Today’s announcement that the Rangers Football Club Ltd is looking to raise £20 million on the AIM before the end of this year means that, very soon, a Prospectus will be issued detailing Mr Green’s plans for the business and assets he bought in June.
Commenters here have rightly said that, until we see the Prospectus, we are speculating on what it will contain, and Mr Green may surprise his sceptics, of whom there are a few, by producing a watertight proposal which encourages investors as well as fans to invest.
Do we have anything formal from Mr Green which can give us a hint at his plans?
Fortunately we do!
In May 2012 Mr Green was seeking investors in his consortium. At that time his company, Sevco 5088 Ltd, had a binding agreement with Duff & Phelps to lend the insolvent Rangers Football Club PLC £8.5 million, subject to approval of a CVA, and to take ownership, and as we know now, a binding agreement to buy the assets for £5.5 million should the CVA fail.
I was sent a copy of the RFC presentation by a reader who downloaded it from, I think, the Follow Follow website.
It makes interesting reading. It runs to 24 pages, and was intended, one assumes, to whet the appetite of the corporate investors in the City who might be interested in acquiring a share of the company.
Of course a lot has changed since May. After all, at that stage Rangers had just finished second in the SPL. They were an SPL team and the expectation was that they would remain so. They had a playing staff stuffed with international players. Whilst they were not qualified for Europe, Duff & Phelps had indicated that they were seeking a UEFA licence anyway. After all, it was not their fault that the licence had not been obtained, was it?
So what goodies did Mr Green promise to others?
Page 1 of his presentation is entitled “Rangers Football Club by Charles Green”. It discloses that the presentation is in two parts. Part 1 is entitled “This is Rangers”. Part 2 is entitled “Ranger (sic) FC – The Financial Offering”.
At that stage therefore this was a Green deal, not a Sevco, Blue Pitch or Zeus one. It is also a pity that there was the misprint referring to “Ranger” FC. And on the front page too. I know there are typo’s on this blog, but I am not using it to attract millions of pounds of investment (Although if anyone wants to invest, contact me through the website ( 🙂 )
Pages 2 to 4 give a flavour of the history. This lists the trophies accumulated by RFC and refers to it as “one of the world’s most established and successful clubs”.
I am not sure how it can be classed as “most established”. What does that mean? Is it another way of saying longest established?
The Rangers crest and commencement date is shown alongside those for the teams with whom Mr Green wants Rangers to be compared. Manchester United, Arsenal, Celtic, Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Inter Milan are listed in date order. I think Celtic would be delighted to be placed in that company, and Mr Green presumably meant that they were the heights to which he aspired, rather than the teams on Rangers’ level just now. However, he cannot be faulted for aiming high!
Page 5 describes Rangers home and training ground. Ibrox, with its 51,000 capacity, is referred to as “Scotland’s only UEFA elite club stadium”. This is a phrase which popped up in today’s announcement as well.
Murray Park is described as “one of the world’s most advanced training facilities” and referred to as a “£14 million state of the art training centre”.
Now I do not want to keep harping on about it, but remember that Sevco Scotland paid £5.5 million for ALL of the assets and business of Rangers, which therefore included that “£14 million” training centre. I wonder what the figure refers to – is it the value of the centre, or what has been spent on it, or what? If it is “an adequate consideration” then £5.5 million for all the assets cannot be, can it? We shall soon see what BDO have to say.
Page 6 describes the “Rangers Phenomenon”. Please resist the temptation to offer your own descriptions of the “Rangers Phenomenon”. Or at least do so temperately.
Mr Green described the “Phenomenon” as having:-
- over 5 million fans worldwide
- 600,000 registered on the club database
- 1,350,000 matchday attendance
- a ground filled 90% to capacity
- 40,000 season ticket holders (on average)
- 250,000 Facebook followers
- 600 supporters’ clubs worldwide
- 42,000 corporate guests per season
Page 7 detailed the “Brand Reach”.
- 530 million potential TV audience
- saturated media coverage with a £6 million media value to the sponsor
- a cumulative domestic audience in excess 10 million
- worldwide soccer schools in 14 countries with 1.5 million attendees per season
- matches shown in over 100 countries by 50 channels
Now the 530 million potential audience is a bit like the figures saying that 2 billion people watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony, or that 1 billion watch the Super Bowl. For any football match to attract an audience in excess of 500 million would probably require the team to be playing against an inter-galactic select, with star players from Inter Centauri, AC Orion, and Betelgeuse United. Any players from Ursa Major would, of course, guest for Rangers.
What about the soccer schools? Are these money makers or sources for new players for Rangers? How much money do they make or cost? So far I am not aware of any players coming through the schools to Rangers, but maybe that is not why they are run.
Page 8 details the strategy under 8 headings.
- To capitalise on Rangers position as Scotland’s greatest club
- To develop our brand across the globe through five key components: Football, CSR, Media, Commercial, Fans
- To have the Old Firm recognised as the biggest rivalry in World Football
- To continue to develop Ibrox into a world class destination
- To bring innovation to our entertainment experience on match days and non-match days
- To dominate all competitions, at home and in Europe
- To nurture youth development and produce a golden generation of home grown talent
- To build strong company partnerships using innovation and activation
As I said, nothing lost for aiming high!
One thing which annoys almost every football fan I speak to is the way that the executives refer to the “brand”. Football fans do not follow a “Brand”. Think of football brands, and Roy Keane’s “Prawn sandwich” brigade come to mind.
I like the aim of dominating ALL competitions, at home and in Europe. Not quite playing out successfully so far, but it is early days.
As for Ibrox being a “world class destination”?
Page 9 has more info about the overseas strategy. This is described as building on “Rangers Global Appeal”.
The focus is stated to be on areas where there already is a “significant existing brand presence” – North America and Oceania.
There is also targeting of areas of “high growth potential”. These are stated to be Asia, Middle East and Far East. Maybe it is a quibble, but aren’t the Middle East and Far East both in Asia?
In addition, the Far East gold mine has not paid out significantly for any of the various sporting teams who have viewed it as a source if limitless riches – whether in football or baseball. There is money to be made, but not the pot of gold!
As the only areas where they are not targeting the expansion are Africa, Europe and South and Central America (as well as the Arctic and Antarctic), it seems a very wide “target”!
There are 4 “key strategic levers”. Football, Social Responsibility, Media and Fans.
“Strategic levers”…
Page 9 lists “The Opportunities”.
- Matchday audience of 1.35 million
- Stadium Branding and Advertising
- Matchday Sponsorship
- Rangers Club media portfolio
- Social Media
- Database
- Guaranteed European exposure
- Penetration of overseas markets
- Money can’t buy opportunities
- Manager Ally McCoist
- First team and legend endorsement
- Memorabilia
- World famous Old Firm
- Exclusive access to World Class Facilities
- Award winning hospitality
- Award winning family strategy
- Award winning CSR community programme
I hope no one invested on the strength of this. The “guaranteed” European exposure could have been a hostage to fortune.
I am not sure how “Money can’t buy opportunities” falls into “Opportunities”. And after all, is it not the case that every “opportunity” listed has been bought?
What about the awards?
Can some enlighten me on the awards they won? I am not suggesting they did not win any – but they should be proud of their awards for hospitality, family strategy and their CSR community programme.
Conclusion
The section ends with the notorious image titled “We are Rangers” showing Ibrox at the height of a triumphant SPL prize giving in front of a full ground, with fireworks going off all over the place. Why notorious?
This was apparently part of the presentation to the SPL when seeking approval for the transfer of the SPL share from oldco to newco, and it was not felt to be suitably “under-stated” if not penitent. Instead it seemed that the perceived arrogance of old Rangers had been adopted by new Rangers while still in infancy. This was coupled with news of Rangers being about to sign Ian Black, who could no longer be afforded by Hearts. All in all, the wrong notes were struck.
As far as a presentation goes, it seems flashy, and a triumph of sizzle over substance. Did it succeed in attracting investors? Well, as Mr Green now says that there are £22 million worth of shares already taken up by investors, it seems to have done the trick! This despite the team not being in the SPL but in SFL3, and many of the valuable players “walking away”.
My next post will look at the meat on the bones – the financial offering.
Posted by Paul McConville
Random Thoughts Re Scots Law by Paul McConville 
“typo’s” << Was that you being ironic?
should that be ‘typos’ or ‘typoes’?
:O)
If I understand the official announcement from Sevco today, a NOMAD will be required who has, say, experience in bringing Melchester Rovers to market to raise funding from the Atlantis, Avalon, Camelot, El Dorado, Brigadoon (strong RFC following), Shangri-La and Utopian markets.
@ Strachan McMaster
I don’t think you can offer an AIM Flotation for sale in any of these places except Brigadoon as they are all covered by offishal overseas exchanges. There is also a problem with Brigadoon as the currency is in goats – sorry groats. How many groats do you get for a share?
Camelot is also a bit borderline as some would claim that should come under the New York Exchange at least that’s what Kennedy’s broker is claiming.
Still it appears that NOMAD advisers are well named as they will need to roam far and wide to find investors for this Ship of Theseus as the FT alpha blog terms it and adds: Rangers Football Club Ltd has no corporate history whatsoever. The club may have been founded in 1872 but the company it has hermit-crabbed into has only existed since May and has never published a single page of accounts.
You have me on the overseas issue! The problem with Brigadoon also, is that it only appears once every one hundred years…
@ Strachan McMaster
Well I was going to say that a Charlie usually only turns up once a century but they have had three Charlie owners in the last two years so I couldn’t use that line.
Now if Atlantas and Brigadoon were to appear at the same time – perhaps they a sinking funds 🙂
How many presentations have I seen like this in my business life – all enthusiasm, hope and theory – usually from someone with no actual track record of delivering anything on the same scale. At best this style shouts “naive dreamer” at worst “schiester”.
Financial observers have already labelled this IPO as “not for profit”, strictly “only for fans”. With further caveats about many unanswered questions.
Pritchett was able to paint a strong narrative in about 100 words. Green has come nowhere close to a narrative in 100,000 words so far. I may be wrong but I’m expecting the disclosures to be minimal.
Who would underwrite such a venture?
The shorters are circling already.
@ mcfc
Tbh this is pretty small beer for chico and I still think this is a two-bite job with another one in 12 months to raise the walking-away money. Or maybe chico getting older and losing his touch or perhaps the supply of snake-oil has dried up 🙂
Can’t imagine this IPO being other than a complete flop – so a two-bite approach seems optimistic to a psychotic degree.
@ mcfc
You’re probably right as I’d forgotten that even one bite from a Zombie is usually fatal 🙂
As I understand it a bite from a zombie results in two things.
Firstly, the recipient becomes a zombie.
Secondly, The recipient is less welcome at parties and other social gatherings.
@ Martin
Nah – Zombies are friendly big souls. Aw ye dae is extract aw their teeth – then nae probs
mcfc
A “complete flop” indeed, if you are an investor buying for medium to long term growth and some income from dividends. Marks and Spencer is still a good buy for this type of investor*.
But for a typical AIM short-seller, de-ramping the share by saying it will be a complete flop is a good strategy. Sell high, buy low…there is good money to be made from a complete flop.
*Remember, the value of your shares can fall as well as rise. You may not get back all of the money your invested.
@redentin
shorters’ paradise – and the fans get the sticky end of the stick.
Is Green legally allowed to short his own IPO in one last desperate bit to get his exit payout before he bolts for the border.
mcfc
Be sure that Green will extract his cash using a number of individuals, companies and instruments operating in the background. This is a guy who’s fingerprints will not be found on the bank notes.
@ redetin
But you may get back all the money other people invested 🙂
Yes, ecojon, it’s called wealth redistribution. From the foolish to the unethical in this case.
Chic has no money and a string of disastrous floats/deals behind him. His reputation is one of style over substance. This is not small beer for him. This is his last chance. There is no way in this world that this is a two bite position. He is only going to get one bite OR he is going to go native. Chico has worked all his deals with the same cast. I could name them although I will not. The point about controlling the cast ie the broker, commercial lawyer and the finance director has meant that Chico could control his exit in a number of ways with the agreement/connivance of the rest of the cast.
In this case however I have noticed that none of his usual cast are involved. Indeed the appointment of Cenkos as opposed to his usual cast broker cost me £20 to a colleague the other week.
He will not be able to exit in his usual style with Richard Hughes and his Zeus boys on the case…..and on the board. Murray has been placed there strategically by Hughes so Chic is in a bit of a novel position here in the respect that all his key players are not on his team. Should Chic not be able to organise an exit that he needs badly he may go native and turn against his shareholders. He actually did this at Sheffield United before the cash actually ran out and he was forced out.
As a floatation, as I have said many times, this deal will not fly. These deals need institutional support and unless he picks up somebody like the Bill Gates fund, who recently supported JJB with millions of pounds worth of investment, which they lost, he will be in trouble. I am reminded at this point of another of Chico’s pledges that the fans would own 50% of the club. How does this work when our latest information is that 50% of the club is owned by the consortium and the other 50% will be mainly institutional funding with some private sales (the fans). The figures do not stack up and I think Chic is gaining a lot of support from the Rangers fans although he is losing control of the business aspects of the deal. Bring on the prospectus which will be very interesting. Asking for working capital, unless he needs it to support the extra working capital requirements of an enlarged business is not usually a winner, nor is player purchase when he has an eighteen month prohibition! Cenkos have had a difficult time recently although they do have a decent reputation on fund raising so we will see………………………………….
I Wonder if anyone caught the the episode of Dragons Den where Charlie presented this PowerPoint and was told “I’m Out” bay all the Dragons? If you have a copy please can you post on YouzTube please!
Still trying to push the old f##m shite again. Celtic should distance themselves right now.
The first sniff of a share issue I said I’d short the a$$ out of Newco. There is not an investor worth the name that would even give it 10seconds of thought. Hell even the Daily Torygraph’s finance section said to avoid Rangers offering like prune juice – money goes in one end and straight out the other!!!
JimBhoy – has just posted on earlier thread that Celtic has been cleared on Zombie banner charge.
Gawd, I’ll need to get the ear plugs in as I can hear the wailing already: ‘It’s a stitch-up. It’s a plot against Rangers. Justice for Zombies and on an on and on. Ah wonder if you can have a Zombie boycott as they boycott everything else they don’t get their way over 🙂
@ecojon Could open the zombie floodgates, Celtic park could be zombie central…
I suppose this is an example of what can happen when you point the finger and ask for action to be taken over something deemed offensive (subjectively) to some and by bringing it to the public eye, it suddenly becomes viral (pardon the pun) and now it’s Shaun of the Dead time… “Don’t stop me now….!!!” Backfired big time…
Precedent set as the ruling bodies are effectively saying it’s fine to have these type of depictions..!
@ JimBhoy
Well I’ve already registered the Zombie trademark and I’ve started signing-up Zombies to register their image rights so all these banner makers will need to pay the price from now on – Justice for Zombies!
the number 1 Question is…
what are the mugs buying shares in,
is it
(a) the the rangers football company ltd (formerly sevco)
or
(b) a football club (the fans call rangers)
AND MORE
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/company-profiles/c/1024817/cello.thtml
Another! Right it looks like Cenkos are used by Octopus for most of their deals. There are to many. Stinks to hi heaven”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
http://www.tlaww-plc.com/rule-26.php
You guessed it another. NomAds & Broker Cenkos Sec. Investors, Octopus Inv Ltd Absolutely stinks.”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
http://www.growthcompany.co.uk/company-profiles/v/1024407/vianet-group.thtml
Another! Main shareholders Octopus Inv Ltd. NomAds & Brokers Cenkos Securities. Green & Ally know whats happening.”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
http://www.digitallook.com/cgi-bin/dlmedia/rns.cgi?username=&ac=&action=news&rns=1&view=full&story_id=5145054
Another! Cenkos Brokers and NomAds for Octopus Inv Ltd. This whole thing stinks and they can’t even seen it.”
Personally i think at the most the banner is in bad taste and I would hope that message was put out by the SFA and Celtic… Next time I would suggest a Phoenix rising from the flames and a guy with a crossbow… 🙂
TICKETUS STILL INVOLVED? SOMEONE ON TWITTER THINKS SO:
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
Cenkos Securities 4.9% and Octopus Inv Ltd 19.7% who own Ticketus who Oldco owe £26m to are actually business partners! http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/new-and-recent-issues/new-recent-issue-details.html?issueId=8723 ”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
http://tools.morningstar.co.uk/uk/stockprofile/default.aspx?LanguageId=en-GB&SecurityToken=0P0000BYSA%5D3%5D0%5DE0WWE$$ALL&Id=0P0000BYSA&ClientFund=0&BaseCurrencyId=GBP&InvestmentType=E0
Maj shareholder, Octopus Inv Ltd. Director, Jeff Hewitt, on the board at Cenkos Sec who are Nomads for sevco #ticketus”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
Click to access 666.pdf
Octopus Inv Ltd. Brokers Cenkos who are brokers for sevco. Bottom of page! All roads lead to Ticketus. I told you so”
“Big Stuart@BigStuart1888
Shareholder Octopus Inv Ltd. NomADs and Brokers Cenkos Sec PLC.
http://www.bondinternationalsoftware.com/section.asp?catid=224 ”
Forget the snake oil sales … Chico is also looking for investors in his ‘green’ powdered water sachets – just add water !
***My post isn’t appearing?***
Looks like you’ll have to do it yourselves
http://twitter.com/BigStuart1888
Go look on his timeline, intresting stuff regarding The Rangers, Ticketus/Octopus and Cenkos.
Paul wrote memorably on the topic of Gratuitous Alienation and the possibility of BDO seeking to restore property to the company soon to be liquidated, in order to get a better outcome for the creditors of that company.
(I hope I have this correct and haven’t suffered a failure of understanding as I am likely to do when it comes to legal matters)
The STV news website today provided the following which includes the numbers of ordinary fans who had previously bought into Rangers Oldco.
“In 2000, under Sir David Murray, oldco Rangers, now RFC 2012 plc, was floated on the stock market with the aim of raising £53.1m to pay off some of their debts. This resulted in £38m of investment, £32.3m of which was from Sir David’s Murray Sports Ltd and the remaining £6m from around 3500 small shareholders.
Four years later, Sir David oversaw another share issue, which aimed to raised £57m for Rangers. It brought in £51m, only £1m of which was from the fans – the rest being underwritten by the Murray MHL Limited, one of the owner’s companies.
This came after the Rangers Bond scheme in 1991, which saw 6700 fans raise £8.5m through buying debentures to construct the Club Deck at Ibrox Stadium. When Rangers went into administration, those who bought into the scheme became creditors, who will be among those owed money when the oldco is placed into liquidation later this month “.
Could some of the ordinary Rangers fans who bought shares or debentures in Oldco be tempted again?
It’s an intriguing thought.
The speed of Charles Greens AIM plan is I’m sure driven by the need to raise money simply to pay the running costs of the club.
But IMHO the spread of ownership would make it very difficult politically for BDO to attempt to overturn the sale of assets to Sevco.
Should BDO attempt to restore property,It seems to me that if some of the Rangers fans who previously invested in Oldco do indeed buy shares in Newco, they might find themselves in a rather surprising and legally interesting position with one foot in each camp.
I know, It’s all ifs and buts and general internet bampotery 🙂
Perhaps it would be appropriate if CG appointed himself as a NOMAD for the AIM flotation – Acronymfinder.com as defines the term as
‘None Of My Actions Detected’!
typo – as = also.
@ Paul
You know looking back at it all Green and Ahmad must have been wetting themselves when they started down this road and realised how much money was there for the taking.
They had obviously had discussions with some Bears to judge the temperature and sussed if that if the right line was trotted-out – as well as the right tunes and mouth music – the whole shebang was there for the taking. They could be in and out like an SAS strike leaving bemused Bears wondering where the honeypot had gone.
And they obviously knew or sussed that the suits at the top were happy for Rangers to stay in the SPL as long as a few sins were confessed and an appropriate financial contribution made.
But then the ‘camp followers’ of Scottish Football arrived in their midst armed only with Sporting Integrity and blew all the smoke and mirrors to hell.
The little people thundered with one voice not to make money but to have dignity in THEIR game and when they took action they knew that some clubs, possibly including their own, could be fatally wounded.
Green can punt his glossy brochures and money-making schemes and when all the dust settles and ordinary Rangers supporters, with no need for world domination or orange strips, are back in the majority at Ibrox or wherever then they truly can rejoin Scottish Football and be treated as equals. I think they have a long hard journey in front of them and severe trials yet to come but I have absolute confidence that at the very least they will retain a 25,000 core support
They will lose some so-called supporters along the way and indeed that might be no bad thing but others will join as well atracted to a team comfortable in a new Scotland whether that be Independent or still part of the Union. Sometimes it’s not just about numbers and winning – sometimes it’s just about football and knowing your team tried its hardest but was beaten by a better team.
***MY POSTS ARE NOT APPEARING FOR SOME REASON. IF YOU CAN SEE THIS, PLEASE TELL ME***
Incase it didn’t appear:
Octopus/Ticketus and Cenkos are buisness partners according to
http://twitter.com/BigStuart1888
Go have a look on his Timeline.
@Copbig
COYBIG
October 11, 2012 at 6:48 pm
***MY POSTS ARE NOT APPEARING FOR SOME REASON. IF YOU CAN SEE THIS, PLEASE TELL ME***
Incase it didn’t appear:
Octopus/Ticketus and Cenkos are buisness partners according to
http://twitter.com/BigStuart1888
Go have a look on his Timeline.
Appearing OK at my end.
@hughmcvey
Cheers. Have you had a look at that guys Twitter yet? It very much seems that Ticketus is running the show.
COYBIG,
Octopus are simply an investor in a company brokered by Cenkos. It sounds interesting but it is not. These two companies probably have multiple business connections
Good news about the Zombie banner. But let’s not push it. Instead let’s have a banner showing a farmer shearing sheep.
@ dan
Ah think that’s terrible putting a Zombie heid oan sheep but a’ll claim the image rites oany way.
http://news.sky.com/story/947980/the-latest-news-from-jeff-randall-live
Charlie Green and Ally McCoist on Sky news. I thought the official attendance for their first league game was about 38,000? Anyway, watch out for Ally’s reaction at 4:46. He seems a bit bemused at what Charlie’s just said. And he also bites his lip, which is a classic sign that someone is holding back from saying somthing.
Oh and Charlie’s suit must be stinking, he’s not had that off since July. Ah well, at least he’s changed his shirt.
@ Coybig
Na ma grannie said he wis doon ra steamie in his long johns while his suit got done – she wis quite surprised as she thocht it wis black but when it came oot ra poss tub it was grey 🙂
Cheers for the link COYBIG
Jeez, what a lot of ‘rot’ (sorry, know it’s a family blog). I really had a bit of a problem with most of what he said – love the way he’s put on his poshest Yorkshire accent for the biggest tosh.
A mate who’s just seen it said Ally was waiting on a ‘home or away’ question…
I’m getting a “that video is missing message”. Is it just me?
http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/439/8158756/green-to-buy-shares-shortfall
Charles Green has pledged to take up the slack in any shortfall in Rangers’ proposed £20million share issue. He has also valued Rangers at £25-30 Million with the AIM admission achieved by the end of November.
He said: “The reality is we don’t need to underwrite it as there will be no shares left over. But if they’re not (taken up) of course we’ll take them. Why wouldn’t we take them? We did it in May when there was nothing to buy. There was no guarantee we would ever play football again.”
So why did you buy such a pig in the poke Chico – pull the other leg as it’s got bells on it. In May you bought Ibrox Stadium and Murray Park and some player contracts, the brand and the history for a payment of £5.5 million plus the potential for tens of million more in income from season tickets and kit sales. And it was always your intention to have an AIM flotation and raise millions anyway. That’s what you boght chico! Oh and I forgot you bought the titles as well 🙂
Sounds to me like your memory is starting to go especially when you say Rangers is valued at only £25-30 million? When there’s a £20 million share float planned and 22+ million shares already issued to the original investors. Then there’s the property assets with the statement only the other day they were going to be revalued at a more realistic £30-40 million. There’s also some player value left – not a lot but some.
I’m sure potential institutional investors will be delighted to read the following comment from Chico in the prospectus: “When we were put into the Third Division I should probably have made 25% of the staff redundant but we haven’t done that.”
However more financial loyalty from the fans when he states: “And, of course, whatever league we are in next year it will be a higher price for season tickets”.
And then the tale about the Fairy Godmother mystery investors which brings a tear to a glass eye (with glints) and a cold heart. Chico states: “The current valuation of £25million is a real opportunity for investors to come in, and while I acknowledge that the original investors have, on paper at least, made a good return, they have not chosen to force that price up and have left a lot of value for people to come in now. So I think there is a sensible and realistic value”.
Are Rangers fans ever going to be told what return these kind mystery investors have made – it must be helluva good if they can throw not just crumbs but loaves and fishes at the supporters.
And then we are taken on a flight to Lapland or was it La La Land for Xmas with the cracker: “The sophisticated investor will see there is growth opportunity, and if we believe the club can get back to the top league then why would it not be valuable like some of the other big European clubs.” Do you actually want me to answer that?
Then we go on another flight, on a time machine: “I told everybody that I would float it this year. Not in two or three years’ time when we will be back in Europe and we could do it at a higher price, because that’s not fair. I made that promise on May 13 – it was printed and put out there and the fans are aware of it”.
Back in Europe in 2/3 years? Really?
The Santa Chico, god bless His Munificence, says: “If I was doing it for the benefit of the original investors, if we did it in three years’ time when we’re making massive profits, the share price will be higher and the company will be worth £100million, it would be more expensive for the fans. But the club belongs to the fans”.
Yes we know the club belongs to the fans but the operating and holding companies don’t and never will because the fans will never have more than a small percentage of the shareholding.
However, we find that the original investors have doubled their money and it would appear can no go to hell or as chico puts it: “The investors rescued it so are entitled to a profit. They’ll have now, based on the figures we talked about earlier, made a profit of 100 per cent and if they’re not happy with that then tough.”
Hi Paul,
Just watched Charles Green pushing the Newco flotation on the Jeff Randall 7pm business slot on Sky News. Randall, a self confessed oldco fan and investor, gave CG a very easy time, IMO, and allowed CG to be very vauge on financial detail. However, it was interesting to hear the City analyst who appeared on the show after CG basically rubbish the Newco flotation as a serious investment consideration.
In the absence of a Prospectus the merits or otherwise of the flotation cannot be determined, however, the following quote attributed to CG by the Daily Record indicate the “original” investors, whom ever they maybe, will be profit taking to the tune of 100% if the flotation goes to plan.
“The investors rescued it so are entitled to a profit. They’ll have now, based on the figures we talked about earlier, made a profit of 100 per cent and if they’re not happy with that then tough.”
Whether that means the “original” investors intend to take cash out of the company day one of the float by surrendering their shares or realise a notional paper profit is anybodys guess? Drawing on one of your recently used phrases; “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark” of “things rank and gross in nature”
Is there something highly unethical/immoral/distasteful in asking Rainjurs supporters et al to invest their hard earned cash in a tribute act when hundreds of small businesses (and of course, tax payers) have suffered excessively due to the criminality of the original Rangers?
For me, this is the real crux of the biscuit.
Pay the paper boy!!
Then think of the existential phantasm you call a “club”.
And what is good, Phaedrus? And what is not good? Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?
Sevco need 40,000 fans to invest £500 each in shares to raise their £20M. It’s unlikely that institutional investors will see a profit. They have only 36,000 fans who bought s/tickets.
In 1995 Celtic raised £21M, the most successful….etc, this was half from Fergus, 10% from investors and 40% from fans. 10500 fans raised £9M.
With all that is going on around Sevco do you think 4 times as many fans will raise twice as much as celtic did especially in the current financial climate.
I remember the fever going around at the time to own a piece of celtic as it was new. Rangers fans have been here before and the few that responded got burned with their investments now worthless.
Now they are going to stump up 4 times the sale value for half of it.
Cloud cuckoo land!
The Rangers fan forums are interesting at the moment with strange PR speak people singing the praises of the investment. You know what it’s like when you phone a company and you know your through to India and they don’t admit it but you then catch them out anyway – same kind of thing they just ain’t fitba supporters, Still hope their commission is good as they won’t be making much in the ‘boiler rooms’.
Another interesting Chico quote: “It is very important for Rangers fans to understand there is no confusion about where this money is going to go. None of the original shareholders are selling shares. Every penny we rein will go into Rangers Football Club and will be used for the club and when the transfer ban comes off, Ally will have cash to enter the market.”
So the investors have doubled their money and have 22 million shares which is £22 million in capital if they ain’t selling any shares. So back to the maths which I can’t be bothered doing again – see my post above – how can he possibly say Rangers is only worth £25-30 million? My nose is bleeding and so are my eyes and ears OK OK I’ll buy the worthless shares for £500 as long as you don’t give us any more figures arghhhhhhhhhh
Sevconians are goind mad apparently they think thousands of bhoys are registering an interest in Rangers shares. I’m really glad to see this outbreak of ecumenicism – it’s in time of need that neebors should help one another 🙂
Anyone know where you can go to borrow shares?
I am reminded of an old song “didn’t you see the skull and crossbones. . . a pirate band (Mcginn of the Calton).
i’m away to youtube!
Anyone can put in an order for a free Prospectus. And the more people who order a Prospectus, the more it costs Mr Green to have them made and sent out.
It would be funny to see Craig Whyte’s reaction when 1000s of Prospectuses come throught the letterbox. I think even Mr Custard placed an order. And how the post office is going to manage to get to the moon, I don’t know.
DISCLAIMER: I did not order a Prospectus. Nor do I condone anyone making a ‘fake’ order for a Prospectus. 😉
my prospectus registration number is almost 40,000 so I may have to eat my words about the IPO being a complete flop
NOT
Ah, the old “lets start the counter at 35000 and make it look like there’s a lot of interest” technique 🙂
Well, I’ve signed up for my 10k. On an uncommitted, without prejudice, non binding and indicative basis only of course!
😉
I love the review of that document. Page 8 in particular is hilarious (as is most of the document) but if Charles is to deliver his “Strategy” he’ll need to bet busy before he departs in 6 months time.
Can’t say i’ve ever come across a bigger chancer, well, apart from Craig Whyte.
Award winning hospitality:
Azure catering (http://www.azurecatering.co.uk/what-we-do/) “Our stadium and hospitality services at Glasgow Rangers FC has been awarded Best Stadia for 2011”
There is also a link to Glasgow Rangers FC services with a rolling banner which features a nice plate of succulent lamb (do I detect a sense of humour?).
Anyone pondering why a football club heading into administration would be purchasing ‘award winning hospitality’ over paying taxes, footballing debts etc – join the club or read Mick’s Piegate piece.
SPL expenditures 53 – SFL3 income 0
I should add – its worth clicking on the Azure catering link to the Glasgow Rangers FC hospitality services – there’s an attractive young lady got her buns out.
@ Project W. Also ironic that in the background the sponsor on show was one of the first to leave them.
couple of points to consider:
in my recent discussions with Mr Prichett, he left me in no doubt that the figures he mentioned in his Forbes article were taken from the purchase prospectus produced by D&P. The 5 million ‘world wide’ fan-base was taken from TV viewing figures.
How they could establish ALL of these people watching Celtic v Rangers 1872 FC were *Rangers fans is beyond me.
Mr Green appears to be equally mislead by continuing to regurgitate.
Without due consideration of any financial’s it is very difficult to value a new entity.
Let us not forget that The RFC (1872) PLC share value closed trading at 12p
The RFC (1872) PLC share value at an ALL TIME HIGH when RFC 1872 FC reached the 2008 Europa Cup Final, shares were traded at 65p……
Just saying!