Chinese Takeover

I'd hope when our current board listen to any new investors business plans they are listening out for pie in the sky short term thinking. The ITV digital deal cost us adminstration and our debt was peanuts. A bad deal now would cripple us. I'm saying all that I trust the board, they've all seen what bad investors and owners look like. It's just football with all its Premier League money and super (greedy)agents have moved the goal posts to a completely different financial continent which we'll never reach.

 

But I'm not imagining anything, apart from that there doesn't appear to be any better offers on the table.

Anyway, real ale to be sampled in the Sheffield Tap, so no more debating for me.

It's matchday!

 

The ones you have pointed out, Blackburn? Portsmouth? Coventry? We can't be compared to teams like that, completely different teams & situations they are faced with.

 

There's been some gubbins spouted on here about this. of course be concerned about our club but don't fear change. This lad has shown his credentials in France at a far grander level than us. Let's hope it goes through and we can get on with the job of giving our manager the tools his skills deserve.

There's noodles and rice in the ponty kiosk next week anyway but still no bugger to serve them!

 

Brentford are owned by self-made gambling multi-millionaire fan who's put around £90 million into the club - hence they're getting a new stadium next year. I'm guessing his price for selling would have been pretty damn steep.

 

I'm not sure what to think of this, but it's probably more likely to be good than bad.

The club isn't worth much, probably the sum of its assets. Until recently we've been heavily loss making - only player sales have generated any return. Polishing rough diamonds and selling them on for a profit works if 'the Plan' is to make the club self sufficient. However it's not going to work if 'the Plan' is to make a substantial return on investment, which surely it will under new ownership.

So how will the investors make any money? The only possibility is the premier league. If we make it to the premier league there will be more than enough money for the investors to make a substantial return and secure the long term future of the club. That has to be the aim, otherwise it's pointless buying a club like Barnsley that has a relatively small fan base and limited commercial opportunities. We are small fry for investors but for one thing - being a season away from the riches that the premier league brings.

So anything but promotion would have to be classed as a failure to investors, as they would surely lose a significant amount without it. It won't cost much to buy the club, but it might cost a lot for us to even compete consistently in the top half of the championship. And then it could be years before we stumble on a squad that actually takes us to the premier league. Will any investor have the patience to fund us season after season? The majority of private equity investors wouldn't. What happens if they lose patience? We're left with a squad of mediocre high earners (like the majority of other championship clubs) but without the finance to fund them. If they pull the plug it could see us fall to league one and beyond. An alternative might be to throw a lot of money at us, and aim to get us there as quickly as possible. But the consequences of not making then it are even worse.

That said, similar clubs have made it there, so why not us? We're punching above our financial weight as it is, so with a bit of investment and continuing to punch above our (heavier) financial weight, perhaps it wouldn't cost too much to get us to the premier league? We were on course to finish 7th to 10th last season, so with a bit of extra cash could we set a course to finish 3rd to 6th?

It's a risky investment, but attractive enough for someone to think we have a reasonable chance of reaching the premier league.

The only reason that I can think of that the deal has taken so long (I don't think you'd expect a buy out of a small company like us to drag on for months), is potential safeguards PC may be attempting to put in place. Don't kid yourself that retaining a 20% stake is going to make any difference to the running of the club. Anything less than 26% doesn't confer much in terms of influence. I hope that is the case and that there is some way to stop them from deciding to pull the plug after a few seasons. Perhaps contingent consideration due to PC (which hopefully he would reinvest) if we're ever relegated to league 1. I don't know legally what can be done, but I hope Maurice is heavily involved in the talks.

So I'd rather we got this investment than we didn't. It's a bit of excitement, which is the reason we follow football. I'm not overly keen to watch us spend another 8 seasons floundering at the bottom end of the championship.

 

You must be the only person in the world to believe this. Chinese economic growth has been consistent for 40 years, often at over 10% a year. Maybe you're confusing China with the UK of ten years ago.

The days when the local fruit and veg retailer could run a football club are over. There is no one in the Barnsley area with the financial clout to match Cryne, never mind match any Chinese investor. Cryne's illness means he has to sell. If he dies without selling that would hardly be a stable situation for the club. A Chinese investor could mean us going the way of Bournemouth or it could mean us going the way of Blackburn. At the moment however there is no other apparent option.

 

We don't know the full details of any proposed take over. You can rest assured if the Lawyers representing
Patrick Cryne and Barnsley MBC ( if the ground is involved) give it the green light, then the offer could well be accepted and as fans we would have to accept that. None of us likes change or the fear of the unknown so it's natural to be wary.

Been reading a lot about Messrs Lee and Conway and they both appear to be well respected in business
circles. As someone has said, the proposed take offer seems to mirror the Nice model in that the incumbent
retains an interest in the Club and the original management team is left in place.

If this has been ongoing since February, I would hope that Gauthier would have been made aware during the
process to appoint him. ? He is probably fully au fait with what's happened at Nice and knowing that , surely wouldn't have
signed up if he didn't believe in the prospective new owners proposals would he.?

 

I wonder why most of you don't pack up and watch Manchester United, you might as well. I'd rather the club be non-league than buy its way into the Premier League. I couldn't give a **** about the Premier League, I care about Barnsley FC and the town and spirit it has represented ever since Tiverton Preedy set it up. It's somewhat ironic that we were founded by a man of God and now we're going to sell our soul for nothing more than the chance to be last on Match of the Day all bought on fraudulent success. Spending millions of pounds of somebody else's money and getting promoted wouldn't be an achievement. Constantly punching above our weight and spitting in the face of the arseholes who have ruined this ******* sport is an achievement, and now people want to sell out and become part of the ******* problem. I'm sure we'd all love to sleep with Kelly Brook, but if you've got to cheat on your wife to do it you're still a lovely person.

 

Not all sectors of the Chinese economy have remained stable in recent years and more than a few esteemed economist's have raised concerns around certain sectors. The point I was trying to make is we need to be careful who get in bed with. How many Russians and Arab Princes have come to our shores stating they had substantial funds and it never materialising. I'm fully aware the John Dennis' of this world can't compete anymore, but we need to beware false prophets.I'd love for us to get a rich and well connected financial backer who wants the club to establish itself in the top 30 clubs in England but not at any cost.

 

is spending millions of pounds of patrick crynes money and getting nowhere ok then? we all care about Barnsley FC , if the club happened to be in the premier league (there's no guarantee of that happening at all by the way , ask them idiots down the road) giving the bigger boys a bloody nose then all well and good. im sorry if you want a football club at all your post is a one way street to to constant struggle.

 

Mr Lee has been resident in the USA for 30 years and Paul Conway is an American.
If it's correct I've been reading that the business arm interested in taking us over is based in Virginia USA.

 

Rubbery.

 

Lets hope they can deliver.

 

Was it a rice field?

 

Prawn cracker field

 

He has done well with nice by the looks. He is a billionaire and I can't imagine the American banker who is supposedly in on it is short either. I'd love to see us back in the premiership but football has changed for the worse and sadly this is the only way it will happen again. Show him oakwell v Bradford or the prem years. And let's hope his intentions are good he is following bfc on Twitter and GG.

 

If this comes off we'll go on a roll in spring

 

I don't understand why we have been so eager to sell the assets if we are selling the club.

 

if this is true then it cannot come quick enough for me.....fed up of us being shat on by crap teams.