TAKEOVER *NOT* CONFIMRED

[Elm Park Kid]

The riches of the PL mean that pretty much any EFL club can be sold to investors as having the potential to increase in value 10 fold. And with all the Wrexham stuff there might be a few more people out there willing to believe that fairy tale.

But, sadly, the time frame in which Reading could achieve that has now been stretched out to realistically a minimum of 4 years. It's probably too long.

But if an owner gets the club at a decent price for a L1/L2 side with potential, the club can churn out decent youngsters to sell for decent fees then an owner could get a return on investment in the Championship.

No EFL club has made any kind of meaningful profit in the last 10 years. The amount of money it would take to get up back up to the Championship is no doubt less than what our value would increase to - Championship clubs really aren't worth that much as they lose so much money and the opportunity to get promoted is still limited.

[Royal_jimmy]

I imagine the costs needed to bankroll us will be higher because of the lower attendances and TV money compared to higher levels. Be interesting to see the next level of accounts for this season when they're out. Bar Ejaria I expect no one in our team except Wing is on £3k/week or more.

[Elm Park Kid]

The riches of the PL mean that pretty much any EFL club can be sold to investors as having the potential to increase in value 10 fold. And with all the Wrexham stuff there might be a few more people out there willing to believe that fairy tale.

But, sadly, the time frame in which Reading could achieve that has now been stretched out to realistically a minimum of 4 years. It's probably too long.

You make top end Championship in 4 years sound like a long time. It's not; it would be a great outcome. Ultimately you can buy a club with current PL aspirations for £60m, or buy a shitshow for £25m and turn it into that yourself. But it's a risky game, as you may well be funding £5m+ losses per annum to get there. It becomes easier in the Championship where top talent can fetch £20m to help turn you into profit. What's the equivalent in L1? £3m for a top player? And £1m in L2?

Also, I doubt any bids will be flat fees in our situation. There will be clauses for if the HMRC issue causes points deductions, and probably variable consideration amounts over 3 years or so where Dai gets more if we avoid relegation this season or get promoted in the near future.

I mean, i did say 4 year minimum. I was just thinking how that kind of time frame might not appeal to the sort of investors who would be looking to buy and flip for profit. Someone like Mike Ashley is a different kettle of fish, he knows that industry and would enjoy the journey as much as the outcome. But, if i'm an American investment firm looking to buy into English football cheap i'm not sure I would be interested in buying a - club that is about to be relegated to the 4th tier. We do have advantages in terms of location, infrastructure, catchment area - but I might still be looking to buy someone like Bolton or Barnsley.

You have to consider just how absolutely shit the finances are from the top of the Championship down. People keep talking about developing and selling young players for a lot of money, but how often does that actually happen? It's not a viable business strategy, no club . . absolutely no club is making any kind of profit in the Championship. Yeah, if we became a PL promotion chasing side then the value of the club probably doubles from where we are now. But that's still not enough to cover the expected losses we'd incur getting there.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The riches of the PL mean that pretty much any EFL club can be sold to investors as having the potential to increase in value 10 fold. And with all the Wrexham stuff there might be a few more people out there willing to believe that fairy tale.

But, sadly, the time frame in which Reading could achieve that has now been stretched out to realistically a minimum of 4 years. It's probably too long.

But if an owner gets the club at a decent price for a L1/L2 side with potential, the club can churn out decent youngsters to sell for decent fees then an owner could get a return on investment in the Championship.

No EFL club has made any kind of meaningful profit in the last 10 years. The amount of money it would take to get up back up to the Championship is no doubt less than what our value would increase to - Championship clubs really aren't worth that much as they lose so much money and the opportunity to get promoted is still limited.

It's funny really, we all assume that an owner trying to profit from us would make sensible decisions, but you have to question the judgement of anybody trying to make money out of a football club, with a few exceptions like Man Utd, Arsenal etc., which is clearly not applicable here. It's such a high risk way of making money.

I believe SJM achieved it, but we're not worth the peanuts when he bought us. Brentford and Bournemouth owners could perhaps sell now and make a big return. Not Brighton; while Bloom in an excellent owner he has sunk a shit load of money in.

You can be sensible, smart, competent but ultimately your grand plan to turn a minnow into a giant and sell on at a profit can fall down with an injury to a star player or a dodgy decision in a big match.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The riches of the PL mean that pretty much any EFL club can be sold to investors as having the potential to increase in value 10 fold. And with all the Wrexham stuff there might be a few more people out there willing to believe that fairy tale.

But, sadly, the time frame in which Reading could achieve that has now been stretched out to realistically a minimum of 4 years. It's probably too long.

You make top end Championship in 4 years sound like a long time. It's not; it would be a great outcome. Ultimately you can buy a club with current PL aspirations for £60m, or buy a shitshow for £25m and turn it into that yourself. But it's a risky game, as you may well be funding £5m+ losses per annum to get there. It becomes easier in the Championship where top talent can fetch £20m to help turn you into profit. What's the equivalent in L1? £3m for a top player? And £1m in L2?

Also, I doubt any bids will be flat fees in our situation. There will be clauses for if the HMRC issue causes points deductions, and probably variable consideration amounts over 3 years or so where Dai gets more if we avoid relegation this season or get promoted in the near future.

I mean, i did say 4 year minimum. I was just thinking how that kind of time frame might not appeal to the sort of investors who would be looking to buy and flip for profit. Someone like Mike Ashley is a different kettle of fish, he knows that industry and would enjoy the journey as much as the outcome. But, if i'm an American investment firm looking to buy into English football cheap i'm not sure I would be interested in buying a - club that is about to be relegated to the 4th tier. We do have advantages in terms of location, infrastructure, catchment area - but I might still be looking to buy someone like Bolton or Barnsley.

My first consultation would be who is for sale. We are, they're not.

[massifheed]

while Bloom in an excellent owner he has sunk a shit load of money in.

Reminds me of (I think) Ron Dennis' quote about how to make a small fortune in Formula 1 - start out with a big fortune.

[Elm Park Kid]

You make top end Championship in 4 years sound like a long time. It's not; it would be a great outcome. Ultimately you can buy a club with current PL aspirations for £60m, or buy a shitshow for £25m and turn it into that yourself. But it's a risky game, as you may well be funding £5m+ losses per annum to get there. It becomes easier in the Championship where top talent can fetch £20m to help turn you into profit. What's the equivalent in L1? £3m for a top player? And £1m in L2?

Also, I doubt any bids will be flat fees in our situation. There will be clauses for if the HMRC issue causes points deductions, and probably variable consideration amounts over 3 years or so where Dai gets more if we avoid relegation this season or get promoted in the near future.

I mean, i did say 4 year minimum. I was just thinking how that kind of time frame might not appeal to the sort of investors who would be looking to buy and flip for profit. Someone like Mike Ashley is a different kettle of fish, he knows that industry and would enjoy the journey as much as the outcome. But, if i'm an American investment firm looking to buy into English football cheap i'm not sure I would be interested in buying a - club that is about to be relegated to the 4th tier. We do have advantages in terms of location, infrastructure, catchment area - but I might still be looking to buy someone like Bolton or Barnsley.

My first consultation would be who is for sale. We are, they're not.

According to Kieran Macguire, most EFL clubs are either secretly up for sale or open to offers.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I mean, i did say 4 year minimum. I was just thinking how that kind of time frame might not appeal to the sort of investors who would be looking to buy and flip for profit. Someone like Mike Ashley is a different kettle of fish, he knows that industry and would enjoy the journey as much as the outcome. But, if i'm an American investment firm looking to buy into English football cheap i'm not sure I would be interested in buying a - club that is about to be relegated to the 4th tier. We do have advantages in terms of location, infrastructure, catchment area - but I might still be looking to buy someone like Bolton or Barnsley.

My first consultation would be who is for sale. We are, they're not.

According to Kieran Macguire, most EFL clubs are either secretly up for sale or open to offers.

I suspect this is the case, the old saying of "everything has it's price". Some people will be loyal to certain football clubs, they could be close to their heart, but if someone is interested then I'd anticipate they'd entertain the idea of selling a club if the offer was correct.

[WestYorksRoyal]

My first consultation would be who is for sale. We are, they're not.

According to Kieran Macguire, most EFL clubs are either secretly up for sale or open to offers.

I suspect this is the case, the old saying of "everything has it's price". Some people will be loyal to certain football clubs, they could be close to their heart, but if someone is interested then I'd anticipate they'd entertain the idea of selling a club if the offer was correct.

Everyone has their price, but obviously ours will be lower than Bolton's, and not just because of the league position. Their owners only bought the recently, got them out of L2 and are now eyeing up the Championship. No doubt they are enjoying owning the club and feel they have more to do. They won't want to sell, so you've got to pay a premium to convince them otherwise.

We have a failed owner cutting his losses.

Go figure where you can get a better deal.

[Royal Ginger]

But Bolton is in Bolton. That’s got to be worth a bit of a saving.

[Sutekh]

But Bolton is in Bolton. That’s got to be worth a bit of a saving.

Depends on your definition of Bolton as Wanderers play in Horwich which is about 5 miles west of Bolton, though they remain in the metropolitan borough of that name.

[windermereROYAL]

Anybody getting bored of waiting now?

[blythspartan]

I expect Dai has rejected all offers.

[RoyalBlue]

Anybody getting bored of waiting now?

I hate to say it but 50 years on, I'm now starting to get bored of Reading FC and English professional football in general.

And just to make things worse, I'd forgotten how Leicester were seemingly able to buy their way out of EFL FFP trouble. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp#:~:text=Leicester%20make%20%C2%A33.1m%20settlement%20with%20Football%20League%20over%20FFP%20claim,-This%20article%20is&text=Leicester%20City%20have%20agreed%20to,in%20their%202013%2D14%20season.

[WestYorksRoyal]

This is an important week. We'll either see journos reporting exclusivity, or that nothing is moving and Dai is staying for the foreseeable future.

[Stranded]

Anybody getting bored of waiting now?

I hate to say it but 50 years on, I'm now starting to get bored of Reading FC and English professional football in general.

And just to make things worse, I'd forgotten how Leicester were seemingly able to buy their way out of EFL FFP trouble. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/21/leicester-settlement-football-league-ffp#:~:text=Leicester%20make%20%C2%A33.1m%20settlement%20with%20Football%20League%20over%20FFP%20claim,-This%20article%20is&text=Leicester%20City%20have%20agreed%20to,in%20their%202013%2D14%20season.

Don't forget Leicester have essentially bent the rules twice without any effective punishment. They won promotion in 2002/03 despite going in to administration in October '02. There were literally no penalties at the time and the club had built a promotion winning squad they couldn't afford but were bought out of admin essentially debt free and won promotion.

It was this case that led the EFL, after multiple complaints from other clubs, to bring in the rule that a side going into admin lost 10 points automatically (now 12).

[Hendo]

Anybody getting bored of waiting now?

Not really, no.

It'll be done when it's done.

It's not like getting a meal deal down Tesco

[paultheroyal]

This is an important week. We'll either see journos reporting exclusivity, or that nothing is moving and Dai is staying for the foreseeable future.

as you were then.

[NathStPaul]

Anybody getting bored of waiting now?

Windermere wetting his knickers again. Calm down luv.

[genome]

These are long complex processes, and in fact the longer it takes the better... unless you want to be back here again in a few years