When will the takeover go through? The Waiting Game...

[Jai]

Thing is I doubt he knows what his plans are.

Yes, people do tend to think he is some mastermind who has engineered all this as some giant wheeze to eventually kill the club and ride off into the sunset.

He hasn't. He's a small time businessman who has spent the last 25 years tying himself up in knots because of a little bad luck (financial crash of 2008 etc) and a lot of utter incompetence. He is not a mastermind, he flies by the seat of his pants and doesn't care who ends up out of pocket along the way as long as he can still live a lavish lifestyle.

He's running out of road, the trouble is he is bringing us down with him.

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

 

[dusterman]

Yes, people do tend to think he is some mastermind who has engineered all this as some giant wheeze to eventually kill the club and ride off into the sunset.

He hasn't. He's a small time businessman who has spent the last 25 years tying himself up in knots because of a little bad luck (financial crash of 2008 etc) and a lot of utter incompetence. He is not a mastermind, he flies by the seat of his pants and doesn't care who ends up out of pocket along the way as long as he can still live a lavish lifestyle.

He's running out of road, the trouble is he is bringing us down with him.

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

Sounds like a plan and a chance for a pub crawl after…

 

[WestyReturns]

Yes, people do tend to think he is some mastermind who has engineered all this as some giant wheeze to eventually kill the club and ride off into the sunset.

He hasn't. He's a small time businessman who has spent the last 25 years tying himself up in knots because of a little bad luck (financial crash of 2008 etc) and a lot of utter incompetence. He is not a mastermind, he flies by the seat of his pants and doesn't care who ends up out of pocket along the way as long as he can still live a lavish lifestyle.

He's running out of road, the trouble is he is bringing us down with him.

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

Spot on with all above. The bloke is totally delusional and out of he's depth with the whole episode. He's wasted millions of pounds with woeful decision making. That's not someone who's competent and knows what they are doing.

Time for Jack the plastic toff to face some consequences! All the cards have been transferred to him.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

I’m in. Let me know where and when.

Edit: Whilst Jack is listed as director etc who actually owns the Martins’ stake in it?

 

[Napster]

Yes, people do tend to think he is some mastermind who has engineered all this as some giant wheeze to eventually kill the club and ride off into the sunset.

He hasn't. He's a small time businessman who has spent the last 25 years tying himself up in knots because of a little bad luck (financial crash of 2008 etc) and a lot of utter incompetence. He is not a mastermind, he flies by the seat of his pants and doesn't care who ends up out of pocket along the way as long as he can still live a lavish lifestyle.

He's running out of road, the trouble is he is bringing us down with him.

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

Citizen Housing is also Allied Commercial Exporters, Alex Dellal.

 

[Holy Joe]

I’m in. Let me know where and when.

Edit: Whilst Jack is listed as director etc who actually owns the Martins’ stake in it?

Some details here.

I suspect it all goes back to Elounda which is owned by rons wife and sons. Ron used to be an owner.

 

[bazzashrimper]

The note from the councillor suggests that they are having to make some assumptions in DD due to info not forthcoming, such as area space of property. Whilst I get that the deal is £500m in size, wrong assumptions here will not be anywhere near to this value.

Is the real problem here that the council agreed to something on a brave day in December, and are now feeing that short of having something close to full planning they are not feeling so brave now?

Not withstanding that the rat pack should be getting them that type info even if it’s a small range to be fully agreed with detailed planning

 

[Tinks]

Spot on with all above. The bloke is totally delusional and out of he's depth with the whole episode. He's wasted millions of plans with woeful decision making. That's not someone who's competent and knows what they are doing.

Time for Jack the plastic toff to face some consequences! All the cards have been transferred to him.

I believe nothing is off limits now

 

[SuperRonnieP]

The note from the councillor suggests that they are having to make some assumptions in DD due to info not forthcoming, such as area space of property. Whilst I get that the deal is £500m in size, wrong assumptions here will not be anywhere near to this value.

Is the real problem here that the council agreed to something on a brave day in December, and are now feeing that short of having something close to full planning they are not feeling so brave now?

Not withstanding that the rat pack should be getting them that type info even if it’s a small range to be fully agreed with detailed planning

I think they agreed to the deal and then sat back and waited for the information needed...and then waited some more...and then etc. Not enough early pressure put on the Martins to come up with info.

 

[RHB]

Ron was never going to sell to the consortium, they will be yet another victim of the Martin’s long list of shameful business dealings, just like Kimura were before them.

Blame the council all you like, but I can guarantee you the only ones to blame for the mess we’re in is Ron and Jack Martin!!

That's a pretty big statement there @ForeverBlue. Do you have hard evidence of that, or is it just your opinion?

 

[kentblues]

Can’t talk for previously but right now I am told they are chasing the information multiple times a day

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

The note from the councillor suggests that they are having to make some assumptions in DD due to info not forthcoming, such as area space of property. Whilst I get that the deal is £500m in size, wrong assumptions here will not be anywhere near to this value.

The square footage is a key part of a valuation. If 500 flats are each 100sqft smaller than expected (the smaller the flat the less it costs to build) than that definitely has an impact on value. Moreover these are supposed to be luxury. People won’t want to pay luxury prices for a rabbit hutch at Fossetts. If you get lots of voids because they are priced too high then the council will be badly out of pocket. Specification would also cover things like fit out. Again if you’re going for the higher end of the market this matters.

Is the real problem here that the council agreed to something on a brave day in December, and are now feeing that short of having something close to full planning they are not feeling so brave now?

No. The problem is Ron promised things and hasn’t delivered. Plus he’s going to be constantly chipping away (the longer this takes the more it costs and the more this increases his costs so he has to find ways to make savings) and the Council need to safeguard against this.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Can’t talk for previously but right now I am told they are chasing the information multiple times a day

They being?

Chasing who?

 

[kentblues]

As far as I am aware if the deal with SCC completes then so does the sale. The sale is complete subject to this condition, done. So if Ron doesn’t sell to the consortium it’s because the SCC deal has failed, and the consequences of that are very negatively significant to all concerned- so whilst there was a point when Ron wanted to engineer a situation where he clung on to the club (talk of investors et al) that time is now long past I think.

So the completion of DD and the deal with SCC is everything really- the rest at this point is distractions (even if important)..

 

[kentblues]

They being?

Chasing who?

Council officers and SCC contractors chasing the developers multiple times a day per Cllr Cowan

 

[Blue Yonder]

Council officers and SCC contractors chasing the developers multiple times a day per Cllr Cowan

How bizarre it’s that way round.

 

[GBJ]

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

Agree with all of that and most specifically this last paragraph.

Protesting at Ron’s won’t affect him. I know people will think that’s an apathetic stance etc, but it’s just water off a ducks back for him.

However, the morning after the protest group appeared in Camden, several concerned phone calls were made by the Martin family, questioning why poor old Jacky boy was being targeted. They were rattled.

I must add I’m not advocating violence or intimidation here… I’m advocating that the right minds need to be focused.

 

[united we stand]

I think the worst thing we could have done was to commit to stay at RH I’m afraid, we have done the rats dirty work for him (in my opinion)

The planning at FF required a stadium to be built (for SUFC or any other club), while the planning for RH required SUFC to be re-homed, and while the Covenant existed the rat needed us to realise his dream.

Take away the stadium requirement from FF he gets all the housing he wants on that site. Then his attention turns to RH. With no club the Covenant is worthless, there is no SUFC. As for the planning condition requiring a stadium at FF, well that’s long gone and now irrelevant. Any legal firm worth their sort would be able to get that overturned and housing started on that site, now let’s see, who is instigating the winding up order

My understanding is that the covenant would apply to a phoenix club
‘The land must be used for Southend United Football Club (the) Limited,or it’s successor upon administration or Liquidation, and consent may only be given for sporting facilities and ancillary services’

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Yes, people do tend to think he is some mastermind who has engineered all this as some giant wheeze to eventually kill the club and ride off into the sunset.

He hasn't. He's a small time businessman who has spent the last 25 years tying himself up in knots because of a little bad luck (financial crash of 2008 etc) and a lot of utter incompetence. He is not a mastermind, he flies by the seat of his pants and doesn't care who ends up out of pocket along the way as long as he can still live a lavish lifestyle.

He's running out of road, the trouble is he is bringing us down with him.

I am astounded also that Ron is still the primary focus and not Jack. Citizen Housing is not Ron. Ron is not the one supplying information for DD. Jack is. Also, the thing that got to Ron most with all the protests and media attention, was when his son was sent a warning by the protest group. Shook them up something rotten. Perhaps the protests should be rerouted from Benfleet Road to Camden.

I don't disagree with that, but the person tying the sale of SUFC to his son's property deal is Ron. The Council's condition is that SUFC is sold to COSU before or at the same time as they sign the deal for Fossetts Farm.

Ron is the one choosing to wait to the last minute, he could sell the club now and trust the process and the Council's need for housing is enough reassurance that everything else will progress.

He's the one that is using the club as a bargaining chip and if, as he says, he "F%@king loves the club" he has a funny way of showing it.

The one thing that is still perplexing me about this is something the very well informed @Medway Blue said in post #400 (on page 20 if you want to find it!), where he said that the approval of CBRE is needed for the sale of the club to go ahead.

I can see that they will be very involved in the transfer of the £45m charge from Roots Hall to Fossetts Farm and the structuring of the overall property deal (including the timing and phasing of the £20m payment to club for refurbishing Roots Hall). They will, I assume, also have to agree the terms of the 25-year lease for Roots Hall to COSU, however I can't see why they would have any say over the transfer of South East Leisure UK Ltd's shares in Southend United Football Club Ltd to COSU.

Presumably Ron could, if he chooses, do the following immediately:

• Transfer all shares in SUFC from SEL to COSU
• Transfer the freehold of the new training ground to POSU
• Agree a 25-year lease on Roots Hall to POSU
• Agree the terms of the transfer of the freehold of Roots Hall to POSU

That's all we want - detach us from the deal with the Council and let the consortium get on with making preparations for the new season.

He can do this now, but is choosing not to. For that reason it's protests resume in Benfleet for now!

Am I missing something obvious?

 

[meerkat54]

I don't disagree with that, but the person tying the sale of SUFC to his son's property deal is Ron. The Council's condition is that SUFC is sold to COSU before or at the same time as they sign the deal for Fossetts Farm.

Ron is the one choosing to wait to the last minute, he could sell the club now and trust the process and the Council's need for housing is enough reassurance that everything else will progress.

He's the one that is using the club as a bargaining chip and if, as he says, he "F%@king loves the club" he has a funny way of showing it.

The one thing that is still perplexing me about this is something the very well informed @Medway Blue said in post #400 (on page 20 if you want to find it!), where he said that the approval of CBRE is needed for the sale of the club to go ahead.

I can see that they will be very involved in the transfer of the £45m charge from Roots Hall to Fossetts Farm and the structuring of the overall property deal (including the timing and phasing of the £20m payment to club for refurbishing Roots Hall). They will, I assume, also have to agree the terms of the 25-year lease for Roots Hall to COSU, however I can't see why they would have any say over the transfer of South East Leisure UK Ltd's shares in Southend United Football Club Ltd to COSU.

Presumably Ron could, if he chooses, do the following immediately:

• Transfer all shares in SUFC from SEL to COSU
• Transfer the freehold of the new training ground to POSU
• Agree a 25-year lease on Roots Hall to POSU
• Agree the terms of the transfer of the freehold of Roots Hall to POSU

That's all we want - detach us from the deal with the Council and let the consortium get on with making preparations for the new season.

He can do this now, but is choosing not to. For that reason it's protests resume in Benfleet for now!

Am I missing something obvious?

Seems clear to me , good post