Latest buy-out rumours “not true” says Llambias.

Posted on September 11th, 2009 | 8 Comments |

Rumours "not true"
Rumours "not true"
According to The Chronicle, they were contacted by one of their ‘usually reliable sources’ who said that one interested group had reached written agreement about buying the club and ‘other sources’ close to Sheard’s American bidders said that the deal is close to crossing the finishing line.

Both Derek Llambias and Seymour Pierce deny these rumours though, simply stating that they’re “not true”. Jonathon Brill – Ashley’s excellent PR man – just said that “talks are ongoing”.

Whilst I know the press do manage to bribe secure reliable sources sometimes, they don’t appear to have done so when it comes to anything to do with the Toon takeover situation.

The whole thing has be plagued by one unreliable rumour after another and it hasn’t been helped by the blatant publicity-seeking exhibited by some consortia under the guise of supposed bids.

My guess is that Sheard’s bid is a non-starter, just like those of The Profitable Group, Graham Roberts and Freddy Shepherd. In fact I think Moat’s bid is the only one that’s likely to be (or have been) a serious contender.

In terms of the Moat bid, I’m also disinclined to believe that the club’s overdraft with Barclays is a particular sticking point and more inclined to think it’s the general fund-raising Moat needs to do to raise the £100m Ashley’s asking.

Of course there could be (or have been) other bids in the offing that we haven’t heard about, which is what I’d expect for a procedure protected by strict non-disclosure agreements.

My money’s still on Ashley keeping the club for this season and hoping for promotion.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

8 Responses

  1. so what’s true story for liambias ? “more than 2 groups has 100m offer on the table ” as he stated last month ?

    Imo, Liambias’s words is waste and totally bull sxxx!!

  2. No different to any other article I’ve read in the last 3 months – high on opinion, low on fact……

    Not your fault of course as no facts appear to be in the public domain. And who believes anything Derek “there are more than 2 bids..” Lamearse says anyway….

  3. What a shock!

    Moat is most probably the only buyer and It’s more than obvious he has secured the financial backing as he would have had to show proof of that to Seymour Pierce before he even started speaking to them.

    Their just haggling over the price in my opinion. Even if his backers are multi billionaires if they don’t think the club is worth £100m they won’t pay it.

  4. “It comes as Llambias has been forced to close down his club e-mail account after being flooded with angry correspondence from fans and prank expressions of interest about a takeover.”

    Roll up, roll up!

  5. bowburnmag says:
    September 11, 2009 at 9:55 am (Edit)

    “It comes as Llambias has been forced to close down his club e-mail account after being flooded with angry correspondence from fans and prank expressions of interest about a takeover.”

    —-

    If my company was getting ‘angry correspondence’ from customers I’d try to alleviate it rather than shut down my email account, which would just make people angrier.

    I’m not saying I’d reply to each individual email but I’d issue a statement explaining the situation, with updates from time to time. Even if those updates merely say things like “we can’t say too much because of the non-disclosure agreements” it’s still communication and, in my experience, customers appreciate even that.

    The lack of anything like that approach is one of the most infuriating (and easily fixable) things about the Ashley/Llambias regime.

  6. Have doubted from the beginning anouncement of a sale by MA, that it would actually happen.
    It`s been a wierd scenario from the beginning, allmost surreal.
    And like most, I had hoped for a positive takeover, only to be dissapointed with each rumor and faild bid.
    Apparently the recession has had it`s effect, with not too many, either willing or able, to venture £100m., at a time when few PL teams expect to be profitable.
    This leaves the club with a still quite high wage bill, possibly highest in the league, the obvious result of poor if any planning at all, by those running the club.
    Which in turn makes the club less attractive.
    Perhaps an inproved economic picture and the unloading of those highly compensated but unwanted players, during the winter window, may attract a serious buyer.
    That is if we are still in competition for a run at promotion to the PL.
    We can only hope for the best and expect the worst if the club remains unsold, unfortunately .

  7. Well if llambias says these supposed bids are false well maybe a takeover is on the horizon as 90% of what comes out of that mans mouth is utter poo!!!