Bolton in possible take-over bid....

ED won't just sell up to anyone. Only the right buyer will suffice

I wish i had the same optimism Boggers, he's a businessman first and foremost and will sell to anyone who can provide the readies i bet.

bwfc1874 wrote:Your last point about Lennon is a good one in theory, I hadn't considered that and it would certainly help to make sense of his decision.

I'd be amazed if this story was true as I can't understand why anybody would want to take over a club when they'd immediately have to pay off (at least some) of a £160 million debt - although I'm not a financial person so my opinion on that is pretty redundant.

It's a massive jump, but if what they're saying is true Id be worried about this consortium. This mention of Thai players in England is immediately a concern. Makes them sound more Venkys than Abrahmovic to me. 

But it's most likely a load of nonsense that will never materialise.

Having said that these takeovers often put the incumbent under immediate pressure because the new owners want "their man"

The problem is, we don't know exactly what is up for sale.

This is purely guesswork and speculation and it might be a load of bollocks but indulge me.

Eddie Davies appears to have sunk the majority of his cash investment in BWFC into developing the non-footballing side of things - building the hotel and all the other real estate that they now own.

How much of this would be up for sale?

Would he want to sell off the football side of the business and retain ownership of the property portfolio?

Or would he be flogging the whole kit and kaboodle but insist on Moonshift / Burnden Leisure / Whoever still retaining a percentage share in matters?

On paper, the £40 million quoted wouldn't go anywhere near covering the asset worth of the buildings and ancillary businesses, let alone the ground and football club if they were broken down and sold piecemeal, so it's all a bit murky.

I honestly think this may be the final piece in ED's long-term plan which has had us all scratching our heads for years.

We've all been asking how he could be happy to sit on a theoretical debt the size of ours without a plan for recouping his losses / making some extra cash for himself and this seems as likely an explanation as any.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it as many people apparently are.

Is it good news for us?

No idea.

Could it be happening?

Definitely.

Nixon thinks there's something in it

Boggersbelief wrote:Nixon thinks there's something in it

Hmmm...

bwfc1874 wrote:

It's a massive jump, but if what they're saying is true Id be worried about this consortium. This mention of Thai players in England is immediately a concern. Makes them sound more Venkys than Abrahmovic to me. 

I don't get the impression that this consortium would invest much if any money in the team.
Our current owners don't invest in the team either. Not sure if there's any advantage to the team should a change in ownership happen.

Breadman wrote:I think we should sell.

Let's face it, having a couple of alleged Bolton "fans" in charge hasn't really done us much good has it?

You know, with the £170 million debt thing and that.......?

And it's time for a re-brand - "Wanderers" is a boring name and no longer reflects our current status, as we haven't moved from Horwich for over 18 years.

Bolton Crazy Dragons Good Luck Happy Time United is a far better name.

NLSWBCDGLHTUA!

The consortium has some big name backers.

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Sorry, Keegs, under the terms of the re-brand, BCDGLHTUFC would change their strip's colour from boring (and rubbish) white to a far more interesting and fortune changing red & gold affair.

So technically, it'd become NLSR&GBCDGLHTUA!

It's vital that we establish the important stuff like this now, before it's too late.

Since we don't use ampersands, wouldn't we then be NLSRAGBCDGLHTUFCA? Under the terms of the 1927 Garowen Convention, it was decided that names would consist of letters only - due to that nasty accident we shouldn't speak of.

I like Thai food .....so that's somat. 

First bloke out after the takeover is Phil and his cronies on the board. So I would expect resistance to selling at all costs.

Imagine owners coming in who might piss away untold millions on the club ...... with our man Lennon at the helm.  We could be like a Southampton or West Brom etc....  actually compete.  Oh the thought of it.

WANDERERS have played down talks of a potential Thai takeover.

Overnight reports claimed Thai groups BEC-Tero and Siam Sport Syndicate were preparing a £40million joint bid to acquire the football club from owner Eddie Davies.

Quotes attributed to BEC-Tero managing director Bryan Marcar appeared to lend substance to the story but speaking to The Bolton News this morning, chairman Phil Gartside insisted that no deal was in the offing.

“We have spoken to several parties who have expressed interest in investing in the club but these quotes from Thailand come as a complete surprise to me,” he told The Bolton News.

“Other than what has appeared this morning it is business as usual here.”

It is understood that talks took place several months ago between Wanderers and Marcar – who was also involved in an unsuccessful takeover at Championship rivals Reading - but that the deal has not progressed since.

Davies and Gartside, speaking on behalf of the board, have indicated that the club could be sold if a suitable offer and buyer were to come forward.

Talks have taken place with investors at home and abroad but have yet to reach the stage where an agreement has been put in place.

..News of Thai interest, carried on a few websites overnight, claimed BEC-Tero had found a business partner in media company Siam Sport Syndicate, who were willing to travel to England soon to begin detailed discussions with Wanderers.

“As for the bid to take over Bolton, I must admit I have a close relationship with the club's president,” Marcar told nationmultimedia.com.

“The club has plenty of property, and most importantly, they have their own stadium, hotel and football academy.

“In terms of their financial status, they made profits between 2004 and 2006, but suffered losses since then, with their debt now standing at 150 million pounds.

“They're quite ready in almost every aspect. That will help us benefit in many ways, especially when it comes to Thai players playing in England.”

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Whaddya reckon, Sluff?

Whatever happened to that woman off dragons den, who was apparently going to make a comment to the media about her apparent take over bid?

Me thinks something big is about to happen...

Breadman wrote:Whaddya reckon, Sluff?

Well everything as its price.

I understand that for several seasons now the club was available if the right deal came along.

It's clear that since relagation - possibly before - the owner/s have decided not to invest much if anything into the club - so I guess at that time a decision was taken that instead of sitting back and waiting for a bid to come in, they instead took on agents to actively market the club - and the far eastern market does seem a place to find a likely investor - City and Birmingham had (bad) owners from there and Cardiff, Reading and others seem to have better ones.

The size of those clubs are also similar to Bolton as well.

I don't doubt some preliminary talks went on - the club arem't denying that - so there are some legs to the story.

Why as it come out now though?

Perhaps we are in talks with someone else right now and the story's been leaked to show there is other interest in the club?

The price of £40 million seems to be more reasonable than £165 million - no one was ever going to pay that - but what is the £40 million buying - the club or the club and all that comes with it such as the hotel and school?

Why would any foreign investor want a school, etc?

I can't see why a Thai company would want to invest in Bolton, England - what's in it for them?

A stupidly rich Thai wanting a toy maybe - but a thai business - I doubt it.

So, who knows, I haven't a clue but on the face of it I can't see any obvious commercial sense in why Thai busineses would want to buy the club for circa £40 million, pay what another £8 million again this season in losses, and invest maybe £4 or 5 million more in improving the squad.

For those reasons - and as the 'Dragons' from these shores would say - "I'm out".

aaron_bwfc wrote:Whatever happened to that woman off dragons den, who was apparently going to make a comment to the media about her apparent take over bid?

Me thinks something big is about to happen...

I saw a repeat of Room 101  the other day and she was on. Her first choice was football fans. Then she said she knows absolutely nothing about football.

I think it will just be the football club and football facilities, macron, academy etc. Then the burnden leisure will retain the rest and gartside will be more involved in that side than the football. Fingers crossed anyway

y2johnny wrote:I think it will just be the football club and football facilities, macron, academy etc.  Then the burnden leisure will retain the rest and gartside will be more involved in that side than the football. Fingers crossed anyway

Possibly so Johnny but would that be worth £40 million (I ask myself)?

Would a serious investor also not want some significant say in the hotel which is part of the fabric of the Reebok?

Why would they want to buy into an hotel if they only wanted a football club?

Would other clubs - say Wigan - not meet their needs better?

Is it in the rules somewhere that you even have to have an academy - and even if you do could you not part share one with the likes of Bury, Preston, Rochdale etc, rather than buying one from Burnen Leisure? It's not as though they've turned out anyone decent in the last decade or so - was Nicky Hunt the last regular from the academy?

All rhetorical questions on my part - not trying to be arguementative in any way.

All anyone can do is Speculate at the minute sluffy. Mine you, as Bolton fans that's all we do the majority of the time because nothing is ever straight forward