David Sullivan may target Leicester

[Spanky Fox]

David Sullivan warns West Ham he will only buy the club at a knockdown price

David Sullivan has told West Ham he will only pay a knockdown fee for the club due to the Hammers’ crippling debts of £100million.
Essex-based tycoon Sullivan, 60, is close to getting around £25m from Carson Yeung as part of the Hong Kong businessman’s £80m takeover of Birmingham.
Sullivan is keen to reinvest the money in another football club and has already drawn up a list of possible sides to buy - with the Hammers at the top.
West Ham’s owners CB Holdings, an off-shoot of Icelandic bank Straumur, which took over after the collapse of Landsbanki, are willing to sell.


Yet Sullivan, who bought Birmingham in 1993 with the Gold brothers, is reluctant to pay much for the Upton Park club due to their astonishing debts.
Mirror Sport can reveal West Ham have a huge list of creditors, who must all be paid, with the Hammers owing:
*£45m to several different banks.
*£19m to Sheffield United over the out-of-court settlement for the Carlos Tevez affair.
*£15m to other clubs after signing various players from them.
*Plus the Hammers are also running at a loss of £20m this year after recording an operating loss of £33.6m for the financial year ending May 2008.
Sullivan hopes to get his cash from Yeung next week as it takes five days to transfer funds after a takeover goes unconditional, which should happen today.
Sullivan is expected to link-up again with outgoing Brum MD Karren Brady and David Gold at his next club.
Gold is willing to stay at Birmingham in the short-term as he needs a club if he is to keep his place in the FA set-up.
But his Birmingham contract details he must be paid £140,000-a-year if Yeung wants to keep him as an ambassador.
If Sullivan fails to buy West Ham other targets include Norwich, Ipswich, Cardiff, Leicester and Charlton.

I was not sure if i should start a new thread if there is something related to this topic please move it there mods. Thanks!!

 

[alex]

Charlton would be a sound investment IMO.

 

[RHYDAL]

Charlton would be a sound investment IMO.

Why?

 

[The Major]

If he does buy us the programmes should become more interesting.

 

[Biff]

Why?

Buy low, sell high.

Its the same principle with every investment.

 

[alex]

What Biff said.

 

[Dour]

The price for Charlton was £20-30 million last year, I think. Given where they are, I doubt it will be much less.

 

[alex]

I can't see any other of the clubs mentioned being any cheaper?

 

[RHYDAL]

I can't see any other of the clubs mentioned being any cheaper?

But some of the other clubs have the potential to go to the Prem next season. Surely that is a more attractive proposition?

 

[Kingy_85]

Hmmm, i think the paper has just thrown a few names in there to be honest.

 

[alex]

But some of the other clubs have the potential to go to the Prem next season. Surely that is a more attractive proposition?

One is already there.

Charlton have the facilities and would be cheaper than the others, that's my entire thinking on the situation really, if you took Charlton to the Prem therefore you would make more money.

 

[RHYDAL]

One is already there.

Charlton have the facilities and would be cheaper than the others, that's my entire thinking on the situation really, if you took Charlton to the Prem therefore you would make more money.

And is crippled despite that. And is no stranger to relegation either which would be a disaster financially.

The other two (Ipswich have no chance realistically) can only currently quote crowds in the low 20k region, but have the potential to massively increase all their revenue streams.

As far as Charlton goes....I'm out.

 

[alex]

Don't get your reasoning there - football is largely unpredicatble, it's more about whether you would gamble on a club like Charlton who must be cheaper than Ipswich or us or West Ham and with as good as if not better facilities.

 

[Polar Bear]

David Sullivan is an intellectual powerhouse and very quick-thinking, as Chris Morris found out...

classic Brass Eye

 

[Dour]

Don't get your reasoning there - football is largely unpredicatble, it's more about whether you would gamble on a club like Charlton who must be cheaper than Ipswich or us or West Ham and with as good as if not better facilities.

What was our club sold for, again? And given the additional debt, you'd have thought it'd be worth even less, now.

 

[RHYDAL]

Don't get your reasoning there - football is largely unpredicatble, it's more about whether you would gamble on a club like Charlton who must be cheaper than Ipswich or us or West Ham and with as good as if not better facilities.

Charlton have lesser facilities than you in terms of capacity, and only marginally better than ours. Additionally, they do not have the team to make a push for the Prem without another significant investment in the management and players, even assuming they get out of League One.

Not sure how unpredictable football is given that the same 4 teams have finished in the top 4 places for the last 4 years running, but why add to the unpredictability by selecting a team who needs to be promoted twice, has an estimated £40m debt and needs further substantial investment in manpower to get into a position to see a return on his cash, when better placed teams could be available at a not significantly higher price.

Of course we're both guessing what that price might be so therein lies the crux. Personally, if I had an estimated £500m fortune (plus whatever the Brum sale brings), I'd not be looking at Charlton.

 

[Redditch Fox]

What was our club sold for, again? And given the additional debt, you'd have thought it'd be worth even less, now.

Don't come on here talking sense please - it disturbs people!

LCFC was bought by MM for next to nothing because it was broke and deeply in debt. I would have thought not much has changed since the sale except the financial underpinning by MM. So it would be sold off very cheaply indeed.

 

[tedfoxxx]

If he does buy us the programmes should become more interesting.

A pre match bongo mag would be a better use of 3 quid.

 

[alex]

I suppose I am amazed that a purchase of Charlton Athletic in their current position would be as expensive, or more than us? If they were cheaper, then I think that represents good value potentially; they have a good set-up, a good young squad also.
Perhaps if we're that cheap, then we are most definitely the stronger option.

 

[Brauny Blue]

I'd welcome a new owner.

Mandy bailed us out of the poo, which is something to be grateful for, but i dont believe he can take us much further.