CONFRIMED: Latest rumours Confrimed as Unconfrimed

[Sutekh]

Smee has a rather chequered financial history. I’d be surprised if he had funds to hand running into millions. As I said, he might be a figurehead to bring in other local wealthy people as he’s always been a wheeler dealer.

Sounds perfect!! Smee's Rock Co Capital Limited has a net worth of c. £ 33m, and is family owned. I reckon he has the required to make it happen , if that's what he wants to do.

That’s not cash. That’s the land owned by a company who invests in land.
He destroyed one company by getting involved with us, really can’t see him pumping cash raised by selling assets and risking his own money again.
Even £33 million disappears quite quickly if £30 million is he needed to buy the club….

I always thought it was the property market downturn in the late 80s that brought Smee down, he and his business were managing OK before then with its involvement with the club. Would agree that I don’t think he has the money to buy and/or run the club again without investment funding from elsewhere but we shall see.

[LUX]

lol at Pep's pic.

Let's hope it's true, it would be a romantic, local story.

[LUX]

btw, if it's a local, general effort, I'll put a grand in, for an infinitesimal share of the club/my name on a brick sort of deal.

[rightroyalkneesup2]

Is his source CEEFAX?

[karbota]

Matt Hughes (London journo) reporting Roger Smee planning late bid....

Smee to the rescue (part 2)

Yes please be true Brit, a past Reading great and former savior of the club. Never forget that thunderbolt shot that almost got us a win at Maine Road in the FA Cup.

[RoyalBlue]

Sounds perfect!! Smee's Rock Co Capital Limited has a net worth of c. £ 33m, and is family owned. I reckon he has the required to make it happen , if that's what he wants to do.

That’s not cash. That’s the land owned by a company who invests in land.
He destroyed one company by getting involved with us, really can’t see him pumping cash raised by selling assets and risking his own money again.
Even £33 million disappears quite quickly if £30 million is he needed to buy the club….

I always thought it was the property market downturn in the late 80s that brought Smee down, he and his business were managing OK before then with its involvement with the club. Would agree that I don’t think he has the money to buy and/or run the club again without investment funding from elsewhere but we shall see.

It was a combination of the two I believe. IIRC he had also said he'd spent too much time focussed on the club at the expense of his other businesses.

A thoroughly decent guy IMO.

I can remember when things started to go really downhill under Ian Branfoot. After one game, a large crowd/'mob' of protestors assembled on Norfolk Rd demanding that Branfoot went. Roger Smee came out and stood in the middle of us to discuss the situation. I can remember his words regarding Branfoot to this day: 'He got us into this mess, so he can damn well get us out of it.'!!

[mikey_1871]

Earnshaw reporting that this is only an option if the club falls into admin, which is 'looking unlikely currently'. Presumably why the Matt Hughes article frames this as 'potential saviour'.

Also club still in talks with unnamed party - club must still be funded by them then

[tidus_mi2]

Earnshaw reporting that this is only an option if the club falls into admin, which is 'looking unlikely currently'. Presumably why the Matt Hughes article frames this as 'potential saviour'.

Also club still in talks with unnamed party - club must still be funded by them then

With all due respect for Roger Smee, there's surely more prosperous potential owners out there should administration happen.

[windermereROYAL]

Realism kicking in, it`s all so tiresome now, sell, administration or getting wound up, just get it fuking done because in all honesty no matter how hard it might be to have no club at least we`ll have an answer one way or another.

[Crowbar6753]

I have no idea of the legal and financial dealings of selling a football club so please excuse my ignorance but could this be a ploy to worry Dai into getting the deal over the line as it seems that plenty of interested parties would eagerly take their chance of getting their hands on the club if administration were to happen?

[RoyalBlue]

Earnshaw reporting that this is only an option if the club falls into admin, which is 'looking unlikely currently'. Presumably why the Matt Hughes article frames this as 'potential saviour'.

Also club still in talks with unnamed party - club must still be funded by them then

With all due respect for Roger Smee, there's surely more prosperous potential owners out there should administration happen.

He would be part of a consortium. Wise investors would probably see the tremendous PR value of having him on board too - a former fans' favourite player and previous saviour of the club.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

From the Chronicle...

"The owner of Reading FC has faced a series of court cases in China this year over unpaid loans worth hundreds of millions of pounds, The Reading Chronicle can reveal. 

These include loans linked to a company that was run by Chinese businessman Benny Kwong, who has been reportedly interested in buying the troubled football club. 
Among the businesses entangled in litigation is a shopping centre in Guangzhou, China, which specialises in women's manicures.
Tai United Holdings - which had Benny Kwong as a director until July 2022 - bought two shopping centres from Mr Dai in 2020, with the sites tied to financial guarantee contracts for borrowings of seven companies linked to the Royal's owner. 
Mr Dai and co-defendants had been ordered to repay the linked loans and outstanding interest that was in excess of £34 million as of June this year, according to the Chinese company. 
The Chinese court has not outlined how much is owed by each defendant. 
Meanwhile a company seemingly run by Dai Yongge's son - Mr Dai Bin - has reported that the Reading FC owner was a defendant in a claim over £240 million in loans earlier this year.
The claims relate to two Chinese agriculture businesses that were 'indirectly controlled by a close associate (as defined under the Listing Rules) of Mr. Dai,' according to a report from the China Dili Group. 
The financial commitments facing the agriculture businesses 'were not revealed as at the time of the said acquisition', the group declared earlier this year. 
Experts from the Henley Business School have worked with The Reading Chronicle to verify the reports, as well as verifying that Dai Yongge was a co-defendant in claims for tens of millions of pounds across five Chinese court cases across June and July this year. 
According to reports from the Dili Group, 'PRC legal counsel had been engaged to advise on the Claims and vigorously defend against the Claims...particularly on the lack of proper authority in executing the guarantee contracts'.
Now Dai Yongge may face a range of restrictions in China over the unpaid debts, including 'a travel ban, restrictions on high spendings, public censure and recording in credit records and list of dishonest parties subject to enforcement', according to the report from Tai United Holdings. 
Dr Zhibo Qiu, a lecturer in International Business and Strategy at Henley Business School, said: "Misinterpretations of the term tend to focus on its social aspects, overshadowing these important economic functions.
"In China’s collectivist society, credibility is deeply tied to social relationships.
"Individuals with poor financial or commercial records can harm not only their personal reputation but also their social standing and relationships within the community, as trust and credibility are fundamental to social and economic interactions.”
Reading FC declined to comment when approached with questions about Dai Yongge's finances, his whereabouts, and his involvement in the sale of the club. 
A representative from China Dili Group spoke to The Reading Chronicle, but a spokesperson is yet to respond to a request for an on-the-record comment. "

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Now I suggest you go to their website and click on an advert or two to give them some revenue for this actual, proper journalism.

[Sutekh]

Now I suggest you go to their website and click on an advert or two to give them some revenue for this actual, proper journalism.

Some decent questions and digging there, shames the likes of the BBC, with all its resources and contacts, not doing that sort of work. Unsurprising the club not commenting, it's probably just as much in the dark as the rest of us.

[Mr Angry]

"Mr Dai and co-defendants had been ordered to repay the linked loans and outstanding interest that was in excess of £34 million as of June this year, according to the Chinese company"

That number is close to what he was expecting to raise from the sale of the Club.

Reading that article, I would say that time is running out for Dai; he is staring at a very long prison sentence because they take stuff like this very seriously out there.

Where that leaves us, who knows? But I suspect we are not particularly high up his "to do" list right now!

[Sutekh]

"Mr Dai and co-defendants had been ordered to repay the linked loans and outstanding interest that was in excess of £34 million as of June this year, according to the Chinese company"

That number is close to what he was expecting to raise from the sale of the Club.

Reading that article, I would say that time is running out for Dai; he is staring at a very long prison sentence because they take stuff like this very seriously out there.

Where that leaves us, who knows? But I suspect we are not particularly high up his "to do" list right now!

https://www.ft.com/content/681342ec-251 ... f7e0cd0a16

Article above from the Financial Times in 2017, basically explaining Yongge’s business and why the PL threw him out, seems to me likely cash flow issues around his businesses were well known then. Really highlights the utterly ludicrous nature of having two organisations effectively running the same competition and applying different criteria One hopes the proposed financial ombudsmen would take on these checks and have the final say in all decisions of this nature.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Tax is due this week and wages next, so we will soon find out whether or not the sale is serious and the club is indeed being funded.

[RoyalBlue]

"Mr Dai and co-defendants had been ordered to repay the linked loans and outstanding interest that was in excess of £34 million as of June this year, according to the Chinese company"

That number is close to what he was expecting to raise from the sale of the Club.

Reading that article, I would say that time is running out for Dai; he is staring at a very long prison sentence because they take stuff like this very seriously out there.

Where that leaves us, who knows? But I suspect we are not particularly high up his "to do" list right now!

https://www.ft.com/content/681342ec-251 ... f7e0cd0a16

Article above from the Financial Times in 2017, basically explaining Yongge’s business and why the PL threw him out, seems to me likely cash flow issues around his businesses were well known then. Really highlights the utterly ludicrous nature of having two organisations effectively running the same competition and applying different criteria One hopes the proposed financial ombudsmen would take on these checks and have the final say in all decisions of this nature.

Perhaps also explains why the EFL said, at the time that they approved his takeover, that they were going to subject his ownership to 'a number of additional reporting requirements including enhanced financial monitoring'. Such a shame that they clearly failed dismally to do so.

The warning signs were there and yet they cleary failed to look out for them when he was running, or more accurately ruining, our club.

Incidentally, the guy in charge of The EFL at the time and who wrote the letter to the club approving the takeover (Shaun Harvey) will doubtless be at the SCL when Wrexham turn up.

'Harvey, Harvey it's your fault. Harvey it's your fault'. Will achieve zilch, apart from possibly proving cathartic!

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Tax is due this week and wages next, so we will soon find out whether or not the sale is serious and the club is indeed being funded.

I’m sure the sale is serious, is at an advanced stage and will be completed very soon.

[Pepe the Horseman]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/592770 ... directed=1

Rob Couhig has advised clients in thousands of legal disputes, argued cases in hundreds of courtrooms, bought and sold businesses, run a successful baseball team and taken former non-Leaguers Wycombe Wanderers to the second-tier Championship but he has never experienced anything like his attempt to buy Reading.

After months of difficult negotiations, the 75-year-old American’s takeover of the club in League One, the third division of English football, collapsed at the final hurdle in September, without any explanation from Reading or their Chinese owner Dai Yongge.

Since then, Couhig has not said anything publicly, politely declining requests for comment. Until now, that is.

“I have deliberately not said anything because I would still like to do the deal we agreed,” he told The Athletic.

“To this date, I have not been told why the deal wasn’t done. All the documents had been drafted and circulated by the sellers’ lawyers and they had been signed by every party, including the minority owners in Thailand, apart from Dai Yongge.

“I got up that Monday morning thinking it was finally the day when we would get the keys — I told my wife I would be off to England again. But I then saw an email from our lawyers saying the money we had loaned the club had been returned. No explanation, no thanks.”

The New Orleans-based lawyer suggested he and Reading should put out a joint statement but the club from London’s western commuter belt ignored him and issued their own, not that it told us much.

Over the past nine weeks, rumours have been aired on forums and podcasts that it was Couhig’s fault. The theory goes that he either annoyed Dai by acting like he was already in charge or he tried to knock money off the agreed price at the last minute, like a house-buyer who finds damp in the basement.

Couhig remains reluctant to get into the details, as he wants to honour the non-disclosure agreement he signed with the club and Dai, but he did not push back when The Athletic suggested he had agreed to pay £30million ($38m) for the club, with more than half of that sum being forwarded to Dai upon completion.

However, we have learned he also wanted to withhold some of the total payment as a form of insurance against any financial gremlins that might emerge later on. Couhig did not want to get into specifics but acknowledged “there was a reserve element to the price agreed because of potential undisclosed liabilities”.

Asked for his best guess as to why his deal did not go through, Couhig thinks his plans for the club spooked the current regime.

“Some people on the inside (of the club) could see there would be substantial change,” he said. “It’s a great club, with lots of good people, and we like the team and (head coach) Ruben (Selles), but it needs a managerial overhaul.”

Reading declined to comment.

And on the subject of his social media posts at the training ground and in a local bar somehow upsetting Dai, Couhig is very clear.

“It’s nonsense,” he said. “I came to Reading four times and in every instance we were encouraged by the club to give the fans some hope that things were happening with the sale. Frankly, we were told it would be good for me to post some pictures.”

In their statement on September 18, Reading said he and Dai had been “unable to find an agreement” and Couhig’s period of exclusivity had now expired. It added that the club would “pursue alternative options” and it soon emerged that they were in exclusivity with a new bidder, whose identity has been aggressively protected.

Couhig says he does not know who that is and there has been no attempt by the newcomer(s) to make contact with him. This surprises him as nobody has done more work on Reading’s complicated ownership structure than he has and he still holds the liens — a form of security over property assets — he attached to his pre-takeover loans of almost £5million.

Reading chief executive Dayong Pang has written to him about the liens, however, asking Couhig to release them. A request he rejected.

“I haven’t released the liens because the loans I made were integral to the sales process — I would not have loaned Reading if I didn’t think I was buying the club,” he explained.

“I also spent over £1million on this deal. We hired lawyers and accountants to do the due diligence. We even went to the trouble of setting up new companies in the British Virgin Islands to help them out with their (secured debt) problem with (Chinese bank) Haitong.

“Is it fair that I should be out of pocket? I don’t want to sound like I’m whining — what I really want is to do the deal — but I cannot release the liens even if I wanted to, because their lawyers drafted the documents and they are now in dispute with the club over their fees.”

British law firm Walker Morris has filed a winding-up petition against Dai’s holding company for his Reading shares over unpaid fees. It is the fourth such petition the club and Dai have faced since 2020, as well as several points deductions from the EFL for late payments.

And their problems are growing, as Couhig has started legal action of his own.

“I’m absolutely sure they breached my exclusivity by talking to others,” he said. “We have a claim but we’ve turned it over to our solicitors. I’ll leave it at that.

“I’m trying not to be controversial here but I’ve been doing deals for 40 years and I’ve never experienced anything like this before.”

Chinese businessman Dai bought Reading in May 2017, the same month they narrowly failed to achieve a return to the Premier League via the play-offs. Since then, however, the club have been hit with points deductions for missing payments, sold most of their best players, downgraded their women’s team, lost staff and been relegated to League One. It has been grim.