EXCLUSIVE: US tycoons in Norwich City investment talks

[Google Bot 3,258]

3 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

Apparently Attanasio has decided to buy the England cricket team instead…

He said "I don't like cricket..."  🎵

[Google Bot 3,258]

11 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

Phillips' departure, despite the public story, is intriguing by the timing of the announcement.  If it was decided before the start of negotiations with Attanasio why wait until now to go public? 

It could be that that Attanasio got wind of an opportunity presenting itself?  Foulger and Phillips may have been on the cards throughout the season for all we know, which prompted a hunt for new investors. 

All shall be revealed, no doubt.  What is interesting is that despite all the news circling I hadn't read anything about Phillips getting out, which makes me doubt ANY rumours around this deal.

Unless, it is related of course, and he just isn't happy with something.  *handbags* 🙂

 

[benchwarmer 624]

The Attanasio story was never anything more than a publicity stunt designed to take the heat off the owners.  It worked.    

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by benchwarmer

[ncfcstar 287]

1 minute ago, benchwarmer said:

The Attanasio story was never anything more than a publicity stunt designed to take the heat off the owners.  It worked.    

 

You think Delia, or our PR team, magically picked some random MLB owner and invited them to a game as a publicity stunt?  You don't genuinely believe that....do you....?

[benchwarmer 624]

1 minute ago, ncfcstar said:

You think Delia, or our PR team, magically picked some random MLB owner and invited them to a game as a publicity stunt?  You don't genuinely believe that....do you....?

I don't believe it was magic, if that's what you mean.

[hogesar 9,618]

39 minutes ago, benchwarmer said:

The Attanasio story was never anything more than a publicity stunt designed to take the heat off the owners.  It worked.    

 

[Badger 2,405]

On 14/06/2022 at 13:16, Graham Paddons Beard said:

There is 0.0000001 % chance of that happening . The cost would be extraordinary. 

And why that population ? Who says which people should be asked ? Who defines a fan? Someone who went regularly 5 years ago but moved away ? 
 

If fans are asked it will be a representative sample at best . 
 

The cost would be very small compared to other football costs. Trades Unions do it all the time for union elections etc. It's not that complicated - data (addresses etc) is given to the independent scrutineer who send out the ballots, which have to return by an identified date to the scrutineers, who counts them and announces the result

Shareholders, Members and season ticket holders seems a pretty good definition of fan to me and it has the benefit of the fact that the club will have their details.

Fans may have to contact the club to give permission for their data to be passed on to the scrutineer (DPA) - depending on the small print on the Ts and Cs about 3rd parties.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

From today's pink un Q&A:

Rick Schlesinger, one of the group that attended Carrow Road, is attending a public forum tomorrow, so we may hear some news from that. 

[CANARYKING 634]

9 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

From today's pink un Q&A:

Rick Schlesinger, one of the group that attended Carrow Road, is attending a public forum tomorrow, so we may hear some news from that. 

Is it an NCFC forum ?

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

3 minutes ago, CANARYKING said:

Is it an NCFC forum ?

In Milwaukee, apparently, so he may not get many or even any NCFC questions!

[Pete Raven 276]

Doesn't look like the sort of forum to discuss Norwich City but there are contact details for any questions...

https://milwaukeepressclub.org/events/milwaukee-brewers-exec-rick-schlesinger-to-headline-newsmaker-luncheon/

[essex canary 492]

18 hours ago, Pete Raven said:

Doesn't look like the sort of forum to discuss Norwich City but there are contact details for any questions...

https://milwaukeepressclub.org/events/milwaukee-brewers-exec-rick-schlesinger-to-headline-newsmaker-luncheon/

Turn the clock back 20 years we had such forums to discuss Norwich City. Not now, it has turned into the secret society.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

On 09/06/2022 at 15:08, shefcanary said:

My view is pretty similar to Purple's now.  What smoke signals have creeped out through the gaps round the boardroom door are that Attanasio is buying up existing shares that have been offered him by existing Board members (there remains a bit of gossip that this was against the wishes of the majority shareholders, but who knows).  We probably now have to take the statement issued by the club at face value after all (whilst initially thinking that this was not a goer)  So Smith & Jones will retain their majority share for now, whilst Attanasio seems to be acquiring Foulger's shares.  Attanasio will get an agreement to shadow the Board (probably taking up a post on the Board, either himself or maybe one of his sons) for a while before deciding whether to take up a legal option to invest deeper. 

So [unfortunately] initially no big injection of cash to the club, but they will benefit from Attanasio's team experience of running the Brewers as a relatively successful smaller baseball franchise, where the squad and the playing arena have improved significantly since they took charge.  But in a couple of years we will see the handover of control of the club from Smith & Jones to Attanasio if there isn't a fall out during the interim.

The latest word from Southwell in today's Q&A was this:

"We understand there is nothing imminent. But Attanasio remains undeterred in his willingness to invest. These things can be complex and no news is always good news." 

That may be a loose use of the word 'investment' but buying existing shares from the likes of Foulger would not be investing in the club. Of course the plan, if it starts with existing shares, might possibly include some kind of limited cash injection, and/or buying new shares later on. Either way, I agree with shef that Attanasio would want a place on the board.

Not sure 'no news is always good news' is an appropriate motto for a journalist...😍

[jaberry2 550]

On 20/06/2022 at 15:33, Pete Raven said:

Doesn't look like the sort of forum to discuss Norwich City but there are contact details for any questions...

https://milwaukeepressclub.org/events/milwaukee-brewers-exec-rick-schlesinger-to-headline-newsmaker-luncheon/

Oh I love a luncheon.

[norfolkngood 1,086]

43 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

The latest word from Southwell in today's Q&A was this:

"We understand there is nothing imminent. But Attanasio remains undeterred in his willingness to invest. These things can be complex and no news is always good news." 

That may be a loose use of the word 'investment' but buying existing shares from the likes of Foulger would not be investing in the club. Of course the plan, if it starts with existing shares, might possibly include some kind of limited cash injection, and/or buying new shares later on. Either way, I agree with shef that Attanasio would want a place on the board.

Not sure 'no news is always good news' is an appropriate motto for a journalist...😍

i think you are right 

Attanasio is not going to invest or give money to a board he has no control or even a seat at the top table  over why would he ? 

i personally think and hope i am wrong is that they will see Delia is not moving with her shares and control 

and go for a easier straight buy out at another club 

 

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Neymar here yet?

[Jim Smith 2,314]

2 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

The latest word from Southwell in today's Q&A was this:

"We understand there is nothing imminent. But Attanasio remains undeterred in his willingness to invest. These things can be complex and no news is always good news." 

That may be a loose use of the word 'investment' but buying existing shares from the likes of Foulger would not be investing in the club. Of course the plan, if it starts with existing shares, might possibly include some kind of limited cash injection, and/or buying new shares later on. Either way, I agree with shef that Attanasio would want a place on the board.

Not sure 'no news is always good news' is an appropriate motto for a journalist...😍

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

[hogesar 9,618]

17 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

No Jim, only you can conclude that.

[cornish sam 944]

4 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

The latest word from Southwell in today's Q&A was this:

"We understand there is nothing imminent. But Attanasio remains undeterred in his willingness to invest. These things can be complex and no news is always good news." 

That may be a loose use of the word 'investment' but buying existing shares from the likes of Foulger would not be investing in the club. Of course the plan, if it starts with existing shares, might possibly include some kind of limited cash injection, and/or buying new shares later on. Either way, I agree with shef that Attanasio would want a place on the board.

Not sure 'no news is always good news' is an appropriate motto for a journalist...😍

Surely if he is buying shares in the club then from his perspective he is investing in the club in so much as he is spending money in the hope of getting more money...granted this is nitpicking a tad...

[Terminally Yellow 2,448]

2 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

**** me, you know you're in trouble when Jim starts referring to himself as "one". 

[essex canary 492]

9 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

If he has come across the example of the Turners, he will know he has to dot every I and cross every T.

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

You mean there's a lot to negotiate before potentially taking shares on a board of a football club? 

Well, screw me up the **** with a baseball bat and put powdered glass in the lube, I'd never have ****ing guessed!!

I'm actually more reassured about the seriousness of their intent here. Both parties, from the very limited snippets of information coming out, seem to be doing their due diligence. From what I've read about Attanasio, I wouldn't expect anything else.

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

10 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

No Jim. Only someone whose negativity control is set at 12 when it comes to Smith and Jones could conclude that. For starters you have seized on 'undeterred' when it is just one word used in a quickfire online Q&A when there is no indication Southwell or any of the other EDP reporters have any inside track on what actually is going on in the negotiations. He probably could just as easily have used 'keen'' or 'happy to' instead of  'undeterred'.

If anything the fact that nothing has been concluded yet suggests that Attanasio is looking in the long run for an involvement that is more extensive and significant than simply, for example, buying Foulger's shares. He could do that without involving the club at all, given that it would be a private transaction. An assessment would be that whatever happens will happen in incremental stages.

And a realist/optimist City fan would be pleased that time is being taken. So many of  these kinds of deals are done in haste because the club is financially scr*wed and agrees to the first offer that comes along, without having time to check out the background of the would-be owner or the fine print of the deal, to the club's very great later cost.

 

PS. Or as I now see TGS has put it more pithily...

Edited July 5, 2022 by PurpleCanary

[Indy 3,283]

6 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

No Jim. Only someone whose negativity control is set at 12 when it comes to Smith and Jones could conclude that. For starters you have seized on 'undeterred' when it is just one word used in a quickfire online Q&A when there is no indication Southwell or any of the other EDP reporters have any inside track on what actually is going on in the negotiations. He probably could just as easily have used 'keen'' or 'happy to' instead of  'undeterred'.

If anything the fact that nothing has been concluded yet suggests that Attanasio is looking in the long run for an involvement that is more extensive and significant than simply, for example, buying Foulger's shares. He could do that without involving the club at all, given that it would be a private transaction. An assessment would be that whatever happens will happen in incremental stages.

And a realist/optimist City fan would be pleased that time is being taken. So many of  these kinds of deals are done in haste because the club is financially scr*wed and agrees to the first offer that comes along, without having time to check out the background of the would-be owner or the fine print of the deal, to the club's very great later cost.

 

PS. Or as I now see TGS has put it more pithily...

I always found this funny at the time, someone with their background in sports ownership, who is actively seeking to come into Soccer would be happy to throw money “invest” without any control.

Everyone on this thread is making suppositions on what is going on, no one knows, it could be that they aren’t interested in this club but have been given the opportunity by the current owners who felt under some pressure last season to look at our club.

It could be that the current owners don’t want to relinquish control just yet or the process is taking a long time in the negotiation phase. One thing that doesn’t help any takeover is the fragmented shares outside the 52% owned by Delia & MWJ.

From what I’ve read here and from the limited info coming out, I’m certainly not convinced anything will come of this unless we get off to a horrendous start to next season and the crowd apply pressure on the current set up. If we get off to a great start and promotion I’m sceptical that any offer would be considered, as we’d gain that next influx of tv money!

[Badger 2,405]

11 hours ago, Jim Smith said:

If he’s “undeterred in his willingness to invest” then one can only conclude we are not making it particularly easy for him to do so given it’s dragging on with “nothing imminent” 

There is a huge range of other possibly conclusions! I think that you have your merde-tinted spectacles on again Jim! 😃

[essex canary 492]

2 hours ago, Indy said:

 

 One thing that doesn’t help any takeover is the fragmented shares outside the 52% owned by Delia & MWJ.

 

31% owned by 6,860 different shareholders and only around 0.5% by the only active Trust.

Who allowed that to stagnate for over 20 years?

[shefcanary 2,388]

2 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

If anything the fact that nothing has been concluded yet suggests that Attanasio is looking in the long run for an involvement that is more extensive and significant than simply, for example, buying Foulger's shares. He could do that without involving the club at all, given that it would be a private transaction. An assessment would be that whatever happens will happen in incremental stages.

Also this fact he is not just purchasing shares from another shareholder does mean Attanasio is being transparent about his future aims with the existing controlling shareholders, which has to be a good thing.  Taking time now will save a lot of bitter, timely and expensive argument sorting things out later when the focus should be on the pitch!

[shefcanary 2,388]

39 minutes ago, essex canary said:

31% owned by 6,860 different shareholders and only around 0.5% by the only active Trust.

Who allowed that to stagnate for over 20 years?

Essex, I've been skim reading the archives the club has just published - this has always been the way with the club from day one!  Shares were always sold to "spread the financial burden".  Directors' in the early days couldn't wait to offload guarantees on bank overdraft across shareholders and directors.  All this talk of Norwich City becoming a "community club" is a nonsense - it is the way the club has been run from the start.

[essex canary 492]

2 minutes ago, shefcanary said:

Essex, I've been skim reading the archives the club has just published - this has always been the way with the club from day one!  Shares were always sold to "spread the financial burden".  Directors' in the early days couldn't wait to offload guarantees on bank overdraft across shareholders and directors.  All this talk of Norwich City becoming a "community club" is a nonsense - it is the way the club has been run from the start.

Good to see the honest assessment. Hopefully we are educating others regarding the realities.

[TheGunnShow 5,932]

3 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

No Jim. Only someone whose negativity control is set at 12 when it comes to Smith and Jones could conclude that. For starters you have seized on 'undeterred' when it is just one word used in a quickfire online Q&A when there is no indication Southwell or any of the other EDP reporters have any inside track on what actually is going on in the negotiations. He probably could just as easily have used 'keen'' or 'happy to' instead of  'undeterred'.

If anything the fact that nothing has been concluded yet suggests that Attanasio is looking in the long run for an involvement that is more extensive and significant than simply, for example, buying Foulger's shares. He could do that without involving the club at all, given that it would be a private transaction. An assessment would be that whatever happens will happen in incremental stages.

And a realist/optimist City fan would be pleased that time is being taken. So many of  these kinds of deals are done in haste because the club is financially scr*wed and agrees to the first offer that comes along, without having time to check out the background of the would-be owner or the fine print of the deal, to the club's very great later cost.

 

PS. Or as I now see TGS has put it more pithily...

Yep, that's my thing. 😉