SUFC: The Future SUFC up for sale

[Jmayhew32]

I'll take Josh Rees and Morgan Fox too - both ex SHSB in my year - decent CM and LB options respectively

 

[overseas shrimper]

Agreed. You can also prepare a lot of draft paperwork in advance, and have resources (accountants, auditors etc) lined up ready for action once the green light comes. All sorts can be done, and more if both sides want to expedite quickly.

Let’s see. My money isn’t on a sale being announced today, but I do think it will be in the early part of next week (no specific intel on that, just a feeling).

Can you please re-consider banning me? I'm not sure I can cope with the hope, and doubt I will get much work done today.

I feel like David Kessler in An American Werewolf in London, trying to get arrested in Trafalgar Square.

 

[Leeboy]

I'll take Josh Rees and Morgan Fox too - both ex SHSB in my year - decent CM and LB options respectively

I got shot down in the ex-shrimpers thread about Morgan Fox - too old and too expensive. Although if Phil was still in charge be right up our street

 

[kentblues]

That was my comment.

View attachment 26551

I imagine all it is at the moment is that they've finally come to an agreement on the value and structure of a deal. Still the DD and contracts bit to get through! Although you would think that filing 2 of the 3 sets of missing accounts will help. I'd imagine having nil rent and nil management charges in those accounts will help smooth the process too.

I think whilst accounts had not been filed they have been available. And as a small business with £4-7m turnover over the past few years it won’t have required/require that much time to scrutinise.

Contracts could take a while but normally the seller does this and as they are needed whoever the buyer is, and it would be surprising/foolish if these weren’t already drafted. Still can take a while of course. As I said I think this to an extent can be very straightforward dependant on how complicated they make the piece about FF?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Can you please re-consider banning me? I'm not sure I can cope with the hope, and doubt I will get much work done today.

I feel like David Kessler in An American Werewolf in London, trying to get arrested in Trafalgar Square.

It would probably help UK productivity no end if we sealed off ShrimperZone for a fortnight until the sale is done, and the stampede of top notch players have all signed!

 

[Strykr]

It would probably help UK productivity no end if we sealed off ShrimperZone for a fortnight until the sale is done, and the stampede of top notch players have all signed!

Imagine it. We'd be relying only on the clubs OS and some bloke on twa tter to provide updates

 

[CanveyCastle]

Please don't get too excited chaps.

This is Con Martin we are talking about.

 

[Jmayhew32]

I got shot down in the ex-shrimpers thread about Morgan Fox - too old and too expensive. Although if Phil was still in charge be right up our street

Only 29 - Ralph is older. Doubt he'd drop from Championship though, decent player and finished his career at Stoke quite well from what I gather.

 

[SUFCGoals]

It looks like these were the right guys to negotiate with Ron:

View attachment 26552

Hopefully people get the pun of the title of our latest podcast now!!!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think whilst accounts had not been filed they have been available. And as a small business with £4-7m turnover over the past few years it won’t have required/require that much time to scrutinise.

Really?! Just looking at Ron’s corporate structure, and the amount of debt that Ron essentially owed himself in the accounts, I would be concerned that the first set of accounts I was shown as a prospective buyer were a work of fiction to knock Agatha Christie into a cocked hat!

I’d say there’s evidence that the accounts have been interrogated pretty closely already and some of Ron’s phantom sums have been edited out of the versions published yesterday.

This should help reduce the risk of the remaining DD throwing up anything too catastrophic, but then again I’m sure Kimura have seen enough by now to know they need to (in the words of Reagan and Gorbachev) ‘trust, but verify’ everything before signing on the dotted line.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Only at Southend can you go to bed feeling miserable and wake up in the morning to stuff like this.

I think we'll be surprised with the speed it will take to close a sale. Solicitors often have templates/precedent when it comes to contracts. Some clauses are standard practice in all contracts and will not require amendment, so if we have an agreed deal it would probably come down to the finer details/wording or additional clauses. You would be surprised how quickly solicitors can close a deal when parties want it to happen, let alone need it to happen.

I don't want to place a definite timeframe on it but contracts would not take as long as some think IMO. We closed some big ones in my previous job in a matter of a week or two.

As for the accounting, I'm not an accountant and have never worked closely with accountants, but surely they could undertake a fast yet thorough review of accounts?

I think we need to distinguish between the club and the stadium.

It’s a lot quicker to buy just a company - where you need to agree a price for the shares and then reps and warranties - than agree a property development deal which is a longer, more complicated document.

Tactically it’d make sense to do the two together. IMO you lose leverage if you buy the club first and then try and negotiate the stadium. Ron has to sell the club and sell it fast as it’s costing him money and any value will disappear unless there’s a cash injection. If you give him a load of cash for the club he can start dicking you around on the stadium negotiations. If I was buying I’d want one deal encompassing both club and new stadium. If you press ahead with just the club you risk Ron shafting you.

 

[kentblues]

Apologies to any lawyers on here, but in my experience, the point when they get involved is when everything slows down! I know they have a job to do, and an essential one at that, but sometimes they need a shove to think about the practical aspects. I've often have had to manoeuvre over 'unacceptable' clauses that in practice either didn't apply or were never going to happen

Quite. The lawyers job is to draft something that is watertight and free of risk. Then it’s down to the principals to handle the commercials and referee arguments about wording etc. The principal can be as pragmatic or pedantic as they like and they not the lawyers are often the roadblock (and I’m not the lawyer).

 

[annie1954]

I have been told that filming of a documentary has already started so that's a positive sign

does that mean chairman ron will be at the hairdressers today getting his wavy locks hi-lighted ready for filming ??

 

[Smiffy]

On our waaaaaaaaayyyy, we're on our way

https://twitter.com/x/status/1664195332786343937

 

[JD]

CP saying it’s close, and his holiday may be cut short

 

[Shrimper Brownie]

Someone on Twitter has just said 3pm tomo

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Hi Chris - good to know you’re still regularly reading ShrimperZone

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Really?! Just looking at Ron’s corporate structure, and the amount of debt that Ron essentially owed himself in the accounts, I would be concerned that the first set of accounts I was shown as a prospective buyer were a work of fiction to knock Agatha Christie into a cocked hat!

I’d say there’s evidence that the accounts have been interrogated pretty closely already and some of Ron’s phantom sums have been edited out of the versions published yesterday.

This should help reduce the risk of the remaining DD throwing up anything too catastrophic, but then again I’m sure Kimura have seen enough by now to know they need to (in the words of Reagan and Gorbachev) ‘trust, but verify’ everything before signing on the dotted line.

Can you share this evidence please.

 

[hlane17]

On our waaaaaaaaayyyy, we're on our way

https://twitter.com/x/status/1664195332786343937

Be back soon just off to the shop to buy some tins for the weekend

 

[undercovershrimper]

Someone on Twitter has just said 3pm tomo

sooner the better before old Ronald changes his mind