Club Signs Stadium Contract

[clapham_gull]

We have directors in this club 2 of them in fact who could each build the whole thing out of their respective bank accounts

Not sure the point of that, since you could then ask the question why aren't they then ?

However - what happened to the rumour a while back that a sizeable amount of the cash wasn't coming from a loan or a grant either.

Who is the mystery investor ?

 

[steward 433]

Not sure the point of that, since you could then ask the question why aren't they then ?

However - what happened to the rumour a while back that a sizeable amount of the cash wasn't coming from a loan or a grant either.

Who is the mystery investor ?

Not sure if the rumour is even true but if it is i would say it is a new investor.

Not sure why the board aren't putting all the money up for it tbh?

 

[Silent Bob]

Which of our directors have £60m in the bank then?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

LB dont waste your time trying to patronise some on here that might have some experience of trying to raise funds from the banks regularly.

Financing a major construction project is quite a different exercise from activities that involve "raising funds from the banks regularly".

 

[Lord Bracknell]

BigGully is a COUNCILLOR? Really?

 

[BensGrandad]

Much as I enjoy your posts generally (most of which I disagree with), it is your statement above, that makes me glad that your consortium involvement before Dick Knight, did not succeed.

QUOTE]


2 points.

1. Had the consortium that I was involved with bought the club they would have paid the cash them selves without any loans grants etc as one man alone was prepared to put in £80m himself, but that is all water under the bridge now and is best forgotten and left to rest.

2. This was not meant to be detrimental to supporters but as supporters we have no right whatsoever to be informed of the financial details about the stadium building. All of the financial details are for the ears and eyes of those responsible for bringing this stadium to us, who are the ones who will ultimately have to bear the costs if anything goes tits upward.

 

[BigGully]

BigGully is a COUNCILLOR? Really?

Not sure about that, as it happen's I hope beyond hope that we get our stadium very soon.

But your going to have exclude me from the blind exceptence that it is a green light because of this signing of a contract with the building company.

It might be construde by some to be politcal spin to feed us fans some morsels whilst we expectantly wait for confirmation that the banks have lent us the necessary finance to finish the project. The board seem to be unfairly under great pressure from us the fans.

As I have said before I am not apportioning any blame here and am definately not saying that it wont happen, far from it I beleive it will.

But to somehow dismiss the financial turmoil that has enveloped the world at present is very naive.

The structuring I would suspect is extremely detailed, but it remains exactly the same in principle to any other raising of financing at present, bloody difficult.

If it is in place today why havent we been told, thats all

 

[BigGully]

Financing a major construction project is quite a different exercise from activities that involve "raising funds from the banks regularly".

Not really ....

Business Plans ( continually changing depending on our successes/failures on the pitch )

Own Cash & Personal Guarantees

Other Borrowings

Other guaranteed public funds

Detailed Costings

Cash Flow Forecasts

Market Research

Viabilty Analysis

Squeaky Bum Time .......

 

[Lord Bracknell]

The main difference between regular business borrowing and financing a major construction project is the timescale. You can negotiate a much longer payback period for a stadium. You can even negotiate a shared equity deal. It's not just about borrowing cash to pay the builders.

 

[Marc]

I personally dont believe for 1 second that we have all the funding in place, the recent signing of the construction documents just means simply its all in Buckinghams hands to build the thing and they trust us to deliver the cash when asked for it.
Sure the current financial world gloom is bound to affect us but not everything in that respect has to be seen as bad, good things will come out of it and just maybe our stadium will be that shining light for Sussex.

But...as ever...I wont believe it until I'm sat in my seat.

 

[BigGully]

The major difference between regular business borrowing and financing a major construction project is the timescale. You can negotiate a much longer payback period for a stadium. You can even negotiate a shared equity deal. It's not just about borrowing cash to pay the builders.

Ok, all those points would be in the business plan.

Your point is just outliniung how project's such as these might pay back the loans.

My point is at the front end, it doesn't seem that the funds are yet secured to be paid back anyhow !!!

I am NOT saying we wont get the funds, everything might fall into place tomorrow morning, my point is it seems those funds have not been secured and the signing of this contract is not necessarilly an indication that they are any closer because of it.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Those of us who attended the first Public Inquiry will remember the discussion about financing the project partly through a securisation vehicle, specifically linked to future season ticket sales.

I guess this probably isn't as attractive today as it sounded then.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Those of us who attended the first Public Inquiry will remember the discussion about financing the project partly through a securisation vehicle, specifically linked to future season ticket sales.

I guess this probably isn't as attractive today as it sounded then.

Why not? The likelihood is that when the stadium is built and open we will be out of recession.

It would have been much worse if the stadium was about to open now just as money has become very tight all round

 

[perseus]

The important thing remaining is whether the investors have sufficient confidence in the people on the Albion Board, or the Board of the new company to deliver the promised land. Will we see some new people?

Do you have confidence in the current Board to deliver? Will the investors profile the current team? Is there an Architect (INTP) on board?

Devil's Advocate

 

[chimneys]

This thread could very well be linked to the recent "Serious irregularities at the club" thread. There are clearly a few posters on this thread who are close to the club, and are very quick to criticise/shoot down anyone who dares to raise a very valid and massively important point, that Perry has not confirmed funding is in place.

I'm not, by linking the threads, saying there are irregularities at the club (I'm sure far from it), but that maybe one or two of you are now too close to the club to give an unbiased view. I say this because of your rejection of any questioining of those in control of the club on such a critical issue. Instead we are all to keep quiet and not dare to question.

Is it not a perfectly sensible issue for fans not in the know to raise Lord B/ The Large One? Perry's silence on the crucial confirmation of funding (NOT THE DETAIL just that funding is in place is all we want!) is deafening and his hiding behind commercial confidentiality cannot hold up much longer.

Some fans are irate by us "party poopers", but not as irate as we all will be if we find that we are being led down the garden path...

 

[Easy 10]

Dear 'Dozy 10'

I am assuming that you have never raised finance above and beyond a credit card application ( probably the ones for 29.9% apr and failed ) but althought I find some of your post quite funny, I honestly think that your views on anything from team affairs to real life just as comedic !!

I genuinely hope that the club has the finance in place maybe today, although I doubt it, or hopefully first thing Monday morning.

As yet this is unlikely, not because the club and MP & DK have in someway acted or made decisions that are poor, but because the current economic climate is against them.

Lets hope they succeed, where others such as the worlds major banks and many corporate international business are failing at present, but I am concerned.

Bigger and better businesses than us are failing at present, not necessarily because of poor management, but due to current financial circumstances, thats all, its sooo tough out there.

You choose to have a group huddle and 'whoooop' because they have signed a insignificant contract that at the most GUARANTEES a dig that would achieve less 'soil turnover' than an episode of 'Timeteam' !! and deride my view that it doesn't really tell us much or move us closer to our outstanding stadium.

We dont know what will happen in the coming days, months or weeks, but please dont hold your breath when waiting for your reply to your unlikley credit card application, you have been declined.

*sigh*
Childish jibes about my own personal credit worthiness now eh. How very cutting. As it happens, I don't want or need to borrow on credit cards. My Barclaycard has remained in my wallet for donkeys years on a zero balance, where it will remain unless I need to pay for a flight or something and just want the extra insurance a credit card offers.

Anyway, if you'd actually bothered reading my earlier post (difficult for you I know, as your fingers were no doubt itching to impart yet more of your pearls of guesswork dressed up as fact), you might have noticed that I am of the view that the club does NOT have £65m sitting in an account somewhere, just waiting to be drawn upon. So in that respect, we can accurately say that no, the funds are not yet "in place" to pay for the whole thing up front.

What we have been told is that the business plan is in place to pay for the thing. Contracts have been agreed and signed by both parties, and construction is starting on schedule. This IS something to celebrate, as we could have had bad news at this point that things were being put back. We havn't, and they're not. Does it give a cast iron GUARANTEE that everything will go smoothly from this point ? Of course not. Nothing can simply be taken for granted in ANY major construction project. But this IS another step along the way to getting our stadium. Its just a shame you'd rather sit there and cast doubts on it all even when good news like this comes out.

Hey ho.

 

[chimneys]

And one final point repeated again, as others seem in denial. If the club had the full finance they would say so. Not the details just simply "the funding is in place". They have not done so, and even my question on "ask the club" has been ignored for a week.

Have not looked at Ask The Club before. Is that normal for there to be a delay in responding if a more sensitive issue that I guess needs Martin's authority to answer, as questions posed 3 days later have been answered. Any comment Insider?

 

[Lord Bracknell]

This thread could very well be linked to the recent "Serious irregularities at the club" thread. There are clearly a few posters on this thread who are close to the club, and are very quick to criticise/shoot down anyone who dares to raise a very valid and massively important point, that Perry has not confirmed funding is in place.

I'm not, by linking the threads, saying there are irregularities at the club (I'm sure far from it), but that maybe one or two of you are now too close to the club to give an unbiased view. I say this because of your rejection of any questioining of those in control of the club on such a critical issue. Instead we are all to keep quiet and not dare to question.

Is it not a perfectly sensible issue for fans not in the know to raise Lord B/ The Large One? Perry's silence on the crucial confirmation of funding (NOT THE DETAIL just that funding is in place is all we want!) is deafening and his hiding behind commercial confidentiality cannot hold up much longer.

Some fans are irate by us "party poopers", but not as irate as we all will be if we find that we are being led down the garden path...

I'm not sure what the mention of me in this message is supposed to imply.

Just in case there is any doubt, however, I will say this only once. I am not "in the know" about the Falmer finances.

I've followed the issue in some detail, but all I have ever heard is what has been said publicly. I will, however, concede that I may interpret the public statements differently from some others.

As things stand at the moment, I am interpreting the signing of the contract as evidence that the finance will be in place to complete the project. I'm basing that interpretation not on blind faith in the Albion's Board of Directors, but on my own experience as a project and contract manager. The fact that most of my experience has been in the public sector, rather than the private sector, may cause some people to question its relevance. But I can live with that.

I'm quite comfortable about the fact that the Club haven't revealed all the details. I understand why some people want to see more detail, before they will "believe", but I understand the argument that says that, even after the details have been finalised, it is right to keep some information confidential. Big project finances are like that.

Some of the funding streams that have previously been mentioned raise questions in my mind. And I've asked them, without necessarily expecting an answer at this stage. One is about the securitisation of season ticket revenues (see earlier in this thread). Another is about the likelihood of stadium naming rights being negotiated at a level that might have been imagined three years ago. But to raise these questions isn't to cast doubt on the viability of the whole project.

Stated brutally, the key thing is that although the Club is putting itself into debt to build the stadium, it is paying for the best possible advice as to how to manage that debt over a long period of time. That'll do for me.

 

[SICKASAGULL]

When THE CLUB state who is providing the loans and how much then its time to get excited, signing a contract with a developer would have any number of ifs and buts included.
Our board have been pleading poverty for years,even before the present financial crunch it seemed improbable, now its most unlikely,they just wont admit it.

 

[BigGully]

*sigh*
Childish jibes about my own personal credit worthiness now eh. How very cutting. As it happens, I don't want or need to borrow on credit cards. My Barclaycard has remained in my wallet for donkeys years on a zero balance, where it will remain unless I need to pay for a flight or something and just want the extra insurance a credit card offers.

Anyway, if you'd actually bothered reading my earlier post (difficult for you I know, as your fingers were no doubt itching to impart yet more of your pearls of guesswork dressed up as fact), you might have noticed that I am of the view that the club does NOT have £65m sitting in an account somewhere, just waiting to be drawn upon. So in that respect, we can accurately say that no, the funds are not yet "in place" to pay for the whole thing up front.

What we have been told is that the business plan is in place to pay for the thing. Contracts have been agreed and signed by both parties, and construction is starting on schedule. This IS something to celebrate, as we could have had bad news at this point that things were being put back. We havn't, and they're not. Does it give a cast iron GUARANTEE that everything will go smoothly from this point ? Of course not. Nothing can simply be taken for granted in ANY major construction project. But this IS another step along the way to getting our stadium. Its just a shame you'd rather sit there and cast doubts on it all even when good news like this comes out.

Hey ho.

You really are a tosser,

You choose to be abusive to me, because I raise a concern, I think quite reasonnably that actually the finance isn't as yet in place.

Of course you might wish to confirm that they are, but I doubt it.

Your a chancer that likes to curry favour with the congregation.

So tell your disciples, IS the finance in place ?

Of course it aint, and you and LB have been rumbled by pretty ordinary guys, that can see you are either liars or daft, probably both.

Is the money there to build it ??

Tell us and then we can all celebrate at the Alter that is 'Dozy 10 ' !