Saints and the Worlds 19th Richest Man !

[blahblahblah 2]

Southampton confirm takeover approach

Speculation has linked Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the world''s 19th richest man, with the Saints.

A source close to Allen told the Daily Mail: "He sees Southampton as a sleeping giant, a family-supported club with traditional values."

The Stock Exchange statement added: "The board note the recent rise in the company''s share price.

"The board''s consideration is at an early stage and there is no guarantee that any offer will be forthcoming."

At the risk of sounding like Smudger - a couple of questions :

a) Are Southampton a plc ?  I''m assuming they must be if they''re issuing a stock exchange statement.

b) Is it time that NCFC considered becoming a plc, on the basis that family supported clubs with traditional values are being snapped up by software giants ? 

Are we running behind the times by staying as we are ? 

[alex_ncfc 644]

Don''t know the answer to your points a and b, but I do know we are behind the times...we will be getting left behind as club after club is snapped up - potential buyers put off only by Norwich City because of the club''s insistance on not accepting any investment outside of bloody Norfolk! And so what hope do we have? It''s almost as if the club WANTS to be left behind in the dark ages. I wouldn''t be at all surprised to see them lot down the road being the subject of a take over before us.

With the boards attitude on this, is it any wonder why we never progress?

[Dutch 0]

Good luck to them.

I only hope this opens our clubs eyes and they see thta a takeover doesnt have to be from locals. We are not the league of gentlemen after all. This is not a local shop for local people. we have supporters groups all over england and also in bulgaria and germany i think so why does a takeover have to be from norfolk???

[nutty nigel 7,509]

Yes I think they are a PLC blah and their annual report is feely available to download on here.  The Chairmans statements with that report make interesting reading.

Whether we are running behind the times as we are is an interesting point. I believe the club is more stable as we are and there is less risk of things going drastically wrong. 

The thing we should probably think about though is even if the top 50 clubs in this country (of which we are certainly one) all become PLC''s and attract signifiacant investment,  the Premiership will still only have enough room for 20 of them.

 

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]

I believe the club is more stable as we are and there is less risk of things going drastically wrong. 

[/quote]

Nutty my dear old fruit, things ARE going drastically wrong!  Last season we never really looked like finishing in the top six but at least we were looking upwards.  We have spent most of this season looking queasily downwards.  We are on the slide big time.  Unless action is taken to reverse the current trend, we are more likely to go down than stay up in 2008 imo.  Financially we are secure, or so we are told.  Football-wise, we are in crisis.  It may not feel like that to you, but we are.  Please, please wake up!

 

[James Kent 0]

Ok first of all we are technically a Public Limited Comapany(PLC).  Anyone who gets the annual report will see this.  Also here is a extract to confirm this:

Norwich City F.C. is a public limited company that, in 2003, comprised approximately 8,000 individual shareholdings.^[66] Since purchasing their shares from Geoffrey Watling, Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn-Jones have been joint majority shareholders.^[31]

At the 2006–07 Norwich City FC Annual General Meeting (on the 18 January 2007) Smith and Wynn-Jones announced that they would be open to offers on selling their majority stakehold of the club. However, they made clear that any prospective buyer would have to invest heavily in the squad, with regards to team improving.

However we are not a PLC in the sense that some football clubs are where shares can be freely bought at any time.  As far of the issue of a takeover is concerned, personally I would like to see the club remain in British hands.  If someone like Richard Branson was interested I would welcome it, but I would be so keen on American or otherwise investment.

[James Kent 0]

Sorry I meant to say I would not be so keen on american investment.