ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by bobinho » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:22 am

ewanrob wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 4:24 pm
"They could increase turnover of the company by"....hopefully not doubling season ticket prices.....yikes could you imagine the fallout if that happened
Too right I could... I remember the furore when the price of Twix went up....
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by NewClaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:26 am

arise_sir_charge wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 8:34 pm
A quick read of this thread will reassure you as we apparently have in excess of £200m of assets that the lawyer and Egyptian were lining up to strip.

On a serious note, we’d have easily raised money. It may have left us short on the field but to suggest we’d have gone bust is pure nonsense.

Sproggy has taken a little stick on this thread but the premise of what he is saying is right and I think I said something similar in the first few pages.

Our MO in the last ten years has been a sort of “next cab off the rank policy. Have the sellable asset but have someone ready in the squad to step in.

It’s that that we need to get back to so that when someone waves £40m at us for Tarks we can take it knowing we’ve our next budding star ready to step in etc etc.

If ALK can achieve that I’ll be happy.
Completely agree with this mate.

Had we invested *some* of the money saved we wouldn’t have gone bust. It might’ve created a hairier and more worrying time, accepted, but we’d have found a way.

What we do have now is a scenario where we can’t really let Tarks or Dwight leave because there is literally nobody anywhere close to being a capable replacement. I’d say there’s only the GK and striking positions where you could say we had able replacements - defence and midfield really lack anyone coming through.

In fatness it’s left ALK in a fantastic position. Probably very few payments to make on the existing squad and a good number of players ooc next year if they want to change things.

Here’s hoping ALK strengthen quickly and we can move forward.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by fatboy47 » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:27 am

dandeclaret wrote:
Fri Nov 27, 2020 9:26 am
I don't understand the strength of disdain pointed towards the current board. A board that have delivered massive results for the club (Often put down to them being lucky, but it's at times like this I think of the Gary Player quote) over a period of years, improved the facilities for players and fans, increased the quality of the playing side, and delivered the most successful period in my lifetime. If they feel they have hit the ceiling that the very successful business model they have put in place can deliver, and are finding suitable owners to give the club a chance of evolving further and going forwards, then I would say we should be thanking them massively for their period as custodians, not be "Glad to see the back of them". I think that's disrespectful and hugely unfair.

Hmmm... Good post, and I hope it represents the reality.

A cynic, however, might suggest that with a hefty wedge of unspent dry powder under the mattress, very saleable assets on the playing staff and the clear value of a Premier League place at this time, a sale represents Garlick et al's only clear path to trousering the clubs current worth without being seen to be milking the club from within.
As the site editor suggested, they're businessmen first, and any significant money invested in players this summer would no doubt have lessened the asking price.

I can definitely catch a whiff of Rovers fans naivety when the Venky takeover was imminent.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by bobinho » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:40 am

It’s the word “investment” that worries me.

Some big conglomerate wants to “invest” in the club. That’s great, but what do they mean, what do they ACTUALLY mean by “invest”?

They are businessmen, which means at some point they are going to want to see a return on whatever amount it is they are putting in. Not EVERY club can become Man City. Clubs like Burnley have less chance of that than most others... so what’s in it for them? Where does the return come from? We don’t have the global product or identity, the financial clout and the pulling power of Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool, so throwing £200m at us may see us secure the services of one or two championship midfielders, but not Serie A players. Mbappe won’t be coming... neither will Messi.

I’m from Burnley and I love it, but you can’t polish a turd. There needs to be MASSIVE success for there to be any sort of return, and they’d know that before putting their money in. We are what we are and saying our club is an investment opportunity doesn’t make any sense to me.
So where does the return come from? I really can’t see it. How much is the ground worth? How much is Barnfield worth and our academy? I can only see an asset stripping exercise. Yep, I know MG isn’t the future, but what we don’t know worries me more than what we do. As for going along for the ride... sounds very ominous.
Looks like somethings going to happen, I hope it’s a good thing. But it’s still only hope, and I think we have done too much and worked too hard to rely on hope.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by bfcmik » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:56 am

Vegas Claret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:06 am
they could increase turnover by lowering the prices and filling the stands
With the small amount of empty home seats over the course of a season they may be able to reduce prices by as much as £1.50 per season ticket and break even on the deal. Burnley's average attendance is massive compared to the local population - no other PL club comes anywhere close so it is unlikely that there is a much of an untapped supporter base to increase attendances as a result of lower entry costs.

I would expect a 10% rise in season ticket prices next season rather than any reduction or price freeze.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by arise_sir_charge » Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:10 am

bobinho wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:40 am
It’s the word “investment” that worries me.

Some big conglomerate wants to “invest” in the club. That’s great, but what do they mean, what do they ACTUALLY mean by “invest”?

They are businessmen, which means at some point they are going to want to see a return on whatever amount it is they are putting in. Not EVERY club can become Man City. Clubs like Burnley have less chance of that than most others... so what’s in it for them? Where does the return come from? We don’t have the global product or identity, the financial clout and the pulling power of Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool, so throwing £200m at us may see us secure the services of one or two championship midfielders, but not Serie A players. Mbappe won’t be coming... neither will Messi.

I’m from Burnley and I love it, but you can’t polish a turd. There needs to be MASSIVE success for there to be any sort of return, and they’d know that before putting their money in. We are what we are and saying our club is an investment opportunity doesn’t make any sense to me.
So where does the return come from? I really can’t see it. How much is the ground worth? How much is Barnfield worth and our academy? I can only see an asset stripping exercise. Yep, I know MG isn’t the future, but what we don’t know worries me more than what we do. As for going along for the ride... sounds very ominous.
Looks like somethings going to happen, I hope it’s a good thing. But it’s still only hope, and I think we have done too much and worked too hard to rely on hope.
Just read that back to yourself and think about if it actually makes any sense......if nothing is worth anything, why would anyone pay £200m for it to ‘asset strip’ it?

I understand a fear of the unknown but talk of asset stripping is ludicrous.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by jtv » Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:15 am

fatboy47 wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:27 am
As the site editor suggested, they're businessmen first, and any significant money invested in players this summer would no doubt have lessened the asking price.
Why? The reduction in bank balance would surely have been offset by an increase in squad value.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Dark Cloud » Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:22 am

jtv wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:15 am
Why? The reduction in bank balance would surely have been offset by an increase in squad value.
Plus, had we been sitting in 10th or 11th place right now, we might have been worth more, rather than looking like we might have overstayed our welcome and the trap door is open.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by cricketfieldclarets » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:10 am

Vegas Claret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:06 am
they could increase turnover by lowering the prices and filling the stands
We already sell out though.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by cricketfieldclarets » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:11 am

Vegas Claret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:06 am
they could increase turnover by lowering the prices and filling the stands
Fwiw tickets sales are probably a fraction of our income while we stay at this level.

That said if we go from an average of £10 a game even just to £20 that’s almost half a million a game.

But there’s a lot of opportunities for this club in the overseas market. Even while fans can’t attend but even more so when they can.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by gandhisflipflop » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:14 am

Page 84
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by cricketfieldclarets » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:15 am

One thing worth noting. A couple of the alk capital partners are ‘property developers / real estate’.

Make of that what you will.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by jedi_master » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:19 am

With the greatest of respect to my hometown here, I don’t think the land at Turf Moor would be worth very much for a housing/apartment development.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by NewClaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:24 am

bfcmik wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:56 am
With the small amount of empty home seats over the course of a season they may be able to reduce prices by as much as £1.50 per season ticket and break even on the deal. Burnley's average attendance is massive compared to the local population - no other PL club comes anywhere close so it is unlikely that there is a much of an untapped supporter base to increase attendances as a result of lower entry costs.

I would expect a 10% rise in season ticket prices next season rather than any reduction or price freeze.
Hopefully any new owners will be bright enough to realise that prices have to stay low, particularly given what will be a harsh economic backdrop. Plus, I’d imagine there will be some work to do to convince fans back to the Turf when it finally reopens.

I see your point around attendances vs population mate, but I do think there’s an opportunity for the club to market themselves wider than they do currently. There are large conurbations in every direction from Burnley and I don’t think they do much to market the club in these areas and drag in perhaps the more neutral spectators to make them fans. BFCitC is also very Burnley-focussed to my knowledge and could perhaps spread the net wider.

I read somewhere that Blackburn used to put busses to ship Lancaster Uni students down to matches. Might be untrue, and not suggesting we go that far, but while we have something that very few other local areas can offer - Premier League football - I’d like to see us doing more to market the club.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Clarets4me » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:27 am

jedi_master wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:19 am
With the greatest of respect to my hometown here, I don’t think the land at Turf Moor would be worth very much for a housing/apartment development.
The same as Ewood Park ..... unless it's being used as a Football Ground, it's worthless ! The costs of demolition and clearance of either site would wipe out any likely profit from a housing development ...

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by NewClaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:31 am

jedi_master wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:19 am
With the greatest of respect to my hometown here, I don’t think the land at Turf Moor would be worth very much for a housing/apartment development.
Maybe some housing/apartments in part of the land could help fund a redeveloped Turf Moor though?

To cricketfields point, and maybe this was what DJW was getting at, the regeneration needs and cheap land Burnley may make it an attractive proposition as a club to those wanting to invest more broadly in the area?

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by MACCA » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:32 am

jtv wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:15 am
Why? The reduction in bank balance would surely have been offset by an increase in squad value.
Not if they were like the majority of recent signings, their value usually drops heavily after 6 months when they're usually injured ( if they didnt arrive injured that is ) or not kicked a ball for 6 months...

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by steve1264b » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:35 am

There was a bus from lancaster uni every home game (to the turf). Full of chinese students.

There is a market there, one of the first things all chinese students do is visit utd.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by cricketfieldclarets » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:36 am

jedi_master wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:19 am
With the greatest of respect to my hometown here, I don’t think the land at Turf Moor would be worth very much for a housing/apartment development.
True. But might be worth more with planning permission etc than what it would cost to relocate.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by cricketfieldclarets » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:41 am

NewClaret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:31 am
Maybe some housing/apartments in part of the land could help fund a redeveloped Turf Moor though?

To cricketfields point, and maybe this was what DJW was getting at, the regeneration needs and cheap land Burnley may make it an attractive proposition as a club to those wanting to invest more broadly in the area?
Also true. Would cost next to nothing to build some ‘luxury’ apartments on and around the stadium. Especially via barnfield. Perhaps now while no footfall would be a good opportunity with minimal disturbance.

And how many local people would want to buy affordable quality flats next to the stadium!? I’m guessing quite a few.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Paul Waine » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:42 am

cricketfieldclarets wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:15 am
One thing worth noting. A couple of the alk capital partners are ‘property developers / real estate’.

Make of that what you will.
From LinkedIn: ALK Capital is a high-caliber team of professionals with decades of experience in senior operating roles involved in investment, risk management, business operations, and high-profile turnarounds.

Specializing in acquisition and operations of modern sports, media, and entertainment assets, and related technologies, ALK Capital combines its diverse expertise, experience, and creativity with its investor network to drive growth and maximize business potential while building sustainable companies and value.

You can check out one of our first investments, AIScout here: https://www.aiscout.io

LinkedIn lists following 4 staff:

Alan Pace, Managing Partner - US;
John Dewey, COO - US;
Michael Smith, Executive Partner - US;
Russell Ball, Management Team - Guildford.

Russell Ball is an experienced property and real estate expert with over 25 years in the prime central London property market.

He has worked with private, corporate, and commercial clients throughout his career and is an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Russell has established and sold market two leading real estate businesses in central London and has been involved in many high-level turnarounds and acquisitions.

Sport, and in particular football, remains one of Russell's biggest passions and he is a key part of sports management group ALK Capital.

Earliest footballing memories are of watching Brighton & Hove Albion at the Goldstone Ground in the mid-late 1980s & following them to the FA cup final in at Wembley in 1983. He still plays 7-a-side every Tuesday.

****************
We could argue, based on his LinkedIn profile, that one ALK Capital's management team has significant experience as a football fan. I'm not sure that his previous experience in selling "prime central London property" is the reason why ALK is interested in Burnley.

UTC

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Claret Till I Die » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:45 am

Build on the cricket pitch and relocate them up Towneley

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by scouseclaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:46 am

NewClaret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:24 am
Hopefully any new owners will be bright enough to realise that prices have to stay low, particularly given what will be a harsh economic backdrop. Plus, I’d imagine there will be some work to do to convince fans back to the Turf when it finally reopens.

I see your point around attendances vs population mate, but I do think there’s an opportunity for the club to market themselves wider than they do currently. There are large conurbations in every direction from Burnley and I don’t think they do much to market the club in these areas and drag in perhaps the more neutral spectators to make them fans. BFCitC is also very Burnley-focussed to my knowledge and could perhaps spread the net wider.

I read somewhere that Blackburn used to put busses to ship Lancaster Uni students down to matches. Might be untrue, and not suggesting we go that far, but while we have something that very few other local areas can offer - Premier League football - I’d like to see us doing more to market the club.
I’ve always thought the population v attendance thing is a bit misleading. Burnley might be small town but there are lots of other small towns in the area, and weve always drawn support from up the Rossendale valley and into West Yorkshire.

I do think, that there is an opportunity to appeal to younger fans who’ve grown up gravitating to the big city clubs but would like to get off their arses and go to a game. You can’t just buy a season ticket or even a match ticket, for Liverpool or Man U, To do that effectively though, we’d need a bigger ground.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by gandhisflipflop » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:48 am

Maybe ALK see Burnley as a gateway to the north.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Jimmymaccer » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:54 am

I’d hate it if Turf Moor were to go and a new stadium built just off the motorway.........I love the fact TM is in town......it’s not perfect but neither am I these days...thank heavens we don’t have the crowd trouble of the 70’s and 80’s, which means the town benefits from fans from both teams these days.....maybe a deal with the cricket club could be done and the CF stand replaced with something which could also act as a dual purpose facility fir the cricket...
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by summitclaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:56 am

Dark Cloud wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 8:22 am
Plus, had we been sitting in 10th or 11th place right now, we might have been worth more, rather than looking like we might have overstayed our welcome and the trap door is open.
Exactly.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Dark Cloud » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:59 am

I fear some may be getting ahead of themselves. We haven't been taken over yet, we haven't therefore seen any new investment in the team and that means talk of ground developments, ticket pricing and all that paraphernalia is way, way down the line somewhere. The most immediate priority is actually staying in the PL, as falling out of it right now would be a total disaster and would almost certainly mean any plans owners may have are seriously rained back. And I suspect that staying in the PL this season with the start we got, is going to be SD's biggest magic trick.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by NewClaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:01 am

summitclaret wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:56 am
Exactly.
Plus plus, any players we’d bought may have helped us to a higher league position and paid for themselves!

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by BleedingClaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:01 am

If the proposed take over isn’t given a deadline day of its own, which falls before the January transfer window opens then we will go into that in limbo, the inertia caused by that will mean no reinforcements and we are likely, not certain, but likely to go down.
Dyche will go, the takeover is unlikely to materialise but the anticipation of it that has lead to the infighting that in turn has lead to no proactive leadership that will be the main reason for our demise.
I would doubt that we’d ever return to the top flight in these circumstances
We’ll be catching Bolton up at this rate.
Last edited by BleedingClaret on Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Hapag Lloyd » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:04 am

arise_sir_charge wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:10 am
Just read that back to yourself and think about if it actually makes any sense......if nothing is worth anything, why would anyone pay £200m for it to ‘asset strip’ it?

I understand a fear of the unknown but talk of asset stripping is ludicrous.
“Investors” invest to get a return on their money, if this doesn’t happen then assets will be sold in order for them to recoup their original investment.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by FactualFrank » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:09 am

Hapag Lloyd wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:04 am
“Investors” invest to get a return on their money, if this doesn’t happen then assets will be sold in order for them to recoup their original investment.
arise_sir_charge is replying to the poster referring to investing for the sole purpose of asset stripping. Not asset stripping if everything went tits up. Two different things entirely.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by bobinho » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:16 am

arise_sir_charge wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:10 am
Just read that back to yourself and think about if it actually makes any sense......if nothing is worth anything, why would anyone pay £200m for it to ‘asset strip’ it?

I understand a fear of the unknown but talk of asset stripping is ludicrous.
Obviously the ground, the training facilities and a number of the playing staff are worth something... I would’ve thought that wouldn’t need explaining. What I was OBVIOUSLY talking about was the brand. There isn’t a brand to sell to the world. We aren’t man yoo, or citeh, Chelsea or arsenal. We aren’t even Leeds. Other than the real estate and a few players, there is nothing for them to sell. I can’t see anything, if you can, rather than just suggesting a thought other than your own is ludicrous, enlighten us. Share the future with us.

I was just asking the question, what does “investment” mean in our case? And how do they make money after the investment. How do they get a return? I just want to know how it’s gonna work for them. As I said, they will be paying a tidy sum.... they will want that back AND more. Plenty of examples of big business buying clubs and it not going well. Only a couple of success stories. I used the phrase “assert stripping” but I’m nit suggesting that’s the only reason for them being interested. I’m suggesting if they can’t turn us into Barcelona, there is something there for them to sell.
Last edited by bobinho on Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Steve-Harpers-perm » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:21 am

Lot of drama on this about moving grounds, ticket pricing etc. How about let the new owners tell us of their immediate plans. The two majority shareholders who are clarets and selling to them are obviously confident in how they are going to move the club forward.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Dark Cloud » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:23 am

bobinho wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:16 am
Obviously the ground, the training facilities and a number of the playing staff are worth something... I would’ve thought that wouldn’t need explaining. What I was OBVIOUSLY talking about was the brand. There isn’t a brand to sell to the world. We aren’t man yoo, or citeh, Chelsea or arsenal. We aren’t even Leeds. Other than the real estate and a few players, there is nothing for them to sell. I can’t see anything, if you can, rather than just suggesting a thought other than your own is ludicrous, enlighten us. Share the future with us.

I was just asking the question, what does “investment” mean in our case? And how do they make money after the investment. How do they get a return? I just want to know how it’s gonna work for them. As I said, they will be paying a tidy sum.... they will want that back AND more.
I get that that's a genuine question/concern and it's something I'm unsure about too. Being taken over by a billionaire as a plaything (like B'mouth for example) I can get, but being taken over as an investment I struggle with. I can only assume that they believe that if MG can buy a club for say £20 million and make it worth £200 million several years later, they think they can pay £200 million, make the club a PL stalwart/fixture and then sell it on for maybe £400 million, but I think that may be stretching it.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Rileybobs » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:23 am

bobinho wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:16 am
Obviously the ground, the training facilities and a number of the playing staff are worth something... I would’ve thought that wouldn’t need explaining. What I was OBVIOUSLY talking about was the brand. There isn’t a brand to sell to the world. We aren’t man yoo, or citeh, Chelsea or arsenal. We aren’t even Leeds. Other than the real estate and a few players, there is nothing for them to sell. I can’t see anything, if you can, rather than just suggesting a thought other than your own is ludicrous, enlighten us. Share the future with us.

I was just asking the question, what does “investment” mean in our case? And how do they make money after the investment. How do they get a return? I just want to know how it’s gonna work for them. As I said, they will be paying a tidy sum.... they will want that back AND more.
I would imagine, given the potential new owners’ background in sports scouting and recruitment technology, that they will be looking to utilise this and turn a profit through player trading.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by MACCA » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:26 am

cricketfieldclarets wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:41 am
Also true. Would cost next to nothing to build some ‘luxury’ apartments on and around the stadium. Especially via barnfield. Perhaps now while no footfall would be a good opportunity with minimal disturbance.

And how many local people would want to buy affordable quality flats next to the stadium!? I’m guessing quite a few.
Doubt it, the pubs are closing, and the terraces around there are getting run down, and he area seems to be popping up quite frequently regards crime and anti social behaviour.

Without sounding harsh it seems the further you get from the town centre the nicer the area/housing.
Obviously you cant make a sweeping statement that is 100% factual, as only takes a couple if steets or rowdy families to to bring an areas reputation down slightly.

Not that I'd relocate the stadium, it 100% fits in where it is, part of the matchday experience and probably a fair chunk of that areas income. I wouldn't change its location 1 bit, just a spruce up will do.

Any stadium move would all but kill of the businesses around there, and probably decrease the reputation further.
The club is the heartbeat of the town, and that doing well helps the town do better IMO
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Jakubs Tash » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:54 am

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:21 am
How about let the new owners tell us of their immediate plans. The two majority shareholders who are clarets and selling to them are obviously confident in how they are going to move the club forward.
What a novel idea.....

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by ClaretTony » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:15 am

Jimmymaccer wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:54 am
I’d hate it if Turf Moor were to go and a new stadium built just off the motorway.........I love the fact TM is in town......it’s not perfect but neither am I these days...thank heavens we don’t have the crowd trouble of the 70’s and 80’s, which means the town benefits from fans from both teams these days.....maybe a deal with the cricket club could be done and the CF stand replaced with something which could also act as a dual purpose facility fir the cricket...
From what I was told a few weeks ago you should have no real concerns on that - they like the idea of the ground being close to the town centre and have no desire to move.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by ClaretTony » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:16 am

Paul Waine wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:42 am
From LinkedIn: ALK Capital is a high-caliber team of professionals with decades of experience in senior operating roles involved in investment, risk management, business operations, and high-profile turnarounds.

Specializing in acquisition and operations of modern sports, media, and entertainment assets, and related technologies, ALK Capital combines its diverse expertise, experience, and creativity with its investor network to drive growth and maximize business potential while building sustainable companies and value.

You can check out one of our first investments, AIScout here: https://www.aiscout.io

LinkedIn lists following 4 staff:

Alan Pace, Managing Partner - US;
John Dewey, COO - US;
Michael Smith, Executive Partner - US;
Russell Ball, Management Team - Guildford.

Russell Ball is an experienced property and real estate expert with over 25 years in the prime central London property market.

He has worked with private, corporate, and commercial clients throughout his career and is an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Russell has established and sold market two leading real estate businesses in central London and has been involved in many high-level turnarounds and acquisitions.

Sport, and in particular football, remains one of Russell's biggest passions and he is a key part of sports management group ALK Capital.

Earliest footballing memories are of watching Brighton & Hove Albion at the Goldstone Ground in the mid-late 1980s & following them to the FA cup final in at Wembley in 1983. He still plays 7-a-side every Tuesday.

****************
We could argue, based on his LinkedIn profile, that one ALK Capital's management team has significant experience as a football fan. I'm not sure that his previous experience in selling "prime central London property" is the reason why ALK is interested in Burnley.

UTC
Alan Pace is very much a football man too. He's the front man from what's been said over the past few weeks and he was at Salt Lake in the MLS. Pace was also involved with David Checketts when they were trying to purchase Sheffield United.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by ClaretTony » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:26 am

Steve-Harpers-perm wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:21 am
Lot of drama on this about moving grounds, ticket pricing etc. How about let the new owners tell us of their immediate plans. The two majority shareholders who are clarets and selling to them are obviously confident in how they are going to move the club forward.
That sounds like a very sensible plan to me Steve-Harpers-perm.

Right now we have to trust Mike Garlick and John B because our club is very much in their hands. Nothing is ever certain. I don't know Garlick, spoken to him a few times, but I wouldn't think a local man would want to sell us down the river. I do know John B very well and I know John wouldn't do anything that he thought was going to harm our club. The lads I go to the away games with also know John B well and I know they would also vouch for him. Whatever happens at the football club, he's still going to be involved locally with his charity CARES which is offering so much support to Burnley General Hospital, providing much needed equipment for cancer detection. You would struggle to find a more decent man to look after your interests and I, for one, trust him.

As for the new owners, if and when it happens. You would hope very much that they would want to tell us a bit about their plans for our club and I stress the word OUR before the word club. If it is to be ALK who take over I can't imagine they wouldn't want to. Surely, having paid a lot of money for a football club they would want to get everyone on side with them and their plans.

I remain nervous at our club being in the hands of people who are not local and not Burnley fans, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. But I'm also getting a little bit of excitement as to how things might progress.

Let's give our two major shareholders some credit and believe they will do what is right for Burnley FC and let's give our potential new owners, if it happens, a chance to take our club on into the future.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Devils_Advocate » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:35 am

Surely the big risk is that any company coming in to invest money with all the good intentions in the world will be willing to take more risks and spend money on transfer fees and big wages that if we get it wrong could leave us saddled with players who arent good enough and who we cant get rid of easily because they are not worth the wages we are paying them

If we get it wrong and go down in those circumstances then thats when you can easiuly become a Blackburn, a Portsmouth or even a Bolton if the owners chase getting back up to recoup their losses

That to me is the big risk and even if the directors take the upmost care to sell to people who are football guys and want to drive the club forward you cant legislate for bad signings and decisions as its not hard to blow millions in the Premier League and put yourself and the club in real financial difficulties

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Rileybobs » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:43 am

ClaretTony wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:26 am
That sounds like a very sensible plan to me Steve-Harpers-perm.

Right now we have to trust Mike Garlick and John B because our club is very much in their hands. Nothing is ever certain. I don't know Garlick, spoken to him a few times, but I wouldn't think a local man would want to sell us down the river. I do know John B very well and I know John wouldn't do anything that he thought was going to harm our club. The lads I go to the away games with also know John B well and I know they would also vouch for him. Whatever happens at the football club, he's still going to be involved locally with his charity CARES which is offering so much support to Burnley General Hospital, providing much needed equipment for cancer detection. You would struggle to find a more decent man to look after your interests and I, for one, trust him.

As for the new owners, if and when it happens. You would hope very much that they would want to tell us a bit about their plans for our club and I stress the word OUR before the word club. If it is to be ALK who take over I can't imagine they wouldn't want to. Surely, having paid a lot of money for a football club they would want to get everyone on side with them and their plans.

I remain nervous at our club being in the hands of people who are not local and not Burnley fans, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. But I'm also getting a little bit of excitement as to how things might progress.

Let's give our two major shareholders some credit and believe they will do what is right for Burnley FC and let's give our potential new owners, if it happens, a chance to take our club on into the future.
In fairness, a number of posters were suggesting that we trust MG and JB when the Egyptian bid looked to be the front runner.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by ClaretTony » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:51 am

Rileybobs wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:43 am
In fairness, a number of posters were suggesting that we trust MG and JB when the Egyptian bid looked to be the front runner.
I think you all know how worried I was about that potential move. One thing I don't know, and couldn't know, is how far negotiations went with them, or how far they have gone with ALK, and whether they spoke to any other parties because all of the information I've been able to gather has come from outside of the club as you would expect.

No, I wasn't worried about the Egyptian bid, I was actually frightened to death given Farnell was involved. I've learned a lot more about him since it was revealed and one thing I've learned is how good he is at self publicity so I'm not sure how far those negotiations got. If they got any distance then maybe I should be more concerned at Garlick and John B's intentions. I am now of the option that the Egyptian bid was never the front runner though.
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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by onewillieirvine » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:51 am

Devil's A - I think the singlemost decision the Venkys made to hasten their fall down the leagues was dispensing with Big Sam. He would almost have guaranteed top flight football for them. Luckily, they were very badly advised during the early days.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by ClaretTony » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:54 am

onewillieirvine wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:51 am
Devil's A - I think the singlemost decision the Venkys made to hasten their fall down the leagues was dispensing with Big Sam. He would almost have guaranteed top flight football for them. Luckily, they were very badly advised during the early days.
Very badly advised - when you look back at that sacking ten years ago next month, it makes absolutely no sense. Love him or hate him, Sam Allardyce keeps teams in the Premier League. I know it took Agent Kean 18 months to get them out of the Premier League but they wouldn't have been relegated with Allardyce, I'm certain of that and I'm sure the owners would have then had a very different few years at Blackburn.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by onewillieirvine » Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:57 am

CT- I meant to add, I don't invisage our potential new owners making the same mistake.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by Devils_Advocate » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:08 pm

onewillieirvine wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:51 am
Devil's A - I think the singlemost decision the Venkys made to hasten their fall down the leagues was dispensing with Big Sam. He would almost have guaranteed top flight football for them. Luckily, they were very badly advised during the early days.
All the same its easy to make a lot of bad signings when your are throwing money at a club like Burnley to try and sustain us as a Premier League club and if it goes wrong then thats when you can end up screwed

Im not for or against the takeover but just suggesting that asset stripping or selling to dodgy people isnt just the risk and the best investors in the world can get it wrong if your business plan is based and spending money on the Burnley team based on retaining Premier League status and the cash rewards that come with it.

This is something our current owners are not willing to do and whilst it limits our potential to stay in this division and could result in a slide down the leagues it does so in a way that no matter what league we end up in we will be able to be financially stable

The choice is are you uber cautious and just make sure we have a financially stable club even if its in the lower division or do you want owners who will take a risk / reward approach to keep us in the top league that if it goes tits up could see us in real financial trouble

A happy medium is probably what we need but we cant guarantee that in selling the club to outside investors so the risk will be there even with some very competent good guys

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by arise_sir_charge » Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:11 pm

I’ve read a few times on here that Farnell is a brilliant self publicist......Jesus, I’d hate to read what was said about him if he wasn’t!!

Bobinho, I have no idea what the plans of ALK are. As I’ve said multiple times now I’m prepared to wait and see and cast judgement once known. However the point of suggesting we have nothing to sell but they might be asset strippers is ludicrous. It can’t be both.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by scouseclaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:21 pm

ClaretTony wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 11:16 am
Alan Pace is very much a football man too. He's the front man from what's been said over the past few weeks and he was at Salt Lake in the MLS. Pace was also involved with David Checketts when they were trying to purchase Sheffield United.
Alan Pace is a football FAN, but I’m not convinced a short stint involved with an MLS team is particularly relevant grounding for running a club in the richest league in the world.

In fact, I fear that an American “enthusiast” with no real understanding of European sport (US sporting culture and organisation is VERY different) could be quite dangerous. Think Hicks and Gillet or Randy Lerner at Villa.

That is my biggest fear, rather than any nefarious “asset stripping” motives.

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Re: ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

Post by scouseclaret » Sat Nov 28, 2020 1:24 pm

Hapag Lloyd wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:04 am
“Investors” invest to get a return on their money, if this doesn’t happen then assets will be sold in order for them to recoup their original investment.
That will only happen if they can get more from the assets than selling the club as a going concern.

That’s when we’ll need the Hut guy to come riding to the rescue!...

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