SUFC: The Future SUFC up for sale

[Liam AAS]

It’s not really that surprising. Chris Phillips is a local football journalist not a business journalist. We also know they were looking to the US. Matt Slater may have wider contacts but is now aligned with Kimura, which may make rival bids wary of speaking with him.

Plenty of businesses don’t like their business being splattered in the media. If there are multiple interested parties there’s a reasonable chance they won’t be successful and they don’t want to be identified with a failed bid, particularly if they are still in the market for a club. This is less of an issue for Kimura who presumably wouldn’t be interested in a non-local club.



Ok, £150k-300k seems a bit more like it. £30k seemed ridiculously cheap.

We dont know where they were/are looking because no one had said anything since Ron announced the sale. We know that Americans (general) are interested in the English pyramid but I've seen no evidence that any Americans have been involved in anything.

I appreciate the desire for secrecy but even in private, no one can/has named them. It is not illogical to conclude that they don't exist.

 

[Liam AAS]

a very naive view of journalists :-)

most of them just spew up what they have been fed ..

(Chris Philips is decent )

We're not talking about bin dippers and doorsteppers, CP and MS know their patch and are very reliable sources imo. I'm not interested in "most of them" because most of them aren't writing about our takeover.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Is there anyone on the Zone who knows exactly what Kimura are actually trying to buy?
Club plus chance of buying stadium?
Club, Stadium plus Roots Hall?
Club, Stadium, Roots Hall plus Fossets Farm development? (Whole shooting match)

Sorry if this is covered elsewhere but I haven’t seen it!!

There will be people on here who know better than me but my understanding is that they are looking to buy the club, the training ground and the new stadium.

They aren’t looking to buy Roots Hall or all the thousand of flats on the rest of the Fossetts development AFAIK. I’m not sure whether they are looking to buy the stadium or shares in the company that owns the stadium and whether they are buying the site or a finished stadium. That may all be up for negotiation anyway.

 

[Exiled in Norfolk]

Personally I wouldn’t spend money on DD or even initiate that process until there is exclusivity; normally the signature of HoT is the catalyst for that, but others seemingly differ?

Why would I commit to a substantial 5/6 figure process without any assurance that the HoT are going

But that's exactly what a house purchase is - you're not exclusive until you've exchanged contracts, that is after you've spent money on legal fees, searches etc. Agreeing the price means nothing, in terms of exclusivity, for a house purchase

Hi

I rarely post but I think (!) I am agreeing with this push back.

I've worked (in junior roles) on a number of Fin Services acquisitions and divestments. It is definitely not my experience that companies don't pay out significant sums for DD prior to exclusivity (Carl I think is saying he wouldn't but accepts others do?). I am not even sure the house purchase analogy works for those big firms. They have budgets set aside for these type of sales cycles/ processes; typically a round one DD where access is granted to a data room and Qs can be asked of the data - the lawyers in my experience check every Q and A and will block some Qs until later in the process....Once that round ends, a preferred bidder emerges and there is exclusivity then, and yes yet more money spent on round 2 DD where Qs can be re-asked that were denied in round 1. Round 2 might actually be pretty quick depending on the quality of data in the data room, how little was deferred by the lawyers and, of course, it's Ron M.....oh.....

Sorry, another reply to a long thread but the whole "it's like buying a house" isn't my experience - no disrespect because I don;t think MattE is using that analogy here - unless you and other bidders for the house do spend money up front doing searches and paying people to prod, accepting the risk that your bid might not be accepted.

I too am off to Chelmsford now for the cricket but I'll check back tomorrow to enjoy my roasting in the replies.....

<ducks>

 

[SouthendSpence]

There will be people on here who know better than me but my understanding is that they are looking to buy the club, the training ground and the new stadium.

They aren’t looking to buy Roots Hall or all the thousand of flats on the rest of the Fossetts development AFAIK. I’m not sure whether they are looking to buy the stadium or shares in the company that owns the stadium and whether they are buying the site or a finished stadium. That may all be up for negotiation anyway.

This just makes me feel sick that Ron is going to get away with it, but still good news nonetheless.

 

[BEERMONSTER]

A bit of info available on line about MS

Matt Slater began working as a journalist more than two decades ago for Match of the Day magazine. In 2020, Slater writes for the Atletic with a host of prestigious feathers to his cap, including internet sports journalist of the year by the Sports Journalists' Association in 2007.
Known for breaking stories in sports finance as well as doping, Matt spent 16 years in sports reporting for the BBC and replaced Martyn Ziegler as chief sports reporter at Press Association Sport in 2016.

If he's not panicking yet then I remain hopeful.
Also I'm sure even if he did not have the ear of any other bidders he would have the wherefore all and resource to know of at least their existence if not their identity.

 

[Smiffy]

There was mention on here or Twitter I think that a Colchester estate agent, perhaps with American backing could be one of the other interested parties.

A quick google throws up amongst other smaller ones, Jon Hunt (Previous owner of Foxtons) @Shrimpergarry mentioned him earlier and also Paul Smith (Owner of SpicerHaart). Not sure either would be interested in our club, but with both having a big interest in property, who knows. A rich version of Ron?

 

[Portuguese Shrimper]

There will be people on here who know better than me but my understanding is that they are looking to buy the club, the training ground and the new stadium.

They aren’t looking to buy Roots Hall or all the thousand of flats on the rest of the Fossetts development AFAIK. I’m not sure whether they are looking to buy the stadium or shares in the company that owns the stadium and whether they are buying the site or a finished stadium. That may all be up for negotiation anyway.

Wouldn’t it be great though if it was the whole shooting match? The only way we get rid of RM entirely! The only down side to that would be the amount of DD(and extra time) needed to complete! Is buying in stages a possibility, Club first stage) and then the remainder in the near future!

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Wouldn’t it be great though if it was the whole shooting match? The only way we get rid of RM entirely! The only down side to that would be the amount of DD(and extra time) needed to complete! Is buying in stages a possibility, Club first stage) and then the remainder in the near future!

I think there are too many other externals (such as Dellals) involved in the other parts to make this an easy/sensible process, plus the funds required would be gargantuan.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

There was mention on here or Twitter I think that a Colchester estate agent, perhaps with American backing could be one of the other interested parties.

A quick google throws up amongst other smaller ones, Jon Hunt (Previous owner of Foxtons) @Shrimpergarry mentioned him earlier and also Paul Smith (Owner of SpicerHaart). Not sure either would be interested in our club, but with both having a big interest in property, who knows. A rich version of Ron?

Weren’t Haart our back of shirt sponsor or something similar?

 

[Smiffy]

Weren’t Haart our back of shirt sponsor or something similar?

They were. 2007/2008 that sort of time I think.

 

[Medway Blue]

They were. 2007/2008 that sort of time I think.

Shirt back sponsors 2006/07-2008/09.

Think they did the same for Col U.

 

[GBJ]

For me this takeover needs to be done by end of month which gives us 2 weeks when players contracts expire. Is it a possibility?

As this is Southend United, the ultimate purveyor of broken dreams and disappointment, my gut instinct says it won’t be done in that time… but we live in hope.

My gut is also telling me that we may have to swallow losing some of our better players and miss out on some of our preferred targets. That’s a shame, but it’s not the end of the world. Getting this takeover completed - and getting it done in the right way - is far more important to our long term survival/prosperity.

I’ll take another season of poor football, **** refs and small away followings, if it means we’re once and for all free from Ron greedy **** Martin.

 

[Shrimper]

No Estate Agent/Landlord/Building owners thank you

 

[bluesfansince1952]

When this process started most agreed that buying the club would not be a straightforward process and would likely take time.

As predicted it now seems the sale is not a simple transaction, and, it is taking time. A few weeks ago this was accepted by pretty much everyone.

Now although everything is going as expected SZ is in continued meltdown.

Only on Shrimper Zone!

 

[Jack_23]

I think most fans wouldn’t mind it taking this long but when certain people gave us Hope saying it was nearly done got everyone’s hopes up. It’s frustrating to come back down a level and realise it’s nowhere near

 

[GBJ]

I think most fans wouldn’t mind it taking this long but when certain people gave us Hope saying it was nearly done got everyone’s hopes up. It’s frustrating to come back down a level and realise it’s nowhere near

I think the issue is, on the face of it everyone believed it was close. I certainly did and The Kimura boys are included in that too, I’d imagine.

What everyone momentarily & maybe naively forgot was, this deal involves a certain individual, who for one reason or another, has been central to almost every single bad thing that has happened to this club over the last few years (and I’d personally argue it’s a lot longer than that).

 

[annie1954]

As this is Southend United, the ultimate purveyor of broken dreams and disappointment, my gut instinct says it won’t be done in that time… but we live in hope.

My gut is also telling me that we may have to swallow losing some of our better players and miss out on some of our preferred targets. That’s a shame, but it’s not the end of the world. Getting this takeover completed - and getting it done in the right way - is far more important to our long term survival/prosperity.

I’ll take another season of poor football, **** refs and small away followings, if it means we’re once and for all free from Ron greedy **** Martin.

True if it takes a little longer no problem most important is the future without chairman Ron & new owners in place

 

[* ORM *]

The only thing that is definitely 95% done is my head in with endless and mostly I’ll informed conjecture and guesswork.

 

[SHRIMPERPETER]

No one knows Jack s#!t !