Tuesday 22 September 2009

Murray resumes control in £7m boost

Finally some very good news in terms of the future of our club. The rumour of an investment from Sir Maurice Hatter has been confirmed as part of a wider shift in control of the club as seven of the existing money men have invested a further total of £7m to safeguard the immediate future. It also confirms what Phil Parkinson told us last week in terms of him being given assurances about this season.

The seven are all on the new plc Board which now assumes all control for running of the football club from the "limited company" and the "holdings limited." The previous decision for Murray and Whitehand to invest in the purchase of the training ground also appears to have been reversed and this now returns to ownership of the club which many will see as a sign of good intent. A number of other existing Directors have agreed to resign their directorships and are now made vice presidents losing influence over the direct running of the club; these include Roger Alwyn, Richard Collins, Michael Grade, Martin Simons, Michael Stevens, Gideon Franklin and Derek Ufton.

What does it really mean? Well for starters, the takeover that never was is clearly dead and buried for now. The club statement confirms interest from a number of different parties but goes on to say that they have all "failed to result in any tangible benefit." Reads to me like they wanted control of the club on the cheap and didn't have the funds to really offer us a better future than the current Board. Better the devil you know in those circumstances. Our bright start to the season has obviously had a significant impact on matters.

I also see this as a determination of the new plc Board to take closer control of any future takeover talks and to ensure that any deal delivers both a fair price for the Club and that any new investor has the means with which to manage the club properly going forward.

Richard Murray's recently tarnished image gets a polishing in all this. He has obviously dug deep again to resume chairmanship of the plc and has answered the cynics who said that his purchase of the training ground was Machiavellian. It's a move would also simplify and future sale of the club.

Perhaps one or more of the prospective takeover groups will break cover and comment, although silence would be the right move if they have ongoing intentions of one day controlling the club. With our current success on the pitch, this moves draws a line under our recent decline and should give us the all-round platform on which to hope for a bit of prosperity and a return to progress. I'll drink to that.

1 comment:

  1. It's also pretty clear that the "new" board is still open to sensible offers and have made a number of changes (combining boards, reducing the number of directors, greater clarity as to who is in charge, keeping title to assets)which would all make a takeover easier and quicker.

    Between the lines - I would not be at all surprised if there had been some disagreement between Chappell and Murray as to the way forward.

    Perhaps also a little bit of business acumen has come into play and the Board has realised that you don't get the best price selling out at the bottom of the market - but when prospects are more rosy.

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