bids, when time is at a crucial stage
I understand the prospective buyer wants a cheap buy if possible, but he would know with RM he doesn’t have time.
Surely if serious then a simple “ This is my one and only offer, take it or leave it” RM would then have no option but to say Yes or No, we now have a situation where fans are clinging onto anything before Oct 4 th , will RM take it or will an increased offer come in last minute before court
RM we know is full of **** and talks bollox but I do wander how many prospective buyers want it as a football club .
Deep pockets needed now, deeper pockets when / if deal is accepted

I was sort of wondering about that a day or so ago and of course the answer has to revolve around Roots hall and or how much the consortium expects RM to contribute in hard cash terms

If I am right it’s not an increase( £1 is the cost of his shares) that RM was probably ever going to accept ,the offer if that’s the right word maybe is more rent, bigger purchase price less money to flow back.

Within the next 10 days nothing is going to be resolved around FF .

I know some think the fact that planning to build houses as part of the project on that site means there is probability that revised planning for a residential development will likewise be agreed and of course it might

SCC planners will be mindful of National Planning Policy around the Green Belt they will know that pressure groups could ask for a new application to be called as could the Sec of State without being prompted and it doesn’t matter what the local planners, etc have said, hinted at or promised they would have absolutely no powers to go their own way and that’s why I very much doubt that RM will walk away from RH on a nod or a wink !

A few days on from the statement being published far from feeling any more confident it’s exactly the reverse I am now reading that a towel has almost been thrown in

Am I wrong ?

 

[Goodwin]

Anyone know if the council has any plans this week to discuss SUFC