CONFRIMED: Latest rumours Confrimed as Unconfrimed

[The Royal Forester]

I guess the time the club no longer exists is getting closer. .(see the last post on the previous page)

[Mr Angry]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5927707/2024/11/20/business-of-football-reading-swansea-bbc/?source=user_shared_article&redirected=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.

I have absolutely no reason not to believe Couhig's version as to what has happened here; to me, he seems the only adult in the room.

What does it mean? God knows. Speculating is pointless at this time, but I will do it anyway - it appears that a reckoning is coming sooner rather than later. The biggest hint will be next week - will the staff (including players) get paid? Will the tax owed get paid?

Being football fans, pessimism comes easily, but this time it could well be justified.......

[Lower West]

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”.

Always two sides to a story. A case of this is our final offer or we are walking away. Game of poker.

[PieEater]

I'm not convinced there is another serious bidder, it's all pretend by Dai until he finally runs out of road. This month or next probably.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

Also interesting that Couhig mentioned setting up companies in BVI to alleviate the issues with Haitong. This suggests that they found a way to navigate that problem, but who knows what that could be.

[Lower West]

I'm not convinced there is another serious bidder, it's all pretend by Dai until he finally runs out of road. This month or next probably.

Dai is long out of road. The concern is who is pulling the strings now and in the bigger scheme of things. How much of a priority is a loss making football club in England.

[morganb]

Have our resident Hobnob ITKs not heard anything recently?

The Twitter ITKs have all been very silent of late...

[Lower West]

Also interesting that Couhig mentioned setting up companies in BVI to alleviate the issues with Haitong. This suggests that they found a way to navigate that problem, but who knows what that could be.

Haitong by default are most likely going to own the stadium following any sale. Any new owner will have to come to an arrangement to either purchase the stadium with a mortgage or enter into a long term rental agreement. Haitong are a state owned Chinese bank.

[Hound]

What a mess. Genuinely wtf is Dai up to? Just sell up ffs

[WestYorksRoyal]

All I will say is if the club commit to a wall of silence, Couhig can put out his narrative unchallenged. Everything he said is very believable and I trust his word more than the club. He is brash and at times unlikeable, but I don't think he's a liar.

I still think smart money is that he ends up as owner, but no idea how long it takes and how much carnage occurs first. Probably enough time to sell Bindon and then piss that money away limping on for the rest of the season.

[Brogue]

Have our resident Hobnob ITKs not heard anything recently?

The Twitter ITKs have all been very silent of late...

Howe not involved Bowen gone. Absolutely nothing coming out of the club. All information on the take over has dried up.

[Hound]

Did get the impression Bowen was quite a big ‘leaker’

[WestYorksRoyal]

I don't know if the hierarchy at the club have sinister intentions. From the outside, it looks like they're simply out of their depth.

[Snowflake Royal]

Did get the impression Bowen was quite a big ‘leaker’

Person who appears to have had a gambling issue, known for publicly making stuff up that sounded good (see statements about all our troubles being over, agreeing a financial plan we knew we couldn’t meet etc) in being a bit leaky, seems as nailed on as Dai being someone unlikely to repay a loan.


Got to laugh at the ITKs who came out claiming Couhig never had any money and it was all his fault. Sounds even stupider now than it did then.

[Snowflake Royal]

I don't know if the hierarchy at the club have sinister intentions. From the outside, it looks like they're simply out of their depth.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there's at least a couple whose careers, maybe even liberty, are at risk if their part in our obviously very dodgy finances came out.

There's got to be at least someone who knew how bad things were and didn’t blow a whistle.

[Sutekh]

What a mess. Genuinely wtf is Dai up to? Just sell up ffs

I’m having trouble believing the club will ever be sold so long as the current owner is involved.

[blythspartan]

It’s difficult to know what to believe. Both sides will paint a picture to make the other side look bad. It’s a shame that all parties can’t work together for the good of the club’s employees and fans.

Surely, if there’s a serious buyer in place they’d pay off Couhig’s £1m in legal fees, but it might be more complex than that. I shall enjoy supporting the club for as long as possible, but a Phoenix club is edging closer.

[Elm Park Kid]

Have our resident Hobnob ITKs not heard anything recently?

The Twitter ITKs have all been very silent of late...

It's pretty simple. No one has any idea what Dai is doing, so there's nothing to be ITK about.

[traff]

Did get the impression Bowen was quite a big ‘leaker’

That’s the welsh for you.

[Crusader Royal]

I don't know if the hierarchy at the club have sinister intentions. From the outside, it looks like they're simply out of their depth.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there's at least a couple whose careers, maybe even liberty, are at risk if their part in our obviously very dodgy finances came out.

There's got to be at least someone who knew how bad things were and didn’t blow a whistle.

Probably need to remember that there is a complex web of companies involved here, most of which are not the responsibility of RFC employees. The full extent of Dai’s financial dealings may well not be visible to the RFC FD, who is fairly new anyway.