Ok, now the positive spin is that we have been sold to Staumer. But that, I'm afraid, is straight out of the "New Labour Book Of Lies, Correction Spin"! What has, in fact, happened, is that Staumer have taken control of West Ham in the same way as a bank takes ownership of your house if you default on your mortgage.
All very well you might say, until you appreciate that Staumer are themselves a bankrupt bank, operating from the base of a bankrupt nation which, itself, is clinging on to the coat-tails of a bankrupt World economy. Somewhere in that great sea of debt, the Not So Good Ship West Ham is bobbing around in the midst of a perfect storm. Remember that scene from the film when they all smile, thinking the worst is over - then comes the wall of water?
What worries me most is that term "Asset Management Group". Now, what do "Asset Management Groups" specialise in? Asset stripping. Show me an Asset Management Group that cares for anything other than realising the greatest possible profit in the shortest possible time and I will show you a pot in Newcastle's trophy cabinet! From now on, the West Ham project is going to be about maximising the return on selling the club. And the problem with that? If more money can be made by closing down "the brand", then the "brand" will cease to exist.
So if anybody sees a helicopter flying over Upton Park in the next few weeks, blow it out of the sky; because it might just be Barratt assessing the value of the land for future residential development.
Faustus sold his soul for an extension of his youth. The pact we signed for our tilt at Champions League qualification may yet carry the heaviest price of all. And we were worried about Tevez!
9 comments:
Drama Queen!
Shit, what kind of drugs have you been taking getting so paranoid??
You negative thoughts can easilly be changed for idéas of a more positive nature.
No way that you can see that this group will manage its asset (he club) in the best possible way for it to be sold at a price of around £200+ millions in a two or three years time?
I must admit for the first few seconds of Reading the news headlines, I thought great news the club's been sold - then realised the reality... If it wasn't my own club it would be funny - a bankrupt owner being taken over by a bankrupt equity group who were taken over by a bankrupt government in a bankrupt country.....
And people were slating me for wishing the sheiks or Americans would buy the club....
"like my dreams they...."
Absolutely right to be sceptical but perhaps a little pessimistic. West Ham will always be worth more as a going concern than husk. It's not true that all asset management firms asset strip;if it was, there would be no asset management firms left as all assets would have been stripped. At least our owners operate within a regulatory structure, which given the disaster of the last 18 months is perhaps more eagled eyed and fit for purpose than in the past. Much rather an accountable professional board that must publish accounts, that have to behave within a legal framework, than a 'here today, gone tomorrow', Sugar Daddy or posse of 'businessmen' who load the club with more debt in a leveraged buyout a la Hicks/Gillette
Asset management companies don't necessarily specialise in asset stripping at all.
Or maybe they want us to do well and reach Europe and then sell to an Asian trillionaire for £150m.
I hope I am wrong. I HOPE I am wrong. I HOPE I am WRONG. I HOPE I AM WRONG. Doesn't matter how much I hope I am wrong, it remains a possibility. But I hope I am wrong!
Hammersfan - I hope you are wrong also but here's some facts for you to ponder on.
The largest shareholder in Straumur with 35%, is Samson Global Holdings unless they have recently sold their shares. Samson Global Holdings (not to be confused with the Samson Holdings that went bust) is one of BG and his son Thor's holding companies.
Straumur are 70% owners of CB Holdings with 30% being owned by other banks. CB Holdings own the majority of West Ham shares which means someone still has a percentage ownership. BG reportedly bought Eggies 5% so maybe he personally still owns that?
By my reckoning, BG & son's 35% of Straumur, equates to 24.5% of West Ham plus 5% could make them 29.5% owners of West Ham still!
I think history will show that BG and his son still have a very substantial investment in West Ham and will benefit themselves when we eventually get sold!
Billbanksy
all sounds good to me!....west ham sound like they will have a summer transfer kitty of 36 quid lol....then take into account the players who have been released and a rather depleted 1st team squad...a big pot of shit is brewing at west ham!...you will struggle massively next season.
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