Thetownend.com

Having spent the last couple of days trying to suss who the mystery new investor might be, i have a feeling that they might not be so new after all....Enter St.Modwen as the Knight on the charger.
Think about it..protecting their investment etc etc.
Expect an announcement on thur/fri, just shy of the deadline.
Scares me rigid if im right.
Had an interesting converstaion tonight in the pub with a couple of  old school supporter who, in their words have read between the lines, been there, seen it, and unless they(st.mods) are the ones, the club will fold.( Mick the greek..if i dont get my way, i will take the club down)
Considering St.Mods involvement with the Canal development at Hungerford, it might make sense...who owned the land upon which this development is taking place?..i dont know for sure, just putting 2 & 2 together.(Sir Seton?) I maybe way off the mark...
I had been thinking this anyway but did not want to make myself look a twat if i was wrong. Their(pub gents who have been going since the end of wwII) opinion backed up my original inclination.
Not in their(st.mods) best interests if the club folds.
Apparantly, we are paying just 6% on their initial investment per annum re: keeping the club going following the Shaw debacle, and that is why they have not fore-closed on the original development deal. This would allow the current incumbents to stay put!!!

I hope i am wrong, but im concerned. £900k to a multi-million pound business like St.Mods  is a drop in the ocean.(chippenham it is then!!)

Im praying i am wrong. To alah, god, buddha...you name it....

Millom

I can't see St Modwen bailing us out again. Yes, they do have £1.2 million to protect but as you've already said Millom, that's a drop in the ocean for them.

Plus it's a debenture anyway, so they must have some kind of surety up against the loan. Not sure what though.

To think the club has been dragged through all this, just for a few houses.  :doh:

Im thinking more in the way of them making money out of
A..a re-development of the cg....or
B... Chippenham.
I was quite pished when i wrote the first post last night and am probably clutching at straws, but hey ho.

Whats that coming over the hill is it an investor......

well the way the have been having a pop at SBC tends to suggest they are either on their way out or they have a Chippenham move up their sleeve. one would hope it's obviosuly the former of them options but it is an interesting thought that St Modwen could be the new invester. i still can't see it myself though

The Hungerford Marina site is owned and being developed by Shaw Park Developments which is joint venture between St Modwens and the Wills Family. The Wills are described as the vendor so I suspect that means they are the land owners.
I suppose if the collapse of STFC has a big enough knock on effect on the Wills it could effect this development  and then there is the possibility that the Wills could borrow more money from them against future profits from the development.
There again I'm pretty clueless on how big businesses work so have no idea on what is really possible here.

asda plans for a store at langley park [ part of the old westinghouse site] were regected this week .could this be the partener the board need to find another site around the outskirts of chippenham?

Are Shaw Park Developments a registered company.  If so, who are the directors?

I cant see any problem why the board cant tell us who they are especially if we dont take to them we have a right to know whos investing in our club we are all paying customers.

Yes. Directors are James Wills, Sandy Gray, Bob Holt plus three geezers from St Modwen - Charles Glossop, Stephen Burke and William (Bill?) Oliver.

If it is St Modwens then its hello Chippenham. The board would say we've tried negotiating with the Council and the relationship has broken down irretrievably.
One horrible thought running thruogh my head is something I read on another thread. That is if we fuck up on the CVA the total debt becomes payable. I must admit the more pissed i got last night the more i thuoght isn't that the kind of cuntish thing Diamandis would do - ie bring the club down with him and stick two fingers up to Bill Power at the same time by making the club unsellable.

And you think SSW would go along with that and lose millions?

They would still have the problem with the Football League sanctioning any move away from the Swindon conurbation.

yes they would. aren't new rules in place for that now after the whole Franchise/Wimbledon saga?

Thanks Paul, so three people directly involved with STFC are involved with Shaw Park, no wonder Sandy is never at her desk!!  Wasn't Shaw Park set up to develop just that, our new stadium at Shaw?

Yes they do. Don't forget it was not the FL who sanctioned the move, but an 'independent' panel, but the rules have certainly been tightened.

SPD was, yes.

But it's just like any other limited company - it can trade however and wherever it wants, unless specifically stated otherwise in the Memorandum and Articles of Association (which I would doubt).

Didnt they fall out with st modwens :?

Yes, hence the name. It's basically a shell company for the Joint Venture - it's primary purpose to date has been to act as an investment vehicle for SPDL (ie St Modwen) to put money into the FC/holding co.

So, if Shaw Park have successfully done a development in Hungerford, would that mean the profits for that could be ploughed into STFC and they could come out with our mystery investor - Shaw Park.

Theoretically yes but they haven't.

Someone on MoS reckons its a wealthy Australian and we'll hear more about it this week, reckon its bollocks myself

http://www.melsamba.com/images/ednaeverage.jpg

That's not the first time someone has posted a hint that an investor is being lined up next week and is foreign.

It's certainly going to be an interesting week one way or another.

Foreign!!!  After what Starnes said about an American!! :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Moving STFC to Newbury/Chippenham surely wont be allowed to happen. The board would fall short on virtually all the new, post Franchise criterior

The Football League has introduced new rules relating to clubs relocating grounds, ticket prices and ground sharing at its AGM in Chester.
The rule relating to clubs moving ground has been strengthened to include a list of criteria that the League's Board must be satisfied with before it would grant consent.
The new rule states that the Board must be satisfied that the granting of permission would be consistent with the objects of The League as set out in the Memorandum of Association;

would be appropriate having in mind the relationship (if any) between the locality with which by its name or otherwise the applicant Club is traditionally associated and that in which such Club proposes to establish its ground

would not adversely affect such Club's Officials, players, supporters, shareholders, sponsors and others having an interest in its activities

would not have an adverse effect on visiting Clubs

would not adversely affect Clubs having their registered grounds in the immediate vicinity of the proposed location

would enhance the reputation of The League and promote the game of association football generally

Nice.

Thanks mate.

:tea:

Its very wishy washy criteria though and probably full of loopholes, a good corporate lawyer (not Bowden) would easily be able to twist that to work out in their favour.