Dean Holdsworth on verge of takeover

MartinBWFC wrote:What's done is done, nowt we can do or say now will change things  all we can do now is to hope SS have sufficient funds to get us flying again, whatever we think right now is mere speculation.

Nothing is done yet though Martin only that SS have been allowed 24 hours to see the books.

They might simply take one look and run for the hills as far as we know!

Forums are all about speculation - you do enough posting of unsubstantiated rumours yourself to know that!

Also SS would have the finance to see us through the season otherwise why take on a business at considerable financial risk to themselves?

Sports Shield have been given a slightly less than generous 24 hours to fully review the accounts, assess what liabilities exist, see how that fits with their plan and then make a decision.

Does that seem reasonable to anybody on here?

Or is it just a cover for ED to use in court on Monday when he can appeal to the judge's better nature and say "Look.....we're trying, honest!" in the hope that another stay of execution will be granted?

If you're serious about selling your business, you give the buyer sufficient opportunity to do it properly.

You don't force them into a corner like this.

It's farcical and it backs up my continued assertion that ED is happy to wring out every last penny he can by selling land before the club either enters Administration (and who's the club's largest creditor? Yup, it's ED) or we bumble along until his mates on the Truss Steering Committee are in a position to take over the club.

Absolute joke.

Candle Coal wrote:John Whittaker is another IOM tax exile so probably knows ED well. Has Rep as "Peel Holdings" for buying and developing with other people's/taxpayers money rather than his own. Sold Trafford Centre for Bonds payment instead of cash to avoid paying tax on the windfall, so don't expect any clarity in his financial dealings or money pumped in.He recently bought Hulton Park and put in a plan to build 1000 houses accessed from Chequerbent Roundabout.

If Peel Holdings are involved in this,we're done for. ITK.

You had dealings with Wilkinson too, Bonce?

I'm still waiting for that race course he was supposed to be building at the back of our house to materialise.....

This is getting a bit too close to home now. I'm keeping my head down.

Sluffy wrote:

Candle Coal wrote:John Whittaker is another IOM tax exile so probably knows ED well. Has Rep as "Peel Holdings" for buying and developing with other people's/taxpayers money rather than his own. Sold Trafford Centre for Bonds payment instead of cash to avoid paying tax on the windfall, so don't expect any clarity in his financial dealings or money pumped in.He recently bought Hulton Park and put in a plan to build 1000 houses accessed from Chequerbent Roundabout.

Hello and welcome Candle.

Very informative first post, thank you.

If 'billionaire' Whittaker is pulling the strings of Holdsworth consortium do you think he would want the Supporters Trust sat with him telling him how to spend his money?

Nah me neither!

I do wonder though what the financial attraction of the club is to those behind Holdsworth bid is though?

Have you any views on what they might be?

Thanks chaps for the welcome, been a lurker for a while, and enjoyed and endured the comments here, even though it's probably the worst time to be a BWFC fan for a long time it make for interesting debate.

If Whittaker and his family are pulling the strings they will use any means at their disposal to maximise revenue, but will be happy to play PR games by pretending to listen to a "supporter trust" If I was cynical I would say the current Trust is a proxy/tame organisation meant to block a real grassroots supporters trust developing further down the timeline, which may then  have been a thorn in the side of whichever Directors are in place. 

I think Peel Holdings will develop what land/building ED doesn't manage to sell first, and run the football club side on a shoestring as a 1st Div/ Championship team longer term. Same if the Home Bargains guy T J Morris is involved, which I guess may be the case as they have already done a long term investment deal on the carpark sale.

The only option for a bankrolling splurge would be if Blofeldesqe Mr Tamraz is itching to gamble his Gaddafi Gasillions of a slice of the Premiership/sky pie with the worldwide exposure that would give him.

Personally I would prefer Tamraz, seen a few videos of him now, intelligent, speaks Arabic, French and English. Is he any less trustworthy than the local businessmen ? He's a tough guy who when kidnapped 20yrs aga negotiated his ransom price down while being waterboarded and electric shocked. He has spent time in China recently, where football money is going crazy.  He would rip agents and footballing prima-donnas apart and looks like he would have international contacts to bring cash and players in from all over the world. I'm hoping ED is using the other UK buyers to push up Tamraz's offer at the last minute, rather than the other way around.

This one's definitely not AD.

Welcome aboard, mate.

Welcome indeed.

I don't think he's Johnny either.

J, if you're reading this, pull your head out of your arse and come back as yourself.

No daft, fake accounts, just you.

Y3Johnny or something.

Breadman wrote:I don't think he's Johnny either.

J, if you're reading this, pull your head out of your arse and come back as yourself.

No daft, fake accounts, just you.

Y3Johnny or something.

Quite right. I feel abandoned.

Very insightful reply Candle, thank you.

I can understand the attraction of the club to asset stripers our property developers (Holdsworth group is probably one like you say) and even chancers wanting to live the dream of owning the club like the cowboys on the steering committee but I could not see why Tamraz would want to get into football at the age of 75 and doing that in Bolton of all places?

A bit late in the day to start a hobby like Abramovich has nor desperate for the Sky millions either.

I just can't see what the Tamraz angle is, if it is indeed real?

As I understood it, from what his London representative said, it's about getting a platform in the UK for his energy company.

We would be his "in" to the UK market.

As for his age, super successful business magnates like him keep going until they drop generally, don't they?

It's all a bout the power and the prestige for them.

And they've never got enough money in the bank, so if they need to invest £1 million to earn a tenner, they do.

It's about winning for them.

As for the take over, somebody's paid off the mortgage on the Hotel today, so that's one less debt to worry about:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(Nixon spotted it, not me.)

perhaps thats were the Euxton money has gone?

God knows......

By Nixon's reckoning, the Great Macron Car-Boot / Fire Sale 2016 has netted over £11 million this week.

I just hope it all gets used wisely and it's not simply going to disappear.....

Well if he wanted an 'in' for his energy company why buy a (not very good) football club?

Better to takeover a company in the energy sector already I would have thought?

Also as for power and prestige - I can understand the ants connected with the ST to think owning BWFC was something huge but an international billionaire buying Bolton to impress his mates - I simply can't see it.



As for the Nat West mortgage - yes, three outstanding debts cleared yesterday - it does look like something definite is happening.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Always hoped my boss might buy the club. His company owns Walkden Town Centre,amongst others,but he upped and died. Didn't have much interest in football though,but was the tops when it came to business.

Breadman wrote:As I understood it, from what his London representative said, it's about getting a platform in the UK for his energy company.

We would be his "in" to the UK market.

As for his age, super successful business magnates like him keep going until they drop generally, don't they?

It's all a bout the power and the prestige for them.

And they've never got enough money in the bank, so if they need to invest £1 million to earn a tenner, they do.

It's about winning for them.

As for the take over, somebody's paid off the mortgage on the Hotel today, so that's one less debt to worry about:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

(Nixon spotted it, not me.)

Prescot Business Park Limited is the T J Morris AKA Home Bargains guy, who "bought" the carpark secured against the Hotel, so maybe this just formalising that deal. Or more smoke and mirrors.

"It's about winning for them."

I agree though with Breadman about the motivation of the old Machavellian guys wheeling and dealing, they think they are going to live forever.

You've missed my point a bit there, Sluff regarding the prestige bit.

I'd be amazed if Roger Tamraz is interested in us because of the football or the kudos of owning the club - I bet he'd never heard of us before last year.

No, I was speaking in general terms about the sort of person that he appears to be. 

You don't become a billionaire by thinking small and to become powerful, you need your fingers in a lot of pies.

We would just be a very minor distraction at the end of one of the very long arms of his empire, but we'd be another asset on paper for him.

We're a necessary part of his plan to raise his UK profile, nothing more.

English football is a global brand and he's obviously weighed up the cost / risk ratio and decided that it's worth a punt because of the global exposure that comes with being a Premier League football club.

And he's probably a bit "Venky" in his understanding of where we currently are and our chances of getting back into the Prem in the future.....

We need to exploit that fact before he realises that Gary Madine isn't a footballer.

boltonbonce wrote:Always hoped my boss might buy the club. His company owns Walkden Town Centre,amongst others,but he upped and died. Didn't have much interest in football though,but was the tops when it came to business.

Didn't realise Albert Gubay had died, Didn't he make a fortune with QuickSave, forerunner of the no frills supermarket. One of the first to realise he could stock his shops on 30 day credit, put a low markup on, but by banking the cash daily and getting decent interest he make a nice profit. Another who moved to the IOM to keep his money away from the taxman.

That's him. Still planning ahead right to the end. Left a tremendous legacy with his charitable foundation though.