No local investors - yes their are - but they are being blocked

[gazzathegreat 0]

It maybe true, maybe not about this investor, but for now what really concerns me is the fact Delia and Michael have bought all the remaining shares. Where they at the time aware the Supporters Trust wanted to buy them (on behalf of the fans)?

It is really history repeating itself isn''t it. Didn''t Chase also buy up all the shares he could in his last days in charge?

Have Delia and Michael done this to help the club out or to strengthen their control over it? I guess depending on your viewpoint it''s either concerning or good for them, helping out the club again.

Why is the price going up if the value of the product is going down? They are desperate for money? It makes you wonder doesn''t it!

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="JC"]

Its not as straight forward as a ''hey I want to invest'' there is another key part to the story that I cannot explain because it makes it very obvious - but I have heard it from two sources and checked it out myself.  All I can offer is my word and to open a debate on how truthful the ''we welcome local investors'' line really is.

[/quote]

Is that a debate between "economical with the truth" and "a complete pack of lies" JC? [;)]

JC, all the club''s remaining ordinary shares were taken up by D&M last season, every single one* (see 2007 Annual Report p.41).  They converted the rest of their loans into shares and spent another £270,000 to hoover up the rest. 

In October there''s a proposal at the AGM to issue some more ordinary shares and increase the purchase price by 20% from £25 to £30 per share (making the new issue worth just under £1m).  Why do you think the price is going up?  I''m not interested in making a profit, but I wouldn''t pay 30p at the moment let alone £30. 

What do you think all this might mean?

* The Supporters Trust tried to buy shares last season but were unable to do so because D&M had scoffed the lot.  Now it will cost them 20% more.   

[/quote]

I forgot to add:  When the Turners came into the club they bought Barry Skipper''s shares instead of buying shares direct from the club.  Why do you think that was?  I wonder if they are a trojan horse for a consortium possibly including Mr Cullum, but obviously you can''t comment on that.

 

[Old Shuck 183]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"][quote user="Old Shuck"]

Its fairly safe to speculate that the Turner''s will be the long term majority shareholders and "owners" of Norwich City in time.

They got in with the £2 Million and are now learning everything there is to learn about the club. When the time comes, they''ll buy Delia/MWJ''s shares, the latter duo will be made Honourary Life Presidents and be fans again with no financial interest or control.

The Turners will have their own ideas about people to join them with investment and what-have-you, they will steadily appoint them or invite them to "come aboard" and the make-up of the Board will change that way, organically.

They are the "next level"-Delia/MWJ know that they cannot compete with them financially or offer the club what they can.

It could be that the alleged people who were interested but "rejected" weren''t, and are the Turners. It might not. its worrying to think that potential new and big money might have been on offer and rejected, but (and sorry for this parallel AGAIN) look at Leeds United, there is continual speculation about take overs and investment-Duncan Revie, Pearson et al-all talked the talk, all said they had big plans for the club, but, with them, and others, when Bates asked to see the money and accounts, it wasn''t there!

They''re now a fantastic footballing investment opportunity but nothing is happening there. Why should it us simply because we need it now?

I am wondering if there will be an announcement at the AGM-I''ll be there, so will hope that there is!

[/quote]

Well if this is the plan they ought to be fast tracking the process, just look at Leicester to see what happens when these things drag out for bloody ages.  Unfortunatly failure is abundant in our club at the moment.  The likes of MWJ seem to have no clue about running a football club, and seem to run it like their own personal small business.  Running it into the ground due to poor personell and lack of investment.

If Delia/MWJ/Doncaster left i''m sure others would take up the standard and the club would enter a new era, hopefully a better one than the last 12 years.

[/quote]

Got to agree with you there, CJF. Again, I have a sneaky feeling that there may be an annoucement at the AGM with relation to the above. Certainly needs to be something.

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="gazzathegreat"]It maybe true, maybe not about this investor, but for now what really concerns me is the fact Delia and Michael have bought all the remaining shares. Where they at the time aware the Supporters Trust wanted to buy them (on behalf of the fans)? It is really history repeating itself isn''t it. Didn''t Chase also buy up all the shares he could in his last days in charge? Have Delia and Michael done this to help the club out or to strengthen their control over it? I guess depending on your viewpoint it''s either concerning or good for them, helping out the club again. Why is the price going up if the value of the product is going down? They are desperate for money? It makes you wonder doesn''t it![/quote]

Agree with everything you say gazza.  As for why, someone else on here suggested it is to deter a possible buyout.  My guess is that while they''ve always made a big issue out of not paying "silly money" for players, they''re holding out for "silly money" for their shares . . .

However wealthy a prospective buyer is, they won''t be willing to pay more than the shares are worth.  In the meantime there''s a standoff while the football side goes to hell on a handcart.  How often have we seen that at other clubs?  But I thought D&M had always claimed to be above all that?

There''s only one way this will end imo.  The only issues are how long it will take and how much more damage it will do to the club in the meantime.

 

[The Modfather AKA 0]

That Peter Cullum gentleman......

Some useful info

- he takes delia out to dinner a couple of times a year to keep her  sweet.

-He is a Norwich Fan

-Is looking to invest in the club

-When he sells his company towergate and something he will actually be worth an estimated £2-3 billion pounds, as his company is worth around £700mil to £800mil and it will go for three times the price.

 

But....

This will not happen for two to three years. He is not ready to retire yet. And he would have to sell some of his company off to finance any deal. Yet he did sell some of it off in June/July this year questioning his future involvement, paticurlay as Patrick Snowball took over the major running of the company. GIve it three years he will take over, but for now this will have to wait.

[renegade tootsie 0]

I could not possibly comment on the name you just mentioned.....

But whatever is going to happen is going to have to happen soon if the name I heard is to be involved as his personal circumstances may soon change dramatically.  And yes, there is a link to the Turners as you mentioned.

Something smells very fishy, and its not the contents of Delia''s fish crumble....

 

[quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="JC"]

Its not as straight forward as a ''hey I want to invest'' there is another key part to the story that I cannot explain because it makes it very obvious - but I have heard it from two sources and checked it out myself.  All I can offer is my word and to open a debate on how truthful the ''we welcome local investors'' line really is.

[/quote]

Is that a debate between "economical with the truth" and "a complete pack of lies" JC? [;)]

JC, all the club''s remaining ordinary shares were taken up by D&M last season, every single one* (see 2007 Annual Report p.41).  They converted the rest of their loans into shares and spent another £270,000 to hoover up the rest. 

In October there''s a proposal at the AGM to issue some more ordinary shares and increase the purchase price by 20% from £25 to £30 per share (making the new issue worth just under £1m).  Why do you think the price is going up?  I''m not interested in making a profit, but I wouldn''t pay 30p at the moment let alone £30. 

What do you think all this might mean?

* The Supporters Trust tried to buy shares last season but were unable to do so because D&M had scoffed the lot.  Now it will cost them 20% more.   

[/quote]

I forgot to add:  When the Turners came into the club they bought Barry Skipper''s shares instead of buying shares direct from the club.  Why do you think that was?  I wonder if they are a trojan horse for a consortium possibly including Mr Cullum, but obviously you can''t comment on that.

 

[/quote]

[yellow hammer 0]

Smith & Jones have hinted for a while that they want out, which makes it interesting that they hoovered up all the available shares - not the action you''d expect from someone who was losing interest. Unless, that is, there is a potential buyer for the club and the Duo see a chance of making some money out of the deal. Then it makes sense.

And why would they block an investor? Perhaps because they''ve reached some kind of understanding with someone else.

Finally, why would the blocked investor keep quiet? Because if the club were to be relegated, they could buy at a cheaper price.

All speculation on my part, but the pieces of jigsaw do seem to fit.

YH

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="JC"]

I could not possibly comment on the name you just mentioned.....

But whatever is going to happen is going to have to happen soon if the name I heard is to be involved as his personal circumstances may soon change dramatically.  And yes, there is a link to the Turners as you mentioned.

Something smells very fishy, and its not the contents of Delia''s fish crumble....

[/quote]

Blimey JC, what can it be?

Either his wife is about to divorce him and has a 50% prenup agreement, or he''s now worth so much money that he has decided to buy out Abramovitch instead . . . [:D]

 

[renegade tootsie 0]

Ok I am going to come clean and say (most) of what I have heard.  If this is true (and has been verified by three sources now, all unrelated and all who have had first hand contact with the major players in this) then things are going to change very soon.

Been doing some digging with my sources and basically:

1. Peter Cullum wants to invest in the club, and soon - as in now

2. The Turners bought Skippers shares to get into the club via a Trojan horse on Cullums behalf.

3.  The Turners are already changing the set-up to get their team in place.

4. The Turners dont have the cash but Cullum does.

5. They are preparing a £40 million takeover package

6.  Delia has hoovered up the shares to ensure maximum cash on buy-out - they are on the way out

7. A huge sum of money will be made available for players

 

If I''m wrong I''m wrong, but the sources are pretty impeccable.....

 

[quote user="JC"]

I could not possibly comment on the name you just mentioned.....

But whatever is going to happen is going to have to happen soon if the name I heard is to be involved as his personal circumstances may soon change dramatically.  And yes, there is a link to the Turners as you mentioned.

Something smells very fishy, and its not the contents of Delia''s fish crumble....

 

[quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="mystic megson"][quote user="JC"]

Its not as straight forward as a ''hey I want to invest'' there is another key part to the story that I cannot explain because it makes it very obvious - but I have heard it from two sources and checked it out myself.  All I can offer is my word and to open a debate on how truthful the ''we welcome local investors'' line really is.

[/quote]

Is that a debate between "economical with the truth" and "a complete pack of lies" JC? [;)]

JC, all the club''s remaining ordinary shares were taken up by D&M last season, every single one* (see 2007 Annual Report p.41).  They converted the rest of their loans into shares and spent another £270,000 to hoover up the rest. 

In October there''s a proposal at the AGM to issue some more ordinary shares and increase the purchase price by 20% from £25 to £30 per share (making the new issue worth just under £1m).  Why do you think the price is going up?  I''m not interested in making a profit, but I wouldn''t pay 30p at the moment let alone £30. 

What do you think all this might mean?

* The Supporters Trust tried to buy shares last season but were unable to do so because D&M had scoffed the lot.  Now it will cost them 20% more.   

[/quote]

I forgot to add:  When the Turners came into the club they bought Barry Skipper''s shares instead of buying shares direct from the club.  Why do you think that was?  I wonder if they are a trojan horse for a consortium possibly including Mr Cullum, but obviously you can''t comment on that.

 

[/quote][/quote]

[canary cherub 1]

Many thanks JC.  My instinct (and a fair bit of circumstantial evidence) tells me this is more than just another rumour.

It''s very helpful to clarify where the Turners stand in all this, as many of us couldn''t work out whether they were mates of Delia''s or not. 

Your comment about it needing to happen NOW sounded a note of alarm.  If this takeover goes down because D&M refuse to play ball . . . well it can''t be allowed to happen, simple as.  No doubt the consortium will pick their moment to break cover, if they''re really serious.

 

[albyella 0]

This post is very interesting - Cullum is an astute businessman, he has rapidly grown Towergate by acquisition and he knows the right people to do the right job (he has enlisted a Norwich Unioin exec to head up areas of his business).

I am normally a bit cynical when it comes to speculation, we all like to look for the best in any situation, but I could get quite excited by the prospect of Cullum coming in for the club - apart from the fact that he is local born & bred and is a genuine supporter, his credentials would not let sentiment get in the way of what was important, and that would be good for all of us.....

If he applied his business brain to the running of the club (which he surely would), then things could take a turn for the better.........

[kettering canary 0]

Im starting to feel a bit excited about all this, if it happens it would be great we would be able to compete with the big boys in the prem. The only thing i would ask for is not a bunch of foriegn players, one or two would be ok but the vast majority i would like to see brittish, then again how many brittish players do the top four have ? Not that many so if we were able to spend and compete with best we would probably have to go with majority foriegners, how would everybody else feel about this ?

[kdncfc 0]

Christ if this is true it would make us the Chelsea of the championship. If there is a god then pleeease let this happen.

[YellowIce 0]

if this happens i will eat my hat

[renegade tootsie 0]

well I hope its true!  As I say, its just what I have heard, so please dont shoot me down if it does not happen!

[quote user="kettering canary"]Im starting to feel a bit excited about all this, if it happens it would be great we would be able to compete with the big boys in the prem. The only thing i would ask for is not a bunch of foriegn players, one or two would be ok but the vast majority i would like to see brittish, then again how many brittish players do the top four have ? Not that many so if we were able to spend and compete with best we would probably have to go with majority foriegners, how would everybody else feel about this ?[/quote]

[Cluck 0]

Well JC....let''s hope you''re right.

The sooner the better perhaps before the kettle comes to the boil....although an astute investor may just wait until Smith is desperate to bail out.....thus lowering their asking price. Hence more for the club at a later date....and less in Smith''s purse. I just pray however that Smith and MJW are not given any influential or risidual role...as it time for them to leave....permanently. 

Even more reason to boycott Smith''s NCFC then if it may help bring about a radical and potentially exciting change soon.

[Pieman 0]

Anne Robinsons husband is about to come in to some money, maybe it''s him!!!!!

[London_Canary 0]

 Very interesting points JC, I hope for the sake of the club that it is all genuine, although i''m not going to get over excited just yet because no offence to you but I don''t know who you are or how reliable your sources actually are, although you seem to know what your talking about and have raised some veery interesting points. Time will tell now much truth is in this story

[Bigmarkcanary 0]

[quote user="JC"]

well I hope its true!  As I say, its just what I have heard, so please dont shoot me down if it does not happen!

[quote user="kettering canary"]Im starting to feel a bit excited about all this, if it happens it would be great we would be able to compete with the big boys in the prem. The only thing i would ask for is not a bunch of foriegn players, one or two would be ok but the vast majority i would like to see brittish, then again how many brittish players do the top four have ? Not that many so if we were able to spend and compete with best we would probably have to go with majority foriegners, how would everybody else feel about this ?[/quote]

[/quote]

Well I for one certainly won''t flame you on this if it doesn''t prove to be true, as I think you are one brave so-and-so for submitting what you have.

Going through all what you''ve posted so far JC, my instinct is that it could well prove to be true and, like you and everybody else, I can only hope that it is as investment now is badly needed, not just in the team but to completely write off our £17m-£18m + debt and invest substantial amounts of cash first into the scouting system, as ours have appeared to be a bit inept overall in the past few seasons, then the academy system and hopefully improve the standard of coaching which should then improve the standard of player and then give the manager, be it Peter Grant or whoever is in charge, the backing needed to go and bid for the players he needs.

Delia and MWJ have got to stand down from their roles, maybe take more of a back seat so the restaurant remains to bring in revenue, so hopefully they will do the decent thing so the Turners and this Cullum guy can take more of a foothold within the club.

Here''s hoping [B]

[kdncfc 0]

I must admit it does all sound perfectly plausible and the most important factor for me is that there is actually a named person who is from Norwich and is a big Norwich fan, and  he obviously has the funds to do what needs to be done. If I had his money I''d be looking to do exactly the same thing rather than sit back and watch this club go down the pan. 

[bobfleck 0]

Of course, it may well be that there is no mystery investor with a shed load of cash who is going to charge in and bale us out. And that this could all just be message board gossip.

Lets not get too disappointed if we dont get rescued by a multi-millionaire Norwich fan everyone.

Just a  thought.

[London_Canary 0]

[quote user="kettering canary"]Im starting to feel a bit excited about all this, if it happens it would be great we would be able to compete with the big boys in the prem. The only thing i would ask for is not a bunch of foriegn players, one or two would be ok but the vast majority i would like to see brittish, then again how many brittish players do the top four have ? Not that many so if we were able to spend and compete with best we would probably have to go with majority foriegners, how would everybody else feel about this ?[/quote]

 

Steady on mate now, competeing with the big 4 in the prem is abit of a dramatic statement to say the least. If all of this is true which I hope it is there''s still no guarantee that Callum can even be compared to someone like Abramovich in terms of what he did for his club. It''s one thing to have the money like he has his disposal and it''s another thing to invest ridiculas sums of money into a club to make them one of the best sides in the nation. Of course it would only be a good thing if Callum was to takeover Norwich, but you can''t expect us to be competeing with the big boys in the Premiership in the near future just because of this.

[Sing Up The South Stand 0]

[quote user="Cluck "]

Well JC....let''s hope you''re right.

The sooner the better perhaps before the kettle comes to the boil....although an astute investor may just wait until Smith is desperate to bail out.....thus lowering their asking price. Hence more for the club at a later date....and less in Smith''s purse. I just pray however that Smith and MJW are not given any influential or risidual role...as it time for them to leave....permanently. 

Even more reason to boycott Smith''s NCFC then if it may help bring about a radical and potentially exciting change soon.

[/quote]

I think, to be fair, she has done a bit for the club (albeit not as much as she likes everyone to think) so I don''t think it would be wrong to let her have a directors box seat for life.  But you''re right, I would only want that if they had virtually no influence.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="YellowIce"]if this happens i will eat my hat[/quote]

Me too!!

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

[quote user="YellowIce"]if this happens i will eat my hat[/quote]

Me too!!

[canary cherub 1]

[quote user="kdncfc"]I must admit it does all sound perfectly plausible and the most important factor for me is that there is actually a named person who is from Norwich and is a big Norwich fan, and  he obviously has the funds to do what needs to be done. If I had his money I''d be looking to do exactly the same thing rather than sit back and watch this club go down the pan. [/quote]

Quite so kdncfc.  Even leaving aside his interest in football, as a businessman he will be well aware that a successful football club is good for the local economy.

 

[gazzathegreat 0]

I am normally cynical when it comes to investment into our club, but something about this just (maybe I am dreaming) adds up.

Let''s hope it''s all correct. It would certainly be the making of this club. What could we achieve if we had the right backing, the right sort of business heads on board.

Please let it happen.

[T 190]

Well the money side of the story seems to be true based on this news story I found on a google for Towergate. Sounds as if he could fairly soon not only afford a new centre half but the 40m cash NCFC would need to buy the business and challenge the other clubs with wealthy investors/parachute payments. These private equity deals can happen pretty quickly. The only problem at the moment is that because of the sub-prime credit crunch the private equity houses can''t raise the debt to finance large deals. The problem with the debt market is a confidence problem rather than a structural problem so the deal could happen within a matter of months. At the end of the day money talks so I have no doubt Delia/MWJ would be happy to walk away as these opportunities do not happen often or take a nominal role. So the only question is whether he is interested enough in throw some money into the black hole of a football club. Given , the money side stacks up I would be interested to know what the evidence is that he is a Norwich City fan interested to invest in the club.

 

"Towergate, Britain''s largest private insurance firm, is considering a sale, raising the prospect of a £2bn windfall for founder and chairman Peter Cullum.

The company, based in Maidstone, Kent, has instructed its adviser Lexicon Partners to arrange a sale of all or part of the business, which bankers value at about £3bn. Cullum, 56, holds a 65% stake.

The plan to sell the group has been prompted by approaches from several major private equity firms.

It is understood Blackstone, Charterhouse, TA Associates and Candover have all shown an interest in the company, which has grown to become Europe''s largest independent insurance business through more than 100 acquisitions of smaller rivals.

Towergate provides personal and business insurance both direct and through agents. The company has about 3,500 UK employees at 100 locations.

The firm appointed former Norwich Union chairman Patrick Snowball as deputy chairman last month. Chief executive Andy Homer said that Lexicon, a top London advisory firm, was in active discussions on behalf of Towergate with a number of private equity groups. He stressed that all options were being considered and that talks were at an early stage.

''We will listen to all offers - for majority and minority stakes,'' Homer said. Homer, non-executive director Paul Dyer, sales and marketing director Tony Proverb, and mergers and acquisitions director Kenny Maciver, between them own 22% of the firm.

Cullum founded Towergate in 1997 after leaving his job as marketing director at specialist insurer Hiscox.

About 2,000 of the staff are in line for average windfalls of £45,000 through an employee share plan. Towergate reported earnings for 2006 of £94m on sales of £1.1bn"

[T 190]

same story from the telegraph website:

Peter Cullum, the founder and chairman of Towergate, Britain''s largest private insurance firm, could earn a staggering £2bn if the business pushes ahead with a mooted sale.

Selling his stake would catapult him to the top tiers of Britain''s rich-lists, joining sports retail entrepreneur Mike Ashley and supermarket aristocrat Lord Sainsbury.

The company is considering whether to sell all or part of the business after receiving a number of approaches from private equity firms. However, it has insisted that a potential buyer would have to pay at least £3bn to buy it in its entirety.

Mr Cullum, 56, has a 65pc stake in the company, partly through a series of trusts.

Private equity groups including Blackstone, Charterhouse and Candover are all understood to have shown interest in the business, which appointed former Norwich Union chairman Patrick Snowball as deputy chairman last month.

The insurance broking and underwriting group was valued at £1bn following a deal with two hedge funds as part of a refinancing last year, but directors feel its value has shot up since then, and one of the private equity groups is already thought to have offered close to £3bn.

The company has asked its adviser, Lexicon Partners, to arrange the potential sale.

Towergate has pulled off 128 deals in the past decade, growing from a three-man operation in 1997 to Europe''s biggest independent insurance intermediary with more than 3,000 staff and premiums of £1.5bn. It specialises in insurance of niche markets, particularly those outside London.

 

 

 

[Worsencroft 0]

Although the credibility of this story is in doubt Peter Cullum''s support of Norwich is not. It says on his company website that he was once a youth team player with the Canaries; "As a schoolboy he played for Norwich City, the team he still supports". http://www.towergatepartnership.co.uk/news/the-master-builder.aspx See bottom of the interview. Though there is no mention of possible future business ventures in football.