Confimred new owners of Raeding Footbal Club

[Nameless]

If he has the power to add more board members then surely he is already in control, and doesn't need extra votes. It would be nonsense if minority shareholders could just appoint more board members to win key votes ..

[kwik-silva]

John Madejski owns 98.5% of shares in Reading Football Club Holdings Ltd., which in turn owns 49% of shares in Reading Football Club. I see no reason why adding them to the board of RFCHL would change his power in RFC.

[SPARTA]

Fair enough. But why add them at all when he's selling?

[ZacNaloen]

could be to bolster his vote, or as another suggested on twitter. inheritance tax mitigation.

[ebdnet]

If the club is worth £1, as two bids this week suggest, the value of this stake is 49p, hardly worth the effort and registration fees

[SPARTA]

That Ian Smith will be Ian Wood-Smith?

[DaveBanana]

At least at this rate *something* is taking place.. No more guess work and pretend ITKers, this is surely gonna be the week we either nail the flag of our new owners to the mast, or go Into administration.

[P!ssed Off]

At least at this rate *something* is taking place.. No more guess work and pretend ITKers, this is surely gonna be the week we either nail the flag of our new owners to the mast, or go Into administration.

My source within the club tells me the sale will be complete by 4.30pm, Thursday afternoon.

[genome]

At least at this rate *something* is taking place.. No more guess work and pretend ITKers, this is surely gonna be the week we either nail the flag of our new owners to the mast, or go Into administration.

My source within the club tells me the sale will be complete by 4.30pm, Thursday afternoon.

#meloltdown

[sandman]

At least at this rate *something* is taking place.. No more guess work and pretend ITKers, this is surely gonna be the week we either nail the flag of our new owners to the mast, or go Into administration.

My source within the club tells me the sale will be complete by 4.30pm, Thursday afternoon.

#meloltdown

I think we all know that it will be completed when Gylfi signs.

[P!ssed Off]

Sir John's parting gift if rumours are to be believed.

[winchester_royal]

Samuelson and Obelensky apparently both earning 20k a month.

[Royal Biscuitman]

Well if he cared about football and owning a club, he wouldn't be saying he wanted to build shops on the car park would he?

I agree, but lets not forget the club did the very same thing when they bought the land for the current stadium with the hotel and the land which they sold to the current shopping complex - It was all part of the plan to cover some of the cost of moving/contribute to the future finances of the club.

[Royal Biscuitman]

A mate of mine works with two people who could both individually afford to buy the club and they are local to Reading, Sir John has tried many times to get one of them to buy it but he just doesn't want the hassle/stress.... plus I think the fact he has been badgered to buy it/invest in other ventures has helped him make up his mind... and he supports another team.

[winchester_royal]

http://www.getreading.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mohit-burman-offers-wipe-out-7179911

Mohit Burman, one of two frontrunners to take over at Reading FC, will immediately pay off the club’s debts to HM Revenue and Customs should his bid be successful.

As we exclusively revealed on getreading.co.uk on Saturday , cash-strapped Royals owe HMRC £1.6 million and a further payment, of a similar amount, is due within a fortnight.

Getreading.co.uk understands that 45-year-old Indian businessman Burman will take care of that tax bill if his offer for the club is given the green light.

He will pay it off within three working days if he can enter into an exclusivity agreement with the club while conducting due diligence.

Burman, who part owns Indian Premier League cricket team the Kings XI Punjab , is rivalling Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi to take control at Madejski Stadium.

If his bid is successful, he plans to push through serious changes at board level.

Sir John Madejski will be offered the role as president, while talks will be held with chief executive Nigel Howe and director of football Nick Hammond about their roles.

But it is understood that Burman does not want to retain the services of Chris Samuelson and Andrew Obolensky, both directors of Thames Sport Investment (TSI), the company formed by Anton Zingarevich for his ill-fated takeover in 2012.

Getreading.co.uk understands that both are being paid £20,000 per month by Reading, a figure that would have risen to £30,000 should Royals have secured promotion to the Premier League.

Mutual Trust International Ltd (MTI), Samuelson and Obolensky’s Swiss-based company, has been vetting prospective buyers on Madejski’s behalf.

And potential new owners are being asked to sign a written guarantee to keep both as directors.

They are also asked to enter into a consultancy agreement with Reading which will see MTI receive a monthly fee of £40,000 for an initial two-year period.

These demands have seen several prospective new owners abandon talks in recent months, including Uruguayan millionaire Richard Iribarne, who spent a month in London trying to conclude a deal.

They have not scared off Israeli billionaire Sagi , however, who is willing to maintain the current status quo.

And the 41-year-old, who flew by helicopter for talks at Madejski Stadium last Wednesday , is believed to be the preferred choice of the club.

It is thought both Sagi and Burman’s offers total just £1, but also include wiping out the current debt at Reading, thought to be in the region of £21m.

A board meeting was held yesterday to discuss both takeover offers and the unpaid tax bill. The sale of star striker Adam Le Fondre to Cardiff City was also sanctioned.

As well as Sagi and Burman, interest in the club also remains from consortiums based in both America and Ireland.

First one to kick CS in the groin next season gets a free drink from me.

[Nameless]

You have to love journalists.

How do the offers both 'total' one pound ?

Do they consist of 25p for the team, 50p for the stadium and 25p for assorted assets ? The offers are just for a nominal quid.

[CayeneMatt]

So Samuelson is vetting prospective buyers - and they must retain him at 40K a week for 2 years. I heard our wage bill was bad but......

[Nameless]

So Samuelson is vetting prospective buyers - and they must retain him at 40K a week for 2 years. I heard our wage bill was bad but......

Don't be silly, that's a monthly rate ! Seems like good value given what they do for the club.

[maffff]

So nearly £1m over two years between the two. I'm sure they'll receive some sort of golden handshake if Burman takes over.

[winchester_royal]

So nearly £1m over two years between the two. I'm sure they'll receive some sort of golden handshake if Burman takes over.

It's not a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of things is it really... If Burman is genuinely serious about putting money in and has the capital to fund such investment then there's no reason for this to be a deal breaker. Just let the silly old twat drink himself silly in the director's box for a couple of years then chuck him out.