SUFC: The Future SUFC up for sale

[TrevorFitzpatrickHattrick]

So unless a leopard changes his spots we, as a club, are finished. Depressing doesn’t quite cover it.

How do we change the state of play?

I genuinely have no idea. Hope that my take is incorrect, Ron actually wants to conclude a deal and is merely trying to strongarm a better outcome for himself? I'm afraid we don't have any real control here, though kudos to those who have actively protested and made their voices heard. The only vaguely positive thing nagging away at me, as @fbm mentioned in a superb earlier post, why haven't the players and management team walked en masse yet?

Kimura are still there but the impasse remains and you now have to question whether Ron is acting in good faith. I have no insight on the other one/two counterparties reportedly in the mix, though Ron was courting groups that had shown an initial interest a few weeks back (as previous mentioned in an earlier post).

 

[discord]

It looks like Ron has been working on Firoz Kassam's blueprint all along, build a stadium and saddle the debt onto the new owners, by charging extortionate rent and destroying the club in the process. Well at least Oxford survived, cannot say we will

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Buying the 30% would be a very difficult task. It was something explored when Stan first got involved I think? Some of the shares are stuck with executors and finding all of these shareholders would be a real pain.

Quite possibly, but i recon there is some obscure rule somewhere in the business laws that says if you own less than a certain % then if someone is taking over / buying and they try to contact you over a period of time or you cannot be reached on the address registered for those shares then you relinquish them after a certain period of time (that they have been trying to reach out for you). Seems unfair but I reckon there is something like that aorund

 

[Hooly]

Anyone coming in to buy the club would have known this well in advance so I don't see why it's a problem now. The new stadium/training set up is the only way the club will make any money, any fan could have told them that.

Isn't it the problem that yes I agree they would have known that & therefore required some buy in to the developments &/or stadium etc. as part of the package but I seriously doubt from the little said that Ron is offering anything worthwhile investing in.

 

[fredheim_holm]

Ron's had mail...View attachment 27279

Are you claiming that you’re ITK about this then? If so when will the -15 hit, so we can check back on that date to confirm your insight?

 

[Avl1983]

Just a thought here but as it stands to my knowledge RM owes the Trust £40k, Ron has 70.62% of the shares of the club, would it be in the trusts interest to broker a deal for say 19.62% of the club? They'd not see their money back but who thinks they'll ever see that anyway? They'd automatically become the second largest shareholder in the club and Ron would still hold 51% of the club, a controlling share he can continue to sell to whoever he see's fit.

Ron would lose a liability in the debt he owes to the Trust and there's always the potential for the Trust to attempt to purchase some of the remaining shares of the club. They'd never on a controlling stake I know, unless the majority shareholder chose to sell a portion to them but it would be a start.

 

[dusterman]

I genuinely have no idea. Hope that my take is incorrect, Ron actually wants to conclude a deal and is merely trying to strongarm a better outcome for himself? I'm afraid we don't have any real control here, though kudos to those who have actively protested and made their voices heard. The only vaguely positive thing nagging away at me, as @fbm mentioned in a superb earlier post, why haven't the players and management team walked en masse yet?

Kimura are still there but the impasse remains and you now have to question whether Ron is acting in good faith. I have no insight on the other one/two counterparties reportedly in the mix, though Ron was courting groups that had shown an initial interest a few weeks back (as previous mentioned in an earlier post).

Trying to unpick events and work out what is going on is so difficult. TL being there yesterday was weird, then a rumour that he was trying to find out what was going on himself is even stranger. Feels as though the noise around other parties wanting to invest/buy must be true as it reeks of RM keeping Kimura on the hook in case it all falls down.

It does get difficult for RM if the club goes under, but not insurmountable. Time would be his biggest enemy really in making his millions. Doesn’t make sense to drag this out for so long. Realistically we need his other bidder/investor to falter and then him take Kimura’s offer. The accounts thing shows he does care about us going under but only at the very last minute so we can’t hope a NL deadline will get him moving unduly fast.

All so alarming and depressing. Wait and see if a loved one on life support pulls through.

One word: Sadistic.

 

[cerbera45]

It looks like Ron has been working on Firoz Kassam's blueprint all along, build a stadium and saddle the debt onto the new owners, by charging extortionate rent and destroying the club in the process. Well at least Oxford survived, cannot say we will

Sadly I see Ron more as a George Reynolds

 

[davgl]

Ron Martin's statement yesterday was ridiculous. He referenced "I", as in him, 15 times. That sums up our problem, and it's all about him.

Whatever happens, moving forward, it needs to be about "Southend United", not one person.

Sell the club, Ron, and give the club back its stadium. Now!

 

[hlane17]

Just a thought here but as it stands to my knowledge RM owes the Trust £40k, Ron has 70.62% of the shares of the club, would it be in the trusts interest to broker a deal for say 19.62% of the club? They'd not see their money back but who thinks they'll ever see that anyway? They'd automatically become the second largest shareholder in the club and Ron would still hold 51% of the club, a controlling share he can continue to sell to whoever he see's fit.

Ron would lose a liability in the debt he owes to the Trust and there's always the potential for the Trust to attempt to purchase some of the remaining shares of the club. They'd never on a controlling stake I unless the majority shareholder chose to sell a portion to them but it would be a start.

Or Ron can alternatively completely ignore the fact he owes them money, as he's done with many people in the past. After all, it's the club technically that owes them.

Ron promised to underwrite this loan himself, but I don't think we've heard any news/announcement since. So I assume that was another compulsive lie to add to the vast museum of bull that has come out of his mouth.

The Trust can't exactly join the WUP, it would go against what they stand for. Ron plays by no rules other than his own. Hiding behind the football club.

 

[rowe23]

Does anyone else feel as nervous and worried about the league meeting today as they did for the court yesterday?

 

[Avl1983]

Or Ron can alternatively completely ignore the fact he owes them money, as he's done with many people in the past. After all, it's the club technically that owes them.

Ron promised to underwrite this loan himself, but I don't think we've heard any news/announcement since. So I assume that was another compulsive lie to add to the vast museum of bull that has come out of his mouth.

The Trust can't exactly join the WUP, it would go against what they stand for. Ron plays by no rules other than his own. Hiding behind the football club.

Absolutely, I can see he is likely to do this, but if he's selling 70% for £1, 19% for £40k seems a good deal. I take your point though, would be great for the Trust to own a substantial amount of shares in the club though, not entirely clear on how the fan owned clubs work but I assume they have to have 51% of the club.

 

[Alexshrimper]

I re-read that statement this morning, and it is quite revealing (if a terrible effort). Quite short, but nearly twenty mentions of the words "I", "me" and "my". A psychologist would have a field day with it.

Obviously, the NL will have their say today, and I have no idea what they will do. Assuming they don't force the issue with an expulsion, it does beg the question what more you can do.

The following are worth thinking about :

• lobby DCMS. if they are thinking about a shadow regulator any time soon, ask them to get it to do some digging and put pressure on the club to cooperate with it.
• lobby the FA to liaise with the NL about the fit and proper person issues and how RM's conduct measures up
• talk to the council about making Rootes Hall an asset of community value. Somewhat symbolic, but it will irritate RM and hamstring him a bit

Basically I am saying you should make his life a misery, even if no knockout blows are involved. And there is always boycotting, protesting, the football media etc. to fall back on.

Good luck.

This is excellent and exactly what the trust should be mobilising the fan base to do

 

[BedfordShrimper]

Does anyone else feel as nervous and worried about the league meeting today as they did for the court yesterday?

Personally I feel more so!

The court hearing was by no means a formality but a few ITK's expected an adjournment of some length.

The NL are going to provide a short deadline and are not going to let us go past the start of the season. If we are thrown out of the league, we are f*****

 

[Dvg]

I suspect right now Ron is enjoying lunch with a few toadies lapping up the praise as they agree with his conclusion that he played a blinder.

From his own point of view perhaps he has. The football club may be considered collateral damage.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

The only bidder we know to be real is Kimura. of the other 1 or 2, or whatever number it will be tomorrow, there is no proof other than choosing to believe, or not, a poster outside the usual ITK posters that we have learnt to rely on. Fair play to Kimura, they at least let us know they were in play and real. It would be good if any other bidders (if they do exist) did at least the same but i'm not holding my breath...

A lot of the 'usual' ITK posters were pretty confident of a Kimura deal due to hearing positive noises from that side but what everyone seemed to forget was that they were dealing with Ron.

Seeing lots of speculation on here .. or snippets of info gained from certain sources .. but until the final whistle I don't think anyone is 'ITK' at all unless you're Ron or someone very close to Ron. We just have to hope and pray there's something to salvage from the wreckage. I think that pressure either from the Trust or from the NL or whoever is not a bad thing .. at this point it's about an exit strategy that leaves us a club to support with a fair chance of competing at the level we are at currently. Looks pretty grim at the minute.

 

[BoyWonder2]

A lot of the 'usual' ITK posters were pretty confident of a Kimura deal due to hearing positive noises from that side but what everyone seemed to forget was that they were dealing with Ron.

Seeing lots of speculation on here .. or snippets of info gained from certain sources .. but until the final whistle I don't think anyone is 'ITK' at all unless you're Ron or someone very close to Ron. We just have to hope and pray there's something to salvage from the wreckage. I don't doubt that pressure either from the Trust or from the NL or whoever is a bad thing .. at this point it's about an exit strategy that leaves us a club to support with a fair chance of competing at the level we are at currently. Looks pretty grim at the minute.

I can only speak for myself here, but I’ve spoken to one person from Kimura once, via a DM, and had nothing to do with the deal.

All my info has come from the Club side of things, not RM however.

As you rightly point out though, only RM knows what RM is going to do, and sometimes I’m not even sure he knows himself.

I’m led to believe Kimura are still in the running, and things are still being worked on, which Matt Slater eluded to as well. Whether it comes off, and if it does when, who actually knows.

 

[number11]

Just to clarify what having a different percentage of shares means in terms of ability to do stuff - see here.

https://www.shareholderrights.co.uk/sites/sr/files/2019-12/Complete%20List%20of%20Shareholder%20Rights.pdf

 

[number11]

If a shareholder has a minority shareholding (i.e. usually less than 50% of shares in a company that have voting rights attached) then the following legal rights will apply:

• more than 25%: a shareholder with this minority shareholding can block special resolutions e.g. adopting new articles of association or changing the company’s name;
• 15% or more: can apply to court to object to a variation of share class rights;
• 10% or more: can demand a poll vote at a general meeting;
• 5% or more: a shareholder is able to require circulation of a written resolution and can require a general meeting to be held.

Ps. (Copy and pasted - not my words!)

 

[kentblues]

I can only speak for myself here, but I’ve spoken to one person from Kimura once, via a DM, and had nothing to do with the deal.

All my info has come from the Club side of things, not RM however.

As you rightly point out though, only RM knows what RM is going to do, and sometimes I’m not even sure he knows himself.

I’m led to believe Kimura are still in the running, and things are still being worked on, which Matt Slater eluded to as well. Whether it comes off, and if it does when, who actually knows.

Yes as I said earlier the idea the info had just been coming from the Kimura side is wide of the mark..
Remember those in the club aren’t always getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Ron plays games. Ron moves goalposts..as of course you will know I guess