Jump to content

Pompey Takeover Saga

Fitzhugh Fella

By Fitzhugh Fella,
in Golden Posts

 Share

Recommended Posts

Gemmel

Gemmel

Posted
Posted
Did anyone catch the expert on Administration talking about Portsmouth at half time on the Radio Solent commentry?.... I tuned in just as he finished giving his verdict on what he thinks is/will happen to them!

 

Can anyone that heard it give us a summary.

 

 

Second hand....

 

No local adminsitrators have been approached and he thinks others would have heard if they had. Thinks they are going for broke with HMRC and Grosvenor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hypochondriac

hypochondriac

Posted
Posted

From the Guardian but then pulled:

 

Guardian, 2/3/2010

 

Balram Chainrai becomes Portsmouth's fourth owner in a year

 

• Hong Kong businessman takes over Ali al-Faraj's 90% stake

• Creditor had become frustrated at missed payments by club

 

Portsmouth's troubled season took another dramatic twist last night when Balram Chainrai seized control of the club from Ali al-Faraj, effectively making the Hong Kong businessman the fourth owner at Fratton Park this season, following Sacha Gaydamak, Sulaiman al-Fahim and Faraj.

 

Chainrai has taken over the 90% shareholding in Portsmouth that was held by Faraj after becoming frustrated that the club had missed deadlines to repay money he was due for substantial loans he gave to them earlier this season.

 

Chainrai had loaned at least £17m to Faraj to keep Portsmouth afloat through Portpin, the company he owns with his Israeli business partner, Levi Kushnir, and their associates. Those loans were secured against the stadium, the club's future television revenue and Faraj's 90% share.

 

Angered by Portsmouth's failure to make repayments on the finance, despite Portpin continually extending the deadlines, Chainrai's patience ran out yesterday, and he instructed his lawyers to act. Under the terms of the loan Faraj's 90% shareholding in Portsmouth was frozen and passes to Chainrai. It is understood Faraj may have to instigate court proceedings if he wishes to challenge the move.

 

Chainrai had expected to receive a sizeable repayment when the Premier League paid all of its 20 clubs a £7m instalment of television revenue early last month. Portsmouth's, though, was withheld by the governing body as the club's dire financial predicament meant they had been unable to pay transfer monies due to English and European clubs. A proportion of these were paid by the league using the television money.

 

Chainrai travelled to England last month but was unable to secure the repayments. It is thought that he informed Mark Jacob, Portsmouth's executive director, and Daniel Azougy, who oversee Portsmouth in Faraj's continuing absence, of his disquiet then.

 

Speaking to the Guardian last night Chainrai said: "Portpin have made substantial loans to Portsmouth to try and ensure the club's future. Portpin will [now] continue to work for the best interests of the club."

 

Faraj turned to Chainrai for money after his takeover from Fahim, via his investment vehicle Falcondrone Limited, in early October. The deal bought Faraj 90%, while Fahim retained the remaining shareholding and became Portsmouth's non-*executive chairman. Faraj's takeover, though, hit almost immediate difficulties. Faraj and his associates struggled to source the finance to keep the club a going concern. They turned to Chainrai who, through Portpin, provided the loans.

 

It is understood that Chainrai and his associates had continually sought a meeting with Faraj to discuss the issue of repayments. But Faraj, a Saudi Arabian businessman, has never visited Portsmouth since he took over and Chainrai was unable to secure face-to-face talks.

 

Despite being Faraj's lawyer Jacob has also admitted he has never met his client. Chainrai was in London yesterday where he held a series of meetings, before overseeing the move to freeze Faraj's holding in Portsmouth. He finalised that at his central London base, before flying back to Hong Kong in the evening.

 

Portsmouth, who lost 1-0 at Fulham last night, have endured a financially stricken season which has included failing to pay their players on time on four occasions – once under Fahim's ownership and on three occasions after Faraj took control. Yesterday the club confirmed the players had finally received their January salaries, five days after last Friday's due day.

 

Portsmouth are also fighting a winding-up petition served on the club by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs before Christmas, which will be heard in the high court on 10 February and could send the club into administration. Portsmouth are due in court to appeal against the petition before the hearing next Wednesday. Chainrai appealed to HMRC to understand the club's financial predicament. He said: "To help Portsmouth succeed we need the support and understanding of Her Majesty's Revenue to work out a solution."

 

Beyond Chainrai, who is said to share the concern of Portsmouth fans regarding the club's direction, Gaydamak is also owed at least £28m, of which a £9m instalment due at midnight last Sunday was missed by Faraj.

 

Gaydamak has described himself as a soft creditor who is currently refusing to demand repayment, as that would almost certainly force Portsmouth into administration. Chainrai, too, wishes to avoid that eventuality.

 

Last night Portsmouth declined to comment. It is understood Gaydamak was unaware of Chainrai's intervention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fowllyd

Fowllyd

Posted
Posted
From the Guardian but then pulled:

 

...

 

That's pretty amazing stuff - not least in that it was presumably up on their site for a while then removed. Does this mean that they were too quick in putting it up, and will seek legal advice before putting it back (if, that is, they do put it back)? Or have they had - ahem - polite requests to remove it?

 

Given the revelations in David Conn's article on Pompey, the story itself is highly plausible. It does beg the question of just what Chainrai will do if he does force Al-Faraj out though. I assume he lent the money thinking he'd get a nice, easy, quick return - and was then píssed off as hell when the TV money was nabbed by the PL. I very much doubt, in spite of the last part of the article you've quoted, that he has any interest in owning or running a football club - though I could be wrong about that.

 

Just for the record, I've removed the original article from Hypo's post because it made this one so long, not for any other reason.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hypochondriac

hypochondriac

Posted
Posted
The club that refused to pay their bills and were still backed up by a possibly corrupt regime?

 

I'll leave readers to second guess which, of the few possible, regimes are in my mind.

 

That's pretty amazing stuff - not least in that it was presumably up on their site for a while then removed. Does this mean that they were too quick in putting it up, and will seek legal advice before putting it back (if, that is, they do put it back)? Or have they had - ahem - polite requests to remove it?

 

Given the revelations in David Conn's article on Pompey, the story itself is highly plausible. It does beg the question of just what Chainrai will do if he does force Al-Faraj out though. I assume he lent the money thinking he'd get a nice, easy, quick return - and was then píssed off as hell when the TV money was nabbed by the PL. I very much doubt, in spite of the last part of the article you've quoted, that he has any interest in owning or running a football club - though I could be wrong about that.

 

Just for the record, I've removed the original article from Hypo's post because it made this one so long, not for any other reason.

 

 

Well I don't think we will have any legal trouble, I just copied it from the Guardian website! I personally think this is a positive move for them. No doubt this will make the club much easier to sell as he clearly isn't looking to keep hold of it, he just wants to make some of his money back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SOTONS EAST SIDE

SOTONS EAST SIDE

Posted
Posted (edited)
Did anyone catch the expert on Administration talking about Portsmouth at half time on the Radio Solent commentry?.... I tuned in just as he finished giving his verdict on what he thinks is/will happen to them!

 

Can anyone that heard it give us a summary.

He said that Admins talk to each other and that none of them are talking to p*mpey. His thoughts were that p*mpey should take Admin and get 8 weeks leeway to sort themselves out. And he is suprised that p*mpey are going to try and cut a deal with the HMRC as they can demand any outstanding moneys at anytime without appeal, and this would be the end of p*mpey(liquidation)and the players registrations go back to PL as they would no longer exsist and would no longer be able to fullfill their fixtures.

Basically doing the HMRC thing is a really! really! stupid idea, with only one winner!!! ;)

Edited by SOTONS EAST SIDE
Link to comment
Share on other sites
INFLUENCED.COM

INFLUENCED.COM

Posted
Posted
I personally think this is a positive move for them. No doubt this will make the club much easier to sell as he clearly isn't looking to keep hold of it, he just wants to make some of his money back.

 

But to get his initial outlay back, assuming they will lose against HMRC and others, he will have to chuck a similar amount to what he has already outlayed at the thing to avoid the winding up, the value of the land will not have increased any and they are still one of the favourites for the drop, good money after bad i'd say

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hypochondriac

hypochondriac

Posted
Posted
But to get his initial outlay back, assuming they will lose against HMRC and others, he will have to chuck a similar amount to what he has already outlayed at the thing to avoid the winding up, the value of the land will not have increased any and they are still one of the favourites for the drop, good money after bad i'd say

 

nevertheless there were rumours that new investors were being put off whilst Al Faraj et al took what they could. This will make the club easier to sell. Lets hope he decides not to put anything else in and they fail to see off HMRC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saint_stevo

saint_stevo

Posted
Posted

Full article, not sure if thats allowed or not but no link works currently-

 

Guardian, 2/3/2010

 

Balram Chainrai becomes Portsmouth's fourth owner in a year

 

• Hong Kong businessman takes over Ali al-Faraj's 90% stake

• Creditor had become frustrated at missed payments by club

 

Portsmouth's troubled season took another dramatic twist last night when Balram Chainrai seized control of the club from Ali al-Faraj, effectively making the Hong Kong businessman the fourth owner at Fratton Park this season, following Sacha Gaydamak, Sulaiman al-Fahim and Faraj.

 

Chainrai has taken over the 90% shareholding in Portsmouth that was held by Faraj after becoming frustrated that the club had missed deadlines to repay money he was due for substantial loans he gave to them earlier this season.

 

Chainrai had loaned at least £17m to Faraj to keep Portsmouth afloat through Portpin, the company he owns with his Israeli business partner, Levi Kushnir, and their associates. Those loans were secured against the stadium, the club's future television revenue and Faraj's 90% share.

 

Angered by Portsmouth's failure to make repayments on the finance, despite Portpin continually extending the deadlines, Chainrai's patience ran out yesterday, and he instructed his lawyers to act. Under the terms of the loan Faraj's 90% shareholding in Portsmouth was frozen and passes to Chainrai. It is understood Faraj may have to instigate court proceedings if he wishes to challenge the move.

 

Chainrai had expected to receive a sizeable repayment when the Premier League paid all of its 20 clubs a £7m instalment of television revenue early last month. Portsmouth's, though, was withheld by the governing body as the club's dire financial predicament meant they had been unable to pay transfer monies due to English and European clubs. A proportion of these were paid by the league using the television money.

 

Chainrai travelled to England last month but was unable to secure the repayments. It is thought that he informed Mark Jacob, Portsmouth's executive director, and Daniel Azougy, who oversee Portsmouth in Faraj's continuing absence, of his disquiet then.

 

Speaking to the Guardian last night Chainrai said: "Portpin have made substantial loans to Portsmouth to try and ensure the club's future. Portpin will [now] continue to work for the best interests of the club."

 

Faraj turned to Chainrai for money after his takeover from Fahim, via his investment vehicle Falcondrone Limited, in early October. The deal bought Faraj 90%, while Fahim retained the remaining shareholding and became Portsmouth's non-*executive chairman. Faraj's takeover, though, hit almost immediate difficulties. Faraj and his associates struggled to source the finance to keep the club a going concern. They turned to Chainrai who, through Portpin, provided the loans.

 

It is understood that Chainrai and his associates had continually sought a meeting with Faraj to discuss the issue of repayments. But Faraj, a Saudi Arabian businessman, has never visited Portsmouth since he took over and Chainrai was unable to secure face-to-face talks.

 

Despite being Faraj's lawyer Jacob has also admitted he has never met his client. Chainrai was in London yesterday where he held a series of meetings, before overseeing the move to freeze Faraj's holding in Portsmouth. He finalised that at his central London base, before flying back to Hong Kong in the evening.

 

Portsmouth, who lost 1-0 at Fulham last night, have endured a financially stricken season which has included failing to pay their players on time on four occasions – once under Fahim's ownership and on three occasions after Faraj took control. Yesterday the club confirmed the players had finally received their January salaries, five days after last Friday's due day.

 

Portsmouth are also fighting a winding-up petition served on the club by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs before Christmas, which will be heard in the high court on 10 February and could send the club into administration. Portsmouth are due in court to appeal against the petition before the hearing next Wednesday. Chainrai appealed to HMRC to understand the club's financial predicament. He said: "To help Portsmouth succeed we need the support and understanding of Her Majesty's Revenue to work out a solution."

 

Beyond Chainrai, who is said to share the concern of Portsmouth fans regarding the club's direction, Gaydamak is also owed at least £28m, of which a £9m instalment due at midnight last Sunday was missed by Faraj.

 

Gaydamak has described himself as a soft creditor who is currently refusing to demand repayment, as that would almost certainly force Portsmouth into administration. Chainrai, too, wishes to avoid that eventuality.

 

Last night Portsmouth declined to comment. It is understood Gaydamak was unaware of Chainrai's intervention.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gaz

gaz

Posted
Posted
So have they been saved?

 

I don't think so, Chainrai probably isn't willing to throw even more money into the black hole without much hope of getting a return.

 

Even if it all comes up rosy, they still have a big squad of high earners, doubious land overship, and generally poor fortunes on the pitch.

 

Someone will need to come in, splurge a wad of cash on buying it and clearing the debts (because they can't do a Glazer and refinance to the hilt - nothing to secure that against), and THEN chuck a bundle at fixing the problems (training facilities etc).

 

That could be £100-150m surely?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Clapham Saint

Clapham Saint

Posted
Posted
Unless, as I understand it, they are liquidated. In which case the players become free agents. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

If there are no players then there are no assets for there to be security over. If they cease to exist then there would be no player sales and no money raised to pay over to the floating charge holder (from players anyway)

 

Security doesn't automatically mean that the lender takes ownership of the asset. It gives priority over other creditors when the proceeds of selling the assets are dished out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gigersaint

Gigersaint

Posted
Posted
The Guardian article is now back up...

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/03/balram-chainrai-portsmouth-owner

 

Not sure this will help them, but the Premier League need to take a good hard look at this one before sanctioning the takeover - even if they can get past the courts and HMRC.

 

Same story with a slightly different slant from The Sun to Chainrai seizing control.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2838479/Pompey-are-at-war-once-more.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Saint in Paradise

Saint in Paradise

Posted
Posted

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2837931/Prince-of-yobs-is-fined-50k.html

 

PORTSMOUTH'S Kevin-Prince Boateng has been fined £50,000 for 13 counts of criminal damage back home in Berlin.

 

Boateng has 14 days to appeal against the conviction but at least he now has the funds to pay his fine after Pompey finally paid the players' wages for January yesterday.

 

:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TopGun

TopGun

Posted
Posted

I guess Chanrai's move clears the fog a bit. But he seems late in the day if he wanted to keep Pompey in the PL.

 

Now it looks like Chandrai and Gaydamek own all assets and liabilities.

 

I'd suppose Chandrai will pay off debtors like HMRC if he has to do so and then work out what to do with Pompey and the land after a chat with Gaydamek.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubai_phil

dubai_phil

Posted
Posted

I know I shouldn't.....

I know it isn't them but

 

We all know Poopey found the only two Arabs in the world without any money, and just to rub it in, it now seems that they would rather spend US$6million on camels than on a football club.

 

http://business.maktoob.com/20090000430546/UAE_man_pays_6_45_million_for_three_camels/Article.htm?utm_campaign=Day-Newsletter&utm_medium=Main-News19&utm_source=Day-Newsletter&utm_content=

 

Must be nice knowing you're worth less than a camel :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dubai_phil

dubai_phil

Posted
Posted

Oops just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water...

 

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/premier-league-manager-faces-questions-over-visit-to-brothel-2047341.html

 

 

Oh and to start the day with a good guffaw

 

http://www.portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk/sitepage.asp?a=187029

 

Have fun chaps will be back for the regular evening read

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fowllyd

Fowllyd

Posted
Posted
The article is back online

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/03/balram-chainrai-portsmouth-owner

 

Must have been posted too early

 

And it's on the front page of the sport section of the printed version too. I'd guess that Chainrai is only interested in getting his money back, preferably with some return on it. How he'll do that is, to put it mildly, uncertain.

 

Still, it seems all those Pompey fans on here who said they'd have a new owner soon were right! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BTW Saint

BTW Saint

Posted
Posted

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/03/balram-chainrai-portsmouth-owner

 

So another day in this soap opera.

 

Chainrai can has a three days to agree a repayment or deferment with HMRC, was this not similar in the Notts County case where they agreed a delay while new funding was confirmed following late involvment of a new funding partner? The other WUO from Basingstoke Grosvenor cannot be millions and can probably be settled, if Chainrai can put some cash into the club today. Just checked and no further claims on the London Gazette website.

 

The Sun story breaking with his name may be the final straw for Grant.

 

We also await Gaydaymaks and the Premier League reaction.

 

So do we now say goodbye to Mark Jacobs and Daniel Azougy from this story.

 

How will Storrie Teller respond to this latest twist or was he connected with Chainrai funding last year?

 

Going to be another busy day keeping up with whats going on down the M27.

 

And must not forget to get some extra FA cup tickets when the box office opens.

 

Can the lawyers cope and be paid for all these latest developments!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goalie66

Goalie66

Posted
Posted
I guess Chanrai's move clears the fog a bit. But he seems late in the day if he wanted to keep Pompey in the PL.

 

Now it looks like Chandrai and Gaydamek own all assets and liabilities.

 

I'd suppose Chandrai will pay off debtors like HMRC if he has to do so and then work out what to do with Pompey and the land after a chat with Gaydamek.

 

My reading for what it is worth is that Chandrai thought he would get repaid the loan but that was scuppered by the EPL keeping that money. He probably also discovered that lien he had re all the assets would be worthless as it initiated was after the winding up order. Angered and ****ed off he now says he owns PCFC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted

Sounds like he is the sort of person to be more interested in a profit than having a trophy premier league team.

 

Guess there are two ways it can go:

 

1) He invests just enough to keep them going and if they stay up he can hope to sell them for either a profit or a minimal loss.

 

2) He closes the whole shebang down and tried to make a profit on the land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gorgiesaint

Gorgiesaint

Posted
Posted
Sounds like he is the sort of person to be more interested in a profit than having a trophy premier league team.

 

Guess there are two ways it can go:

 

1) He invests just enough to keep them going and if they stay up he can hope to sell them for either a profit or a minimal loss.

 

2) He closes the whole shebang down and tried to make a profit on the land.

 

I just can't see 1) happening. To keep them going he would have to pay HMRC off £11.5m and then fund the wages until the season ticket money starts to roll in so that's another, say, 4 months at £3m - lets call it a round £25m to keep them going until the end of the season.

 

Why would he throw in another £25m to get back his £20m? The club will still have lots of debts, no assets & be loss making so ain't worth anything.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens if club folds after the HMRC hearing and he just demolishes the stadium. What will Pompey Council say, the land can only be used for leisure purposes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saintbletch

saintbletch

Posted
Posted
I guess Chanrai's move clears the fog a bit. But he seems late in the day if he wanted to keep Pompey in the PL.

 

Now it looks like Chandrai and Gaydamek own all assets and liabilities.

 

I'd suppose Chandrai will pay off debtors like HMRC if he has to do so and then work out what to do with Pompey and the land after a chat with Gaydamek.

 

I think the responsibility and scale of liabilities is the key question for me.

 

If Chainrai has wrested control of the club, has he taken responsibility for the liabilities? Surely he must have?

 

Does that include Gaydamak's? Surely it does.

 

Would it not have been better then to have waited for the road crash to happen and then take the land against which his loans were secured?

 

It seems like he is in a more exposed position now than he was as a lender with security.

 

Perhaps he does intend to invest and stay around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pedg

pedg

Posted
Posted
I just can't see 1) happening. To keep them going he would have to pay HMRC off £11.5m and then fund the wages until the season ticket money starts to roll in so that's another, say, 4 months at £3m - lets call it a round £25m to keep them going until the end of the season.

 

Why would he throw in another £25m to get back his £20m? The club will still have lots of debts, no assets & be loss making so ain't worth anything.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens if club folds after the HMRC hearing and he just demolishes the stadium. What will Pompey Council say, the land can only be used for leisure purposes?

 

Some money has gone to HMRC already from the transfers and some of the money on salaries could be balanced out by the next TV money (when ever that is). Personally think the killer could be that despite these main sources of debt they have racked up a large number of smaller debts which together probably comes to quite a few millions on top of the rest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...