Milan said he will spend 9million in the next 15 months, although some of this may not go to transfer funds.
I'LL SPEND £9M
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BY ANDY MANN
WWW.THEBLUEARMY.CO.UK
10:15 - 14 February 2007
Milan Mandaric will plough a minimum of £9million into Leicester City over the next 15 months, according to chairman Jim McCahill.
The money is to be invested in the playing squad and capital costs, papers lodged with the Stock Exchange have revealed.
In his statement to the Stock Exchange, McCahill said: "Through the proposals that Milan Mandaric has submitted, the investor will inject a minimum of £9m over an initial 15 month period; a significant investment and one that should be considered against the background of the £2.2m raised from new investors and rights issues in the near four years since the club emerged from administration and the absence of any other concrete proposals to take the club forward.
"The board believes that, with Milan Mandaric's backing, Leicester City Football Club will again be able to challenge for promotion to the Premier League."
This comes after a landmark day for the club, when Mandaric's £25m-plus takeover was finally completed after months of negotiations.
At yesterday's historic press conference, when Mandaric was unveiled as the club's new owner, he revealed that he had spoken to former Charlton manager Iain Dowie but insisted that City boss Robert Kelly was very much a part of his future plans.
The Stock Exchange papers, which are available to the public, also show that Mandaric will pay shareholders an initial 10p per share.
He will then pay another 40p per share if City are promoted to the Premiership within the next three seasons, starting with the 2007/08 campaign. A further 50p will be due to shareholders if City survive a first season in the top flight.
Almost 6.4 million shares at £1 each have been issued since City came out of administration in 2003.
So far Mandaric has received irrevocable undertakings in favour of his bid from 94 per cent of shareholders, amounting to 6,024,476 shares.
He has received undertakings from former chairman Andrew Taylor and ex-director Greg Clarke, who resigned from the board at the same time over the takeover, as well as former players Gary Lineker and Emile Heskey.
However, James Johnson, the first director to resign from the board over the deal, has not agreed to sell his shares.
It effectively means Mandaric is initially paying shareholders around £600,000 to take control of the club.
However, as well as the promise of £9m worth of investment, he will also take on the Walkers Stadium debt of £17.7m.
The papers also reveal that City made a loss of £3.6m in the six months to November 30 compared to a £120,000 loss on the same period in 2005 and a £1.6m profit in the financial year ending in May 2006. Figures from the start of December are not revealed.
Shareholders will also receive two season tickets while Mandaric remains the majority shareholder.
At his Walkers Stadium press conference yesterday, Mandaric declined to comment on the financial package agreed with shareholders.
But he said they had put the club before themselves.
"I don't think it's about how much I paid for the club," he said.
"Shareholders put the club first before their demands. They are not going to get very rich off this.
"It was important that I give financial support to the club."
He also said he would look into three options regarding the stadium debt - those of paying it off outright, refinancing it or continuing with the current arrangement.
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