Thetownend.com

Gaaah! Let's get this sorted out shall we? Fitton et al have bought 75% of the shares in the football club from the holding co, NOT 75% of the holding co. That does not leave Wills/Diamandis still owning 25%, 23% etc. THEY ARE GONE, SOLD UP, THEY ARE EX-OWNERS, THEY HAVE CEASED TO BE (bangs parrot on counter in frustration).

 The remaining shares are owned by small shareholders, mainly individual fans. IIRC the largest block outside the Wills' 70+% was owned by Cliff Puffet and then Wendy Godwin, both of whom had significantly less than 10%.

All clear now?

Thats what I thought Paul.

Is a deal in place with ST Modwen that just needs signing off basically?

Crystal.

not really :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:






























 :wink:

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

As I understand it yes, pretty much. Likewise with HMRC, it's just a question of sorting out clearing the debt and getting the dosh transferred over. They're giving themselves some time to sort it out is all. Obviously if people still want to go round in sackcloth and ashes they're welcome to do, but I'm out on the piss after the game tomorrow to celebrate

so nothing else can go wrong then, excellant

From the adver site.

"The consortium, called Swindon Football Holdings Limited, has entered a conditional agreement to purchase 75 per cent of the club's shares, with former owners the Wills family expected to retain 23 per cent."

http://www.thisisswindontownfc.co.uk/display.var.1920716.0.a_new_dawn.php

I'm confused.

 :?

:beers:

Are there any potential stumbling blocks?   It all sounds suspicously positive to me now that Mikey D cant insert any more last minute clauses. In fact I know where he can insert his clause now, the cunt

Me to

that is what i was thinking it all meant.

Cheers Paul.

obviously people all think it can go through as quickly as other clubs but not all clubs are as fucked over as ours was.

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :beers:

The holding company owned 75% of the club. Fitton has bought that 75% from the holding company, the holding company now has no more shares in the club.

Wills senior still holds 23% of shares in the football club, he didn't have shares in the holding company.

Think the Adver might be in this case. Hadn't seen that, but it sounds like a confusion between ownership of the Holding Co (which Wills/Diamandis owned 100%) and the club (which they didn't).

According to its accounts, the holding company only had 70% of the shares in the club.

Perhaps the 75% figure is reached by buying out personal shareholdings from the likes of Carson, SSW?

It does sound like the Adver are getting confused between the club and the holding co (easily done) with the 23% thing. If they were doing the deal like that they would have to drop the contention that Power and Emmel own shares in the holding co.

I don't think he can have done Sam - Cliff Puffet and Wendy Godwin held about 10% of the club between them and there's several thousand small shareholders who amount to more than 2%

Cheers guys.

AS long as Mick the Greek hasn't got any, then I'm a happy boy.  8)

Thanks GR/Sam you've bloody confused me now - gaah, I'm back off to my happy cloud to celebrate (erm actually I'm going to go to work, but in a cheerful mood if that counts)

So does that mean that the holding Co will now be liquadated as it is no longer has any control over stfc.

With Fitton saying they wanted things put back where they should be I assume this means that development rights will go back to STFC rather than the new Swindon Holding Co ?

apart from your spelling! :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

I believe your assumption to be correct BUT to keep St Modwen sweet I believe they will be the preferred bidders on any development/redevelopment that the new co. decide on.  St Modwen have to approve that at their board meeting.

So do Wills and Diamandis still own 25% of the club then? Can some one please clarify this once and for all?

I'm confused.

I don't think Diamond owns any of it. Not sure if SSW still owns that 23% though but if he does it's irrelevant because Fitton has overall control anyway.  :D

This is Paul D's e-mail out to Trust members. Hope it clarifies it a bit :

I sat down yesterday evening to write what has become a depressing
 ritual - an email to Trust members to say that as the takeover was not yet
 complete, we would once again be calling on fans to join in protests
 against the board at the game on Saturday. And as usual, I put in the by
 now standard hope that this wouldn't prove necessary this particular
 Saturday. I didn't send the email immediately and I'm glad I didn't as a
 not very long after word started to filter through that the deal had
 been signed. And that meant that finally this Saturday, protests won't be
 necessary. This Saturday we can all once again go and watch a game of
 football without worrying how many more there will be. We can focus on
 the important matters (dodgy offside decisions, diving opposition
 forwards etc) without being distracted by the constant fear that our club is
 about to go down the plughole.

So let's enjoy it - let's turn Saturday's game into one big party in
 the stands. Ring up your mates who haven't been to a game for ages
 because of previous managers, the board and because they simply fell out of
 love with the club and the game. And tell them, we've got our club back.
 And we're going to celebrate it.

I know a lot of people still have some concerns over the term
 "conditional agreement" and understandably so - this is Swindon Town after all,
 surely we can't just expect to get good news without a nasty sting in
 the tail. Well, we certainly can't guarantee there won't be any more bad
 news - as I said, this IS Swindon Town, but as we understand it, the
 "conditions" on the agreement relate to issues still to be resolved with
 St Modwen and HMRC and we understand both are as keen to see the
 agreement stand as we are. This is, to all intents and purposes, a done
 deal. There's also been some confusion over exactly what has been bought
 from whom - to clarify, Andrew Fitton's consortium have bought a 75%
 shareholding in the club from the Holding Co - that does NOT leave the
 Wills and Mr Diamandis with the remaining 25% of the club, that 25% is
 owned by small shareholders, mainly individual fans. Andrew Fitton's
 consortium have complete control of the club.

The nightmare's over, the club is safe. It doesn't mean there won't be
 some rocky times ahead (who are we as mere Swindon Town fans to expect
 good times without some bumps?) but our club now has a future. Each and
 every Trust member has played a crucial part in securing that future
 and as a Trust board we'd like to thank you from the bottom of our
 hearts for the role you've played in that.

There's a lot of hard work to be done from here - make no mistake, the
 damage done runs deep and this club needs completely rebuilding from
 top to bottom. But we're confident that that's a challenge that the new
 owners, the fans and the loyal staff of the club will rise to. As a
 Trust, we look forward to working with the new owners to help rebuild the
 club and its relationship not just with the fans,  but with the town and
 the local community as a whole, local businesses, the council and
 wherever else we can help.

But for the moment, let's just enjoy some good news for once. Go to the
 game on Saturday with your head held high, proud to be a Town fan,
 drag your mates, family, work colleagues and anyone else you can lay your
 hands on along to the game and let's party. And back the lads all the
 way through the 90 minutes as only Swindon Town fans can - what better
 way to finally put a seal on all the worry and strife than with a
 well-earned victory?

I hope you and your family have a great Christmas - here's looking
 forward to a very much brighter future in the New Year.

With sincere thanks from everyone on the Trust board

Paul Davis
TrustSTFC
http://www.truststfc.co.uk/

PS If you do speak to any of the club staff over the next few weeks,
 please remember they've been through hell and high water in recent years
 - not knowing when or if they would get paid, not knowing whether
 they'd have a job. But they've stuck with it and have served the club
 loyally, despite everything (usually including their bosses). They deserve
 all our praise and gratitude for their loyalty and perseverance. So if
 you do speak to any of the staff, say thanks and give 'em a big hug!