Rights Issue

[Bogus Dave]

Think he's a cheltenham fan now

[Bob's Orange]

Where is Fatters he hasn't been on here in ages?

He was at the match on Saturday. Talking of Saturday and changing subject completely I was quite pleased to not hear very much moaning at the top of the DR. I normally hear Fatbury whinging like a girl but even he was fairly quiet. Although he did leave before the end. Even that bloke with the long blonde hair and his mates were very reserved.

[Samdy Gray]

Think he's a cheltenham fan now

And Arsenal. And Ebsfleet. And Celtic.

He was in The Merlin on Saturday.

[Power to people]

They also want to create 10,000,000 unallocated new shares for future investment

[iffy]

They also want to create 10,000,000 unallocated new shares for future investment

Pretty standard. You issue more so you don't have to go through the admin of issuing them again. That way you've got them on hand if one of us wins the lottery and wants to dump in a million quid.

[Simon Pieman]

You mean they're going to authorise more? Probably a fair way to put some more investment into the club later down the line.

[Simon Pieman]

Having read the capital consolidation and rights issue letter I can't help but feel a little miffed. I'm sure Fitton sold the idea at the AGM in quite the same way.

I certainly can't afford £100 to remain a shareholder. Oh well.

[jonny72]

Having read the capital consolidation and rights issue letter I can't help but feel a little miffed. I'm sure Fitton sold the idea at the AGM in quite the same way. I certainly can't afford £100 to remain a shareholder. Oh well.

Is there any benefit from being a shareholder any more?

Fitton is pretty open with things and information spreads round quickly and easily thanks to the interweb. What are the benefits of remaining a shareholder, are there any other than being able to say you're a shareholder? I've lost track of the number of shares I've got but I'm pretty certain I'll be left with some after the consolidation, I won't be putting any more money in and wouldn't be buying shares if I was left with none.

The only thing that concerns me a bit about the new shares they're creating is that it appears they can sell them to whoever they want, whenever they want and at whatever price they want. So initially there will be 2m shares sold at £1 each and potentially they could issue 10m more shares at 1p each if they wanted. Which puts me off even more from putting more money in.

[ahounsell]

Is there any benefit from being a shareholder any more?

Fitton is pretty open with things and information spreads round quickly and easily thanks to the interweb.

The current board are pretty open but they wont be the club board for ever. There remains the possibility that future boards will not be so open.

I suspect the main reason for most small shareholders to buy shares is to help the club. The main benefit is being entitled to attend the AGM and hear from the board first hand. Yes you can probably read a report of the AGM afterwards, but its never going to be the same as being there in person and having the opportunity to raise points yourself.

The large number of new shares is a concern, but the ability to create and issue large numbers of shares exists with or without this resolution, this just makes it quicker and easier. (A huge increase in the number of issued shares was how the Fitton takeover was effected, which had the effect of diluting existing shareholdings.)

Probably for most small shareholders, there wont be any practical advantage to participating in the rights issue. It will just come down to if they can afford it and do they want to help the club financially.

[pauld]

Having read the capital consolidation and rights issue letter I can't help but feel a little miffed. I'm sure Fitton sold the idea at the AGM in quite the same way.

I certainly can't afford £100 to remain a shareholder. Oh well.

I can and probably will but I'm not surprised you feel miffed and I'm sure other small shareholders will as well. They were pretty open that you might need to "make up" the difference in share values (the example given was 1p->10p but I don't think 1p->£1 is too big a burden) but there was no mention of a minimum subscription. A lot of people who've bought or been bought single shares or maybe 5-10 for sentimental reasons or just so they can feel part of their club are not going to have 100 quid spare at a few weeks' notice and will feel pushed out by this.

I understand the need to rationalise the share register but it's disappointing there couldn't have been some effort put into making some accomodation for existing shareholders by allowing them to, for example, upgrade on a like-for-like basis rather than forcing everyone into the £100 minimum subscription. Even a compromise of maybe a £10 minimum sub for existing small shareholders would have allowed many more people to remain as shareholders than will be the case now

[jonny72]

I understand the need to rationalise the share register but it's disappointing there couldn't have been some effort put into making some accomodation for existing shareholders by allowing them to, for example, upgrade on a like-for-like basis rather than forcing everyone into the £100 minimum subscription. Even a compromise of maybe a £10 minimum sub for existing small shareholders would have allowed many more people to remain as shareholders than will be the case now

It costs money for a company to manage its shareholders - processing payments for shares, issuing share certificates, handling share sales and transfers, maintaining the share holder register, sending out company paperwork, agm costs and so on. If they set the minimum subscription at £10, it would cost the club more than that in the first year alone - do you think its right that the club foots the bill to enable people to own a share of the club?

Part of the problem is the previous boards allowing the shareholdings / shareholders to get in to such a mess and allowing people to own a very small number of shares (which they actually encouraged / caused at one point).

[pauld]

It costs money for a company to manage its shareholders - processing payments for shares, issuing share certificates, handling share sales and transfers, maintaining the share holder register, sending out company paperwork, agm costs and so on. If they set the minimum subscription at £10, it would cost the club more than that in the first year alone - do you think its right that the club foots the bill to enable people to own a share of the club?

All fair points, although I think the numbers involved wouldn't be huge, so any costs would likely be minimal. Although I don't know whether that's the case, if there would be a substantial cost, the point becomes more pertinent.

Part of the problem is the previous boards allowing the shareholdings / shareholders to get in to such a mess and allowing people to own a very small number of shares (which they actually encouraged / caused at one point).

Along with everything else Like I say, I understand the need to rationalise the mess they've inherited, just feel it's a little disappointing for some of the small shareholders they couldn't have been accommodated at a less prohibitive price, is all.

[jonny72]

All fair points, although I think the numbers involved wouldn't be huge, so any costs would likely be minimal. Although I don't know whether that's the case, if there would be a substantial cost, the point becomes more pertinent.

The club needs to stop losing money and be run like a business rather than a charity. The shares changes might not save much money but it all helps and more importantly it all adds up. Even if it only saves £5k a year, if you save that amount in 10 areas over 5 years you've saved £250k.

I think some kind of savings plan would be a good idea - pay £10 or more a month during the season (July through April) then they get converted in to shares at the end of the season. Maybe give a discount of £10 to season ticket holders so they get £100 worth for £90.

[michael]

So, using my GCSE maths expertise, with 2,000,000 shares being sold at GBP1.00 each, potential income from this is GBP2,000,000.

What will that money be used for?

[Batch]

Having read the capital consolidation and rights issue letter I can't help but feel a little miffed. I'm sure Fitton sold the idea at the AGM in quite the same way.

I certainly can't afford £100 to remain a shareholder. Oh well.

Ditto. That is all.