Richard Murray has taken sole control of Charlton through a management buy out. New money has been injected into the club to reduce its debt burden, thus making it more attractive to new investors who are being actively sought.
Murray said: 'This has been a critical time for the club. Our future was uncertain, and financially this was potentially one of our darkest hours. However, agreement has been reached with my fellow directors for me to take sole control of the club through what is effectively a management buyout (MBO) of the plc subsidiaries. The new money I am injecting into the club will ensure we go into the new season with a competitive team.'
'I shall be appointing a new interim board of directors, and we will now go forward and actively seek new investment. To assist with this, I am appointing Tim Fisher, of Calimere Point, to work with me on devising an investment strategy for the club.'
'I am very grateful to Derek Chappell, Sir Maurice Hatter, David Hughes, David Sumners, Steven Ward, David White and Bob Whitehand that, together with me, they have agreed to restructure and reduce the company debt, which in itself should make the club highly attractive to potential investors.'
It is understood that transfer funds will be made available to Phil Parkinson and it has been confirmed that Jose Semedo will be staying at The Valley. In my view these are very positive developments.
6 comments:
Wyn - If remember rightly, Richard Murray's company has a big stake in Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and I was wondering if this positive move was possible following the success in the court case in the States.
Who knows? Anyway, I agree with you this is very positive.
Corner Counter
Interesting thought but the $279m settlement against Walt Disney is being appealed so no money has been paid.
I think this is very good news and is a clear sign of the current directors working hard and dipping deep into thier pockets to move the club to being debt free.
I still own shares in the PLC, which for some time have had no monetary value. My understanding of what is proposed is that the PLC will sell the two ltd companies to Richard Murray, leaving the PLC owning nothing, and my guess is that at the end of the financial year the PLC will be wound up. perhaps if I have my share certifictes ramed they will eventually ahve some value as a collectable item. Time to move on and look forward to a succesful season.
Does anyone have any idea by how much the 20M+ debt is being reduced?
I imagine it would need to be a considerable amount to appease creditors and attract new investment.
My understanding is that the main creditors are Richard Murray and various members of the Board, so I think its a combination of directors writing off their debt or Richard Murray buying it out in exchange for ownership of the ltd companies. The main benefit seems to be that any new investor in the club would see the money go into development. Under the old arrangements new money could have been swallowed up paying off debt.
A side issue: it is good the club has banned vuvuzelas ; wouldn't it be good if they did the same for the annoying drums
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