It seems that Sullivan is so desperately in love with the idea of owning West Ham that he isn't willing to part with a single penny to buy the club. I understand his logic - £45m of current debts plus money owed on transfers and the Tevez settlement do not make great reading on face value, but all businesses are geared to some extent.
If we look at the asset values of the club, then the playing staff must be worth a good £85m, which would clear all debts at a stroke, leaving the ground as a "gimme" asset should anybody wish to buy and turn the asset into hard cash. I reckon that Sullivan would pocket a profit of £40m should he get West Ham for nowt and sell the players before developing Upton Park into Barratt style apartments.
It is harder to see how West Ham is worth anything approximating to £100m as a going concern however. Working on the basis of £65m of committed debts, the club is hopelessly geared based on an operating turnover of less than £60m. I am not an accountant but I do understand that when your annual revenue barely covers your annual operating costs, then you don't want to be servicing a massive debt of £65m on top of that, especially when that debt will have to be renegotiated at some point, with penalty interest rates imposed because of the high risk rating that would apply.
Where does this take us? Into check mate it seems to me. C&B Holdings can sell players, repay the debt and then demand £45m from Sullivan for the club. January could be a very difficult month indeed!
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