Offers for the club - would this ever filter down to members?

[HH12]

Anybody play cricket at Countess Wear with Exonian Chris Martin (Coldplay) - think I did but lost his number !
Worth a punt.

Sure Did

 

[grecian-near-hell]

So, fast-forward to a moneybags owner buying the club, the Trust membership having agreed that said owner is a jolly good fellow...what happens to the money the Trust receives for it's shares?

Say the Trust receives £5m...does it sit in a holding account which, if everything goes tits up, can be used to re-purchase the club? Do the Trust attempt to acquire the freehold of SJP? Would it just get used sporadically for one-off projects (which shouldn't need to happen because Mr Moneybags should have it covered?

We (trust members) all get a nice little payout from our subs !!!!!

 

[SaintJames]

We (trust members) all get a nice little payout from our subs !!!!!

I really hope not immediately but that it sat in the Trust account unless and until the club was needed to be re=purchased like York City

 

[John William]

We (trust members) all get a nice little payout from our subs !!!!!

Tongue in cheek I assmue, but the Trust are not allowed to do this.

Trust Rules:

5. Application of Profits or Surpluses

The profits or surpluses of the Trust are not to be distributed either directly or indirectly in any way whatsoever among Members but shall be applied:
5.1. on expenditure to achieve the Trust’s objects;
5.2. to maintain prudent reserves.

If the Trust was to be wound up then

118.

If on the winding up or dissolution of the Trust there remains, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities, any property whatsoever the same is to be transferred to:
118.1. a sporting charity or sporting charities operating in the local area; and/or
118.2. one or more societies established for the benefit of the community operating in local the area; and/or
118.3. one or more societies established for the benefit of the community in each case as determined by the Members at a meeting called to decide the issue. Nothing belonging to the Trust shall be transferred to any other society unless that society has in its rules a rule substantially in the terms of this Rule.

 

[Grecian Max]

I would suggest a close look at the Club accounts (as opposed to the Trust accounts) would give a good idea of why Exeter City FC is such an unattractive propsect. Add to that the fact that the City Council own (and seem likely to continue to) own the ground, OTR still own the Clubhouse area, and the Cat and Fiddle is privately owned, and leased to the Club on very attractive terms. The County Council still own the old school (admittedly it is leased on favourable terms, but to the Community Trust NOT to the Club.) There's also a small matter of outstanding loans from the Trust, as well as has been pointed out elsewhere, the small matter of having to put the question to the Trust membership. I wouldn't preclude an attempted takeover by a local group at some stage, but whoever/whatever it was would have to contend with the fact that an incredible amount of work in and around the Club is done by volunteers who give up theri time becasue "we own our football club" - even if that's not entirely true. Simply looking at the period 1995-2003 indicates that without outside asssitance, whether it be in the form of money, but particularly in the form of voluntarily led assistance the Club continued on an annual basis to move towards complete failure. Personally I have sympathy with Saintt James when he says that 'being blinkered does the Club no favours' and why I feel that it's important for Trust members to continue to interrogate at a forensic level the way in which the Trust interacts with the Club Board. Two recent resignations have (again in my view) considerably weakened the Trust's position on the Club Board. Openess from the Trust Board is also an imperative.

This all sounds pretty similar to Wrexham to me…

 

[Pete Martin (CTID)]

I've been wondering - over say, the last 5-10 years, past the firefighting times of early Trust ownership and back as a League club - how much interest has there been in buying the club and/or outside investment?

If you read these boards enough you'll be used to being told that no one would want us, there is no such thing as a good private owner, R&L mentions etc

However with English football being the epicentre of the global game and increasingly more interest from abroad, there seems to be more potential for wealthy individuals to inject money not just at the top but lower down the levels. This is going to make it hard to compete, and whilst I like the idea of us owning our club making us a bit more special - I would also be interested in seeing ECFC grow into something beyond what we expect at the moment.

So, has The Trust ever confirmed or denied approaches? What is our stance to offers? Do we do due diligence or reject out of hand?

Think this is pretty important to know.

I might be reading this wrong Max but there seems to be a veiled suggestion in there that the Trust is being secretive on any offer(s). Apologies if that is not the case.

As someone who had been on the old Trust BoS and the current Trust Board in spells over a period of 17 years (the most recent for a period of 6 years), I can honestly say that I was never aware of any offers, or even interest, in the club at any time in nigh on seventeen years of involvement with the Trust. I would consider it very odd if any offer or substantive interest had been shown, at any point, which didn't reach my eyes or ears.

Further, although I am no longer actively involved, I am absolutely certain, that once any concrete interest or potential offer were made, the Trust and the club board would not be secretive about it and, has already been said, any viable and substantive proposal would have to be put to members.

Whether that puts your mind to rest or not, I don't know, but that is the reality as far as I know it.

 

[Grecian Max]

Your spidey senses are good here Pete - I was being a little mischievous

I was genuinely interested however in if anyone knew whether interest had come forward. I’m pretty shocked that not once have we been approached, given the relative stability of the club and increasing reputation from the academy.

So it would appear we are a closed shop, or at least that’s the view of outside investment. I’d rather be negotiating in a strong position like we are… than look back with Argyle ruling the academy roost once again in the region and struggling to find a buyer…

 

[Pete Martin (CTID)]

Your spidey senses are good here Pete - I was being a little mischievous

I was genuinely interested however in if anyone knew whether interest had come forward. I’m pretty shocked that not once have we been approached, given the relative stability of the club and increasing reputation from the academy.

So it would appear we are a closed shop, or at least that’s the view of outside investment. I’d rather be negotiating in a strong position like we are… than look back with Argyle ruling the academy roost once again in the region and struggling to find a buyer…

Your final paragraph puts it all very well and I like the "closed shop" analogy. That is important as it is exactly that which, in my opinion, helps to ensure that mischievous or frivolous approaches from "investors" are deterred and only serious propositions come forward (if any, if ever).

Personally, I am not at all opposed to outside investment, but it has to be right for us and for the future of ECFC. Over many years we have seen other clubs jump to accept an 'attractive offer', only to find that those making the offer have no genuine or lasting commitment in the bad times.

One thing is for sure, despite any difficulties, the Trust and the majority of our supporters would not walk away if the going got tough. We did it 20 years ago and we would do it again.

 

[Prof MAB]

A couple of questions.

How does your "after a period of time" work, before the 20% shares are sold?

What, in your estimate, would be the financial value of 20% shareholding?

What would you use this cash injection on?

What happens when this cash injection is gone, how does the Club continue to receive regular, large value sums of money,

I'm not trying to be difficult, but simply attempting to understand how this would work.

On the Exeter city website the trust only own 53.9% of the club!

 

[STURTZ]

We are doing alright (probably the best in our entire history) because we are a trust run club, not despite that fact. We own our football club but as Dr Dave points out we don't actually own very much in the way of genuine assets.
Any individual wanting to buy Exeter City would be onto a loser from the start.