Finding a new Owner - Billionnaires to take things forward!

[Baines]

I never said it did. However the figure was intended to serve as an illustration that she is quite rich. It is based on a figure given out for the purposes of expediency and PR - so therefore may or may not represent her true wealth. Charles and co's pocket money is I assume not taken into consideration either. So what is a couple of zeroes between friends?

LOLZ. Good try. Good luck at getting better with the quote function too.

[Dirk Gently]

My last calculations put the value of the club at about £118 million.

Is that the Balance Sheet Value, or have you added in something for goodwill etc?

It's based on a variety of factors, including potential future revenue from TV deals (assuming a PL team), size of land and room for expansion, proximity to transport links and size and affluence of catchment area (without other PL clubs).

Don't forget, Aston Villa went for £82 (under the previous, less lucrative TV deal). I think £50m for Derby was a good deal - but then again there is no prospect of future PL TV money in the short term, so that's a much longer term investment.

[West Stand Man]

I'm being lazy, I know, but does anyone have the last balance sheet and can you tell us what the book value of the club is?

[West Stand Man]

The Liverpool idea might be the way ahead! 100k supporters each buying a single share at £2k and mounting a takeover bid would put £200M in the pot; sufficient to buy out the club and have some spending money.

Ok, so finding 100k Reading fans will be hard enough, let alone that number who have £2k to spare, but it is an attractive idea.

The essence of the scheme is that no-one is allowed to own more than 1 share, so no-one has the power to disrupt the co-operative nature of the business. Before the negativity kicks in (I can feel the rumble of cynicism already), this is how Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned - so it can be made to work at the highest levels.

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

Those 100k Liverpool supporters are going to have to cough up far more than £2K each to buy out Hicks & Gillett.

[Dirk Gently]

The Liverpool idea might be the way ahead! 100k supporters each buying a single share at £2k and mounting a takeover bid would put £200M in the pot; sufficient to buy out the club and have some spending money.

Ok, so finding 100k Reading fans will be hard enough, let alone that number who have £2k to spare, but it is an attractive idea.

The essence of the scheme is that no-one is allowed to own more than 1 share, so no-one has the power to disrupt the co-operative nature of the business. Before the negativity kicks in (I can feel the rumble of cynicism already), this is how Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned - so it can be made to work at the highest levels.

That's essentially the Supporters' Trust model, although I'm personally not convinced exactly how it would work in this scenario - I think the £2k (although I've seen it reported as £5k) is too high for this to be inclusive.

[premiership_bound]

The Stadium will only be enlarged IF we retain our Premier League status. Of this, there is no doubt.

It would not make financial sense to enlarg for the Championship !

It takes a year to expand the stadium. If we stay up this year we may be down by the time the stadium is finished or if we go down this year we may be back up.

[West Stand Man]

Those 100k Liverpool supporters are going to have to cough up far more than £2K each to buy out Hicks & Gillett.

Don't be lazy and ignore the full story. My suggestion of 2k was for us. The Liverpool arrangement is for 100k fans at 5k each (=5M).

[West Stand Man]

The Liverpool idea might be the way ahead! 100k supporters each buying a single share at £2k and mounting a takeover bid would put £200M in the pot; sufficient to buy out the club and have some spending money.

Ok, so finding 100k Reading fans will be hard enough, let alone that number who have £2k to spare, but it is an attractive idea.

The essence of the scheme is that no-one is allowed to own more than 1 share, so no-one has the power to disrupt the co-operative nature of the business. Before the negativity kicks in (I can feel the rumble of cynicism already), this is how Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned - so it can be made to work at the highest levels.

That's essentially the Supporters' Trust model, although I'm personally not convinced exactly how it would work in this scenario - I think the £2k (although I've seen it reported as £5k) is too high for this to be inclusive.

See above. You are right that the Liverpool one is 5k per share. I am, simply suggesting that we could mirror the concept but would probably only (!) need 2k per share if we had 100k shares.

[Dirk Gently]

The Liverpool idea might be the way ahead! 100k supporters each buying a single share at £2k and mounting a takeover bid would put £200M in the pot; sufficient to buy out the club and have some spending money.

Ok, so finding 100k Reading fans will be hard enough, let alone that number who have £2k to spare, but it is an attractive idea.

The essence of the scheme is that no-one is allowed to own more than 1 share, so no-one has the power to disrupt the co-operative nature of the business. Before the negativity kicks in (I can feel the rumble of cynicism already), this is how Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned - so it can be made to work at the highest levels.

That's essentially the Supporters' Trust model, although I'm personally not convinced exactly how it would work in this scenario - I think the £2k (although I've seen it reported as £5k) is too high for this to be inclusive.

See above. You are right that the Liverpool one is 5k per share. I am, simply suggesting that we could mirror the concept but would probably only (!) need 2k per share if we had 100k shares.

Point taken. I've found out a bit more about this scheme since last posting. It is essentially based on the Supporters' Trust model, with Supporters Direct advising the organisers.

The big problem that many would have is that whilst this would buy the club and make it debt-free, it then must live within its means, and as such it would be competing with other clubs bankrolled by billionaires. Whilst it would be debt-free and financially stable, extra investment is a problem unless you grow the membership base further.

In our case, I think we'd be fine - the TV money would be more than enough to make us self-sufficient, if it was all used for the club's benefit.

[West Stand Man]

[
Point taken. I've found out a bit more about this scheme since last posting. It is essentially based on the Supporters' Trust model, with Supporters Direct advising the organisers.

The big problem that many would have is that whilst this would buy the club and make it debt-free, it then must live within its means, and as such it would be competing with other clubs bankrolled by billionaires. Whilst it would be debt-free and financially stable, extra investment is a problem unless you grow the membership base further.

In our case, I think we'd be fine - the TV money would be more than enough to make us self-sufficient, if it was all used for the club's benefit.

I am sure that there would be complexities to sort out. Perhaps the answer is to look at how Barca and Real Madrid do it as they both seem to make it work. (My recollection is that Madrid have not lived within their means for a while, and that the city of Madrid underwrites them to some extent?)

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

I think Bournemouth has shown that for small clubs the supporters trust model really struggles. There's no way we could get even close to 100,000 supporters to invest £2K - or even £1K or £100. It works for Barca and Madrid because they're HUGE clubs with worldwide support - we aren't. IMO for a small club the trust model only works as a stop gap solution until a major invester can be found.

[West Stand Man]

I think Bournemouth has shown that for small clubs the supporters trust model really struggles. There's no way we could get even close to 100,000 supporters to invest £2K - or even £1K or £100. It works for Barca and Madrid because they're HUGE clubs with worldwide support - we aren't. IMO for a small club the trust model only works as a stop gap solution until a major invester can be found.

I hear your argument, but it falls a tad flat when you note that 16 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs are owned in the same fashion. They are not all HUGE clubs with worldwide support, yet they make this mode of operation work effectively.

It is still worth look at.

[Blue Blooded]

I think Bournemouth has shown that for small clubs the supporters trust model really struggles. There's no way we could get even close to 100,000 supporters to invest £2K - or even £1K or £100. It works for Barca and Madrid because they're HUGE clubs with worldwide support - we aren't. IMO for a small club the trust model only works as a stop gap solution until a major invester can be found.

I hear your argument, but it falls a tad flat when you note that 16 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs are owned in the same fashion. They are not all HUGE clubs with worldwide support, yet they make this mode of operation work effectively.

It is still worth look at.

I like this idea.

Could we apply for somekind of European Union grants?

[The Surgeon of Crowthorne]

I think Bournemouth has shown that for small clubs the supporters trust model really struggles. There's no way we could get even close to 100,000 supporters to invest £2K - or even £1K or £100. It works for Barca and Madrid because they're HUGE clubs with worldwide support - we aren't. IMO for a small club the trust model only works as a stop gap solution until a major invester can be found.

I hear your argument, but it falls a tad flat when you note that 16 of the 18 Bundesliga clubs are owned in the same fashion. They are not all HUGE clubs with worldwide support, yet they make this mode of operation work effectively.

It is still worth look at.

Interesting about the Boche teams, I didn't know that. I would hazard a guess, though, that this has been a long-standing arrangement & so perhaps there is a tradition of it & the initial investment required wasn't as great as would be needed now. I still think that British supporters who are prepared to stump up that amount of money are thin on the ground.

[West Stand Man]

Interesting about the Boche teams, I didn't know that. I would hazard a guess, though, that this has been a long-standing arrangement & so perhaps there is a tradition of it & the initial investment required wasn't as great as would be needed now. I still think that British supporters who are prepared to stump up that amount of money are thin on the ground.

I agree that it is a long shot, but one that could be worth looking into. I would have thought that there was a set of numbers (x shareholders @ £y a head) that might make it workable?

[Mad Aussie Royal]

why dont one of those big american owners buy the club or one of thos bif arabic oil tycoons they have big money. but if we want that we should play more games overseas in the pre season like in the USA,the Middle east, i reckon it would be awesome to play in Melbourne Australia the support over here is huge.

[Dirk Gently]

why dont one of those big american owners buy the club or one of thos bif arabic oil tycoons they have big money. but if we want that we should play more games overseas in the pre season like in the USA,the Middle east, i reckon it would be awesome to play in Melbourne Australia the support over here is huge.

Because we would cease to be Reading FC. We would be a faceless "brand" with no connection with our history, our locale or our traditional fans - not a football team.

['lista]

Those 100k Liverpool supporters are going to have to cough up far more than £2K each to buy out Hicks & Gillett.

Don't be lazy and ignore the full story. My suggestion of 2k was for us. The Liverpool arrangement is for 100k fans at 5k each (=5M).

When I went to school 100,000 x 5,000 equalled 500,000,000 (500M).

How times have changed.

[West Stand Man]

Those 100k Liverpool supporters are going to have to cough up far more than £2K each to buy out Hicks & Gillett.

Don't be lazy and ignore the full story. My suggestion of 2k was for us. The Liverpool arrangement is for 100k fans at 5k each (=5M).

When I went to school 100,000 x 5,000 equalled 500,000,000 (500M).

How times have changed.

How right you are, I missed the zeros in my haste to publish. Liverpool for £5M is a deal that I think even I'd go for! I reckon the bank would probably lend me it for that purpose too (on the grounds that I'd be sitting on £500M of assets)!