Back in late 2007 our great club was in dire straits. We were all but declared bankrupt and only waited for someone to call the administrators in. The bank was tired of sending payment reminders and even Robinson had decided it was time to sell up and get back whatever he could - which was not a lot as it turned out.
In another location Ranson was hungry to get his own club having already failed to get Villa, Manchester City and Southampton - and so the world had a seller and a buyer. Ranson couldn't buy the club from his own money, so he partnered with somebody who could raise the remaining capital ... SISU who were able to provide funds from investments they managed for their clients. No outsider really knows the details of the negotiations but when the white smoke finally came up the chimney Ranson and the SISU managed funds were our new owners.
There was a condition though - one that created a lot of mistrust between SISU and the fans - the handing over of ALL shares. Shares that were in fact worthless in terms of money, but had a high sentimental value for the fans. So it looked like daylight robbery - hand over the shares or your club will die!
On the other hand, SISU needed at least 90% of the shares to gain absolute control and Robinson only had 71.5%. Had SISU not 'collected' the remaining shares they would have been vulnerable to a hostile takeover attempt ... ahem, remember Hoffman? In addition shares in free floatation have a market value and the setup SISU wanted relied on the shares holding a fixed value until they are sold. Very complicated for everybody but SISU, but more importantly it created a rift between owners and fans that exists even today.
SISU are a bunch of investment managers knowing zip about running a football club but specialized in corporate recovery investments. Ranson had played for real and even knows the offside rules, so he was very trustworthy. SISU being investors negotiated a partnership with Ranson where Ranson deposited his own successful business, Prozone, as his share of the investment while the SISU funds provided the money needed to clear the debts (with a £35m discount) so forming the Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Group which included the ownership of CCFC Limited. Ranson was crowned Chairman and CEO. Other board members were Hoffman (VC), Elliott and Parkin. SISU only had one member at the board - Onye Igwe
“We are debts free! In fact we are one of only three clubs in the country that are debt free!” Said by Ranson. Well, that was not exactly true. It was true originally however that all external debts were cleared. But those debts were replaced by new loans provided by the SISU funds. The beauty of the new loans is that they do not carry any interest. This way the club is relieved of £2-3 millions of cost per year. Very nice. Even better yet, the club is not obligated to make periodic installments to bring down the loans. That’s more millions not being spent on non-football matters. Very, very nice.
But loans are still loans. It is money borrowed from someone who wants it back at some point. There's a reason for this construction and it's quite simple - by being the clubs major creditor SISU can more or less block any move to put the club in administration in the future should Ranson fail to deliver the turn-around he promised.
In the beginning we had Ranson running the show backed financially by loans provided by investors managed by SISU. The board oversaw the operations deciding on any thing major by simple voting. The only thing they couldn't control was bringing in new investments as that must be provided by SISU.
In the beginning nothing could go wrong.
.............................................
This piece is the first of three. Hopefully we will have a series of threads where we can discuss issues to determine what's facts and what's fiction.
Each FAQ will contain an opening post based on facts (as we know them), while any speculation will be put in additional posts - mostly as replys to other peoples comments.
Please post your comments/questions regarding the initial takeover by Ranson/SISU in this thread.
Coming up:
FAQ 2 - Money Talks
FAQ 3 - The End?
Those threads will include issues like accounts, cash flow, losses, stadium purchase, player sales/proceeds, club strategy and Fair Finance Play.
PUSB
Godiva/OldSkyBlue58
In another location Ranson was hungry to get his own club having already failed to get Villa, Manchester City and Southampton - and so the world had a seller and a buyer. Ranson couldn't buy the club from his own money, so he partnered with somebody who could raise the remaining capital ... SISU who were able to provide funds from investments they managed for their clients. No outsider really knows the details of the negotiations but when the white smoke finally came up the chimney Ranson and the SISU managed funds were our new owners.
There was a condition though - one that created a lot of mistrust between SISU and the fans - the handing over of ALL shares. Shares that were in fact worthless in terms of money, but had a high sentimental value for the fans. So it looked like daylight robbery - hand over the shares or your club will die!
On the other hand, SISU needed at least 90% of the shares to gain absolute control and Robinson only had 71.5%. Had SISU not 'collected' the remaining shares they would have been vulnerable to a hostile takeover attempt ... ahem, remember Hoffman? In addition shares in free floatation have a market value and the setup SISU wanted relied on the shares holding a fixed value until they are sold. Very complicated for everybody but SISU, but more importantly it created a rift between owners and fans that exists even today.
SISU are a bunch of investment managers knowing zip about running a football club but specialized in corporate recovery investments. Ranson had played for real and even knows the offside rules, so he was very trustworthy. SISU being investors negotiated a partnership with Ranson where Ranson deposited his own successful business, Prozone, as his share of the investment while the SISU funds provided the money needed to clear the debts (with a £35m discount) so forming the Sky Blue Sports & Leisure Group which included the ownership of CCFC Limited. Ranson was crowned Chairman and CEO. Other board members were Hoffman (VC), Elliott and Parkin. SISU only had one member at the board - Onye Igwe
“We are debts free! In fact we are one of only three clubs in the country that are debt free!” Said by Ranson. Well, that was not exactly true. It was true originally however that all external debts were cleared. But those debts were replaced by new loans provided by the SISU funds. The beauty of the new loans is that they do not carry any interest. This way the club is relieved of £2-3 millions of cost per year. Very nice. Even better yet, the club is not obligated to make periodic installments to bring down the loans. That’s more millions not being spent on non-football matters. Very, very nice.
But loans are still loans. It is money borrowed from someone who wants it back at some point. There's a reason for this construction and it's quite simple - by being the clubs major creditor SISU can more or less block any move to put the club in administration in the future should Ranson fail to deliver the turn-around he promised.
In the beginning we had Ranson running the show backed financially by loans provided by investors managed by SISU. The board oversaw the operations deciding on any thing major by simple voting. The only thing they couldn't control was bringing in new investments as that must be provided by SISU.
In the beginning nothing could go wrong.
.............................................
This piece is the first of three. Hopefully we will have a series of threads where we can discuss issues to determine what's facts and what's fiction.
Each FAQ will contain an opening post based on facts (as we know them), while any speculation will be put in additional posts - mostly as replys to other peoples comments.
Please post your comments/questions regarding the initial takeover by Ranson/SISU in this thread.
Coming up:
FAQ 2 - Money Talks
FAQ 3 - The End?
Those threads will include issues like accounts, cash flow, losses, stadium purchase, player sales/proceeds, club strategy and Fair Finance Play.
PUSB
Godiva/OldSkyBlue58
