ALK Capital or Farnell/Elkashashy takeover

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Jakubs Tash
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Jakubs Tash » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:08 pm

I wonder if we'll start to sell candyfloss in the food kiosks if all this goes through...... I do enjoy a bit of candyfloss!

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by DCWat » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:08 pm

Cotton candy, thank you
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Father Jack » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:12 pm

Taken from The Athletic today (removing the first half on Chinese investors).

Some might say the same about European football, of course, but those voices are currently being drowned out in the virtual HQs of family offices, hedge funds, private equity firms and any other variety of sports investor in North America.

“The European football economy is in good shape — its commercial revenues are growing, club valuations are growing, the players’ values are growing, the TV ratings are up,” explains American sports business expert Bruce Bundrant, who has worked for Liverpool and Monaco, and now runs Riviera Sports Marketing.

“American interest in European football isn’t new but it’s ramped up recently because some organisations are struggling and existing owners are trying to get out. Another factor is it’s hard to get into US sport — the valuations are astronomical and minority stakes are rare. But for £200 million, you could buy Southampton, for example. The prices are appealing.”

John Purcell is the co-founder of Vysyble, a London-based financial consultancy that has been analysing football’s finances since 2016.

“We’ve sold a lot of reports in the US, on both coasts, with family offices (firms set up to invest the wealth of rich individuals) quite prominent,” says Purcell.

“But the track record of US investors in British football isn’t that great. Crystal Palace, Fulham and Swansea are three recent examples where American investment has come in, with some fanfare, but has so far failed to deliver much in the way of success or a return on investment.

“Randy Lerner’s experience at Aston Villa is another cautionary tale, as his time at the club was an absolute disaster in financial terms. Villa’s economic efficiency declined every year under his ownership and he appeared to be a good example of what happens when a businessman leaves his common sense in the car park and gets emotional about his club.

“In many ways, (Liverpool’s owners) Fenway are the exceptions. They’re top of the pile now but Liverpool were a basket case when they bought them. The lesson there is they’ve learned from their mistakes and hired the right people for the right jobs. Fenway deserve credit but it’s hard to imagine Liverpool’s success without Jurgen Klopp.”

Steve Horowitz is a partner at Inner Circle Sports, a New York-based “boutique investment bank focused on the global sports industry”, and has been at the heart of some of the more successful North American takeovers in European football. But even he starts his relationships with investors by issuing a warning.

“The first thing I say to any of these guys is, ‘Why would you do this?'” explains Horowitz.

“If you are coming into this industry thinking about returns on investment, go do something else. If you are here because you like competition and want to have some fun, fine, I can help. And if you do it really well and have a bit of luck, you might make some money on the way out, too.

“Look at Liverpool. Those guys are killing it. They paid about £280 million for that club but it’s probably worth £2 billion now.”

Bundrant agrees.

“John Henry and Fenway took five years to get it right at Liverpool, but they didn’t come over thinking they knew everything,” he says.

“They learned that you can’t just plug in American ideas. They stayed, they adapted. European football is tougher than US sports because of the threat of relegation and there’s no salary cap. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

Paul Conway has learned this the hard way. He and his business partners have now bought four clubs in four different European countries — “we have high and lows almost every day” — and they are looking for more.

Having been part of a consortium that bought Ligue 1’s Nice in 2016, Conway was a central figure in the group that bought Yorkshire side Barnsley in 2017 and has since added Swiss club FC Thun and Belgium’s KV Ostend to the portfolio, although France’s Nice were sold, for a tidy profit, to one of Britain’s richest men, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, last year.

“European football is not as professional, from a business point of view, as American sport, but many Americans make the mistake of thinking that must mean it’s easy,” says Conway. “Let me tell you, it’s not. You cannot manage these investments remotely — you have to spend a lot of time on site.

“The upswing in interest from the States is almost entirely driven by valuations. Even the worst teams in US sport make money, which makes them very valuable. The cheapest NBA (basketball) team would cost you $1.5 billion, which is five or six times their annual revenue. That multiple is even worse in Major League Soccer, where the minimum price is $250 million — 10 times revenue — but in Europe you can buy a football club for one times revenue.

“The other thing to remember is that, apart from the NBA, the world isn’t watching American sports: it’s watching European football. OK, COVID-19 has knocked things back, but the trend is positive. Broadcast rights were experiencing double-digit growth and I think we’ll get back to that.

“So, we have just bought 72 per cent of Ostend, a Belgian first division club that was in the Europa League in 2017 (getting knocked out in the qualifiers by French giants Marseille), for €4.2 million. The cheapest investment you can make in an NBA team, a three per cent stake to become a limited partner, costs $50 million — and you don’t even get a season ticket.”

Oliver Finlay is the chief executive of Beautiful Game Group, a private equity firm based in Delaware, USA, but with an international make-up. It is planning to build a multi-club model similar to the one pursued by Conway and City Football Group and is currently doing its due diligence work on what it hopes will be the first of several investments in European football in the coming years.

Having trained as a physiotherapist, Finlay has spent the last 20 years working in elite sport as a physio, sports science consultant and sporting director, including stints with the FA, Hearts in the Scottish Premiership, the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and UK Athletics. He describes the changing weather in global sport as “two perfect storms”.

“First, you have the changed political position in China,” explains Finlay. “They had hoped to be a force in world football by now but have realised that is way off. Never underestimate how important it is in Asia not to lose face and China have just been through that with the Basketball World Cup. It was held in China last year and the home team were awful.

“So now it’s very hard to get money out of China or, if you’re a foreign investor, do much in China yourself. Everyone is aware of China’s market power but put me in India any day. China is just too volatile. Look at what happened with the NBA and Mesut Ozil. One comment and you’re off the air. You can’t build a business on that amount of uncertainty.

“And then you have the States, where sports franchises have been through this period of exponential growth. Between 2015 and 2020, the enterprise values of NBA teams have risen by an average of $300 million. So you have a saturated market, with a high price of entry, driven by scarcity value.

“But in Europe, you have thousands of clubs, with a much lower entry point, and you can also make money on player trading, something which appeals to US sports investors, as they have all been using data for their recruitment for years and think they can do it better than Europeans.

“My concern, though, is that too often all these private equity firms, whilst very clever at investing, do not know how to manage sports teams, particularly European ones. They repeatedly underestimate the risks and fail to understand the culture. We have probably been offered 90 different teams to look at in the last two months but we’re very careful to say we’re an international fund, not an American one.”

Finlay’s observations raise some interesting questions.

Having pinned its hopes on Chinese money for so long, why is European football now so convinced US-based private equity is the way to go? Isn’t a blend of all human experiences usually best?

And having been buffeted by one wind for so long, why are our clubs so keen to be blown the other way? Aren’t we better off enjoying a period of calm?

Questions for another day, perhaps.

In the meantime, the new American owners at Parma, Roma and Toulouse have lessons to learn, while the Americans circling Bournemouth, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Southampton and a dozen other English clubs have decisions to make.

China had its turn. It’s time to make American-owned football clubs great again.
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Chester Perry
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:13 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:49 pm
hmmm
Checketts seems a really interesting character. and will no doubt have very strong connections with Chorley (if you read through his Wikipedia page)

switching research to Alan Pace now :ugeek:

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by KateR » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:17 pm

KRBFC wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:59 pm
What’s your thoughts on it?
honestly I did not want to go into any kind of detail because there is little real info known beyond there is interest and there has been discussion, anything I have to say will only trigger many responses as we have seen already, which I do not want to start answering or trying to justify my thoughts. As I said last time, I have looked at it but only very briefly and with no real knowledge of ALK other than they are an investment company and my thoughts on what will both parties get out of it. There is so much I don't know, I have only just scratched the surface, they are not a company I know unlike my thoughts around SIF, which went far further than I anticipated, so it's no claim to I was right there, so I am here, it just shows as I said there is huge margin for error.

My main puzzle is what would both parties get out of this, ALK is the bigger puzzle, I see so little upside for them with BFC whereas with S. United I could see that.

For the board and MG in particular I can see upside only in him making good on his investment and if he was not a BFC fan, then I would not be as skeptical. I don't know him, I only know from what I read and hear from him but he wont give it away for the wrong reasons IMO.

When I put 2 & 2 together from there, I get skeptical and see 3, but there is so much I don't know, so my thoughts are pretty worthless in the grand scheme of things.
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Vegas Claret
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:24 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:13 pm
Checketts seems a really interesting character. and will no doubt have very strong connections with Chorley (if you read through his Wikipedia page)

switching research to Alan Pace now :ugeek:
interesting is an understatement !!

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:27 pm

Gordaleman wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:06 pm
Yanks at Liverpool seem to have done OK!
Liverpool were an established brand underperforming and on the verge of financial collapse. I'm happy to be corrected if I'm way out on all this, but the difference between FSG's takeover of Liverpool and ALK's prospective takeover of Burnley, it seems - aside from the obvious draw of Liverpool being a viable global brand where Burnley is not - is that the motivation here (again, it seems to me) is to use Burnley as means to demonstrate proof of concept of propriety software (AI scouting models) in the European market. My apprehension is that we'd be a vehicle for a VC group's commercial aspirations, rather than ownership being the aspiration in and of itself. My concerns: 1. what if it doesn't work, and 2. what if AI says no on a player but manager says yes, or vice versa? Do we want Burnley be a lab rat?

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Burnleyareback2 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:27 pm

Paul Waine wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:21 pm
Let's start by saying until a few minutes ago I'd never heard of ALK Capital or Alan Pace. However, this investment can make sense for everyone. From ALK's angle they will make their money in the opportunities that arise in the Northern Powerhouse. Ownership of Burnley will be part of the "facilitation" of their presence in the area. Who knows, it might be the start of building a Ribble Silicon Valley - there's lots on here who have already got the ability to use a key board, maybe add to programming skills and creative skills and the Weavers' Triangle of Burnley will start to dominate the digital world.

From his LinkedIn profile, Alan Pace studied for his MBA in Barcelona in the early 90s - and was introduced to the "beautiful game" at the Nou Camp. His investment banking experience, with Lehman Bros, 1994-2006 and Citi, 2008-2019, will be an asset, not just for leading ownership of BFC, but also for investment in the Northern Powerhouse. (His business experience isn't a "million miles" away from Mike Garlick's and John B's).

I hope this comes off for Mike Garlick and John B and all of Burnley Football Club, including Sean Dyche, the players and the fans. It will make everything that little bit more exciting watching the Millwall game this evening.

UTC
I like your optimism.

Why not buy a different team for a much cheaper value? Rovers or Bolton? Apart from currently being in the premier league (which of course demands a huge price premium) why pick Burnley?
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by NewClaret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:29 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:24 pm
interesting is an understatement !!
They’ll be reading this you know, careful what you say ;)

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:34 pm

NewClaret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:29 pm
They’ll be reading this you know, careful what you say ;)
in which case, Dyche is superb and needs an open chequebook :D
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:36 pm

Burnleyareback2 wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:27 pm
I like your optimism.

Why not buy a different team for a much cheaper value? Rovers or Bolton? Apart from currently being in the premier league (which of course demands a huge price premium) why pick Burnley?
remind me how much debt Blackburn and Bolton have ?
We have no debt, own our ground, already upgraded the training facilities - it's all there
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:37 pm

NewClaret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:29 pm
They’ll be reading this you know, careful what you say ;)
Checketts was a real go getter - running an NBA team before he got to 30 was a huge achievement, he has been a risk taker, but with a real desire to do best he can and encourage those he has worked with to do the same. It is significant that RSL had their biggest success under his charge and built a cohesive organisation at the same time. I also like the fact that he wanted that success and excellence in his home State away from the bright lights of the major cities - there is much to like and a few things to be cautious about.
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Dyched » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:37 pm

MAKE BURNLEY GREAT AGAIN
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by bodge » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:38 pm

Dyche says he hasn't been informed of the takeover, that's a different part of the club and that he has been made aware of the story, just said that on SSN.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:39 pm

Dyched wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:37 pm
MAKE BURNLEY GREAT AGAIN
that is awful

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by NewClaret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:41 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:39 pm
that is awful
I thought it was :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by WalkdenClaret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:41 pm

Nah, not for me thanks. Months of people on here moaning about aspirations, were doing as well as we have ever done. Mega investment or not were good for mid-table, history shows that's who we are with a bit of up and down.
International (sorry US) investors are bad news, the US and EVERY SINGLE corporation only wants to suck dollars in, they have no other purpose.
Aston Villa owner Orascom valued at £4bn, ALK £0
ALK website has no info.
posters mention "community", sounds nice, along with a pic of a generic stadium. They mention "community" a lot, but it is used solely to mean a business.
Their LinkedIn has no info, no Wikipedia page, no federal filings.
They appear to only be a couple of years old. they have 3 employees.
They are an INVESTMENT business.
They have invested unspecified money into what amounts to to football related apps.
The apps may be ok and profitable in the long term, but they've both only have about 100 downloads via google play and app store. So their only 3rd party investment is in a couple of tiny apps.
The whole thing stinks.
Yes, we might benefit from a bit of investment, I'd be happy with local (BooHoo, the Hut Group) otherwise, as mentioned at top of ramble, anything US based will be wholly for own benefit and likely short term (see Swansea, Fulham, Man UTD, previous villa fella)

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by ElectroClaret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:47 pm

Just commented on BBC North West news that Reuters are reporting about this.
BFC haven't made any comment.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Burnleyareback2 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:49 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:36 pm
remind me how much debt Blackburn and Bolton have ?
We have no debt, own our ground, already upgraded the training facilities - it's all there
There are deals to be done around debt.

Your answer was the one I hoped for, we own the ground, training ground, cash in the bank. Lots of assets to strip or loan against. Removing all of the security that we have - potentially.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Burnleyareback2 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:49 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:36 pm
remind me how much debt Blackburn and Bolton have ?
We have no debt, own our ground, already upgraded the training facilities - it's all there
There are deals to be done around debt.

Your answer was the one I hoped for, we own the ground, training ground, cash in the bank. Lots of assets to strip or loan against. Removing all of the security that we have - potentially.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:50 pm

Burnleyareback2 wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:49 pm
There are deals to be done around debt.

Your answer was the one I hoped for, we own the ground, training ground, cash in the bank. Lots of assets to strip or loan against. Removing all of the security that we have - potentially.
you sound like my mum :lol: :lol:
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Dyched » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:55 pm

Chester Perry wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:39 pm
that is awful
I hope hope we can have the hats in claret and blue. That’s awesome y’all!

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:56 pm

By the way if this all goes to pot years from now, anyone trying to lay the blame at the doorstep of Mike Garlick will be in need of a slap. I don't want to hear any Burnley fan years from now trying to convince anyone that there was anything other than prolonged pressure from fans for Garlick to find investment or sell up wholly. If we become a basket case beholden to a piece of technology and with owners with cold feet, remember that it is because too few said "I'll keep what we've got, thanks".

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:56 pm

Dyched wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:37 pm
MAKE BURNLEY GREAT AGAIN
you deserve a ban for that :lol:

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Paul Waine » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:57 pm

Burnleyareback2 wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:27 pm
I like your optimism.

Why not buy a different team for a much cheaper value? Rovers or Bolton? Apart from currently being in the premier league (which of course demands a huge price premium) why pick Burnley?
My guess (I knew nothing about ALK Capital before today) is that it fits their plans to buy a club that is currently in the Premier League, rather than take the risk of buying a club in a lower division and take the risk that the investment required to reach the Premier League is less than the cost of buying an existing EPL club. They then require that the money they are prepared to spend to buy the club corresponds to the expectations of the current owners to sell their ownership.

I've now see the comments about ALK looking at Sheff Utd last year. This appears to fit the Northern Powerhouse investment opportunities.

We could ask why "northern powerhouse" rather than London/S.East or Birmingham/Midlands. I'd expect the answer would be that it is perceived to be a lot cheaper to invest in the Northern Powerhouse region - London is a lot more expensive and Birmingham hasn't been specifically picked out/targeted by the Gov't as a major development region. And, all that is before the current Gov't started to speak about "levelling up." Let's hope that Boris and his mates can get round to this as soon as covid-19 is "sorted."

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Dyched » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:58 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:56 pm
you deserve a ban for that :lol:
I’m surprised nobody said it before me to be honest.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Burnleyareback2 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:00 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:50 pm
you sound like my mum :lol: :lol:
There just seems to be a lot of excitement about something that we have no idea about. As much as I love this club I don’t see why anyone apart from a fan would pour money in.

Lots of people researching today and making wild assumptions (not as much fun as the buffoons looking at Tarks in Rome on his holidays) and getting carried away.

What would it take for MG to sell his share? £50m or £100m a good return.

Extreme example, someone walks in, sells Tarks, Pope, McNeil, Taylor and the ground. I reckon they are £80m in profit at a minimum. Nice return.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Father Jack » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:00 pm

Questions on my mind at the moment:

1. Whose side did the leak come from today? Names had previously been kept tightly under wraps. Is it the investors side trying to put pressure on Garlick to make a decision? Or visa versa? Or something else.

2. James Ducker’s article in the Telegraph talked about two rival American bids for the club. So who are the 2nd group?
No link known at this stage with ALK to an Egyptian investor based in the states. (Danieljwaterhouse - is this the other group)?

3. Also Danieljwaterhouse - you have suggested there maybe a stock market announcement - 7:15am if the investment goes through. Is this the 2nd / other bidder not ALK? Can’t see ALK as a listed company so struggling to make this fit.

4. BenWickes. Interested in your prediction of a potential announcement on Friday. Find the timing of today’s leak interesting if Friday is the day this week. Would feel it got so close without names leaking out but not quite all the way. Is it a good sign that this is now in the public domain?

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:01 pm

Paul Waine wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:57 pm
Let's hope that Boris and his mates can get round to this as soon as covid-19 is "sorted."
We really don't want to wait that long Paul - they need to be getting on with it ASAP for the momentum to help pull us out of this mess

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:01 pm

Paul Waine wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:57 pm
My guess (I knew nothing about ALK Capital before today) is that it fits their plans to buy a club that is currently in the Premier League, rather than take the risk of buying a club in a lower division and take the risk that the investment required to reach the Premier League is less than the cost of buying an existing EPL club. They then require that the money they are prepared to spend to buy the club corresponds to the expectations of the current owners to sell their ownership.

I've now see the comments about ALK looking at Sheff Utd last year. This appears to fit the Northern Powerhouse investment opportunities.

We could ask why "northern powerhouse" rather than London/S.East or Birmingham/Midlands. I'd expect the answer would be that it is perceived to be a lot cheaper to invest in the Northern Powerhouse region - London is a lot more expensive and Birmingham hasn't been specifically picked out/targeted by the Gov't as a major development region. And, all that is before the current Gov't started to speak about "levelling up." Let's hope that Boris and his mates can get round to this as soon as covid-19 is "sorted."
Has 'Northern Powerhouse' been cited anywhere, or is it just you mentioning it? I was under the impression that phrase was laughed out of the room.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Wile E Coyote » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:04 pm

Spiral wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:56 pm
By the way if this all goes to pot years from now, anyone trying to lay the blame at the doorstep of Mike Garlick will be in need of a slap. I don't want to hear any Burnley fan years from now trying to convince anyone that there was anything other than prolonged pressure from fans for Garlick to find investment or sell up wholly. If we become a basket case beholden to a piece of technology and with owners with cold feet, remember that it is because too few said "I'll keep what we've got, thanks".
no offence, but that is just wrong.
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:04 pm

Burnleyareback2 wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:00 pm
There just seems to be a lot of excitement about something that we have no idea about. As much as I love this club I don’t see why anyone apart from a fan would pour money in.

Lots of people researching today and making wild assumptions (not as much fun as the buffoons looking at Tarks in Rome on his holidays) and getting carried away.

What would it take for MG to sell his share? £50m or £100m a good return.

Extreme example, someone walks in, sells Tarks, Pope, McNeil, Taylor and the ground. I reckon they are £80m in profit at a minimum. Nice return.
Don't disagree with you on any of it but I would think that Garlick would first and foremost do what is right for the club
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:06 pm

Wile E Coyote wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:04 pm
no offence, but that is just wrong.
Not offended, no harm taken. If it goes tits up, the people writing on bedsheets will be the same ones who have been questioning the club's 'ambition' for years.
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by dushanbe » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:07 pm

Not sure where ALK fit into it, but shouldn’t we be looking much closer to home with this?

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:12 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:04 pm
Don't disagree with you on any of it but I would think that Garlick would first and foremost do what is right for the club
As ever, the problem isn't so much the quality of the foreign owner a good fan owner sells to after doing his due diligence, problems arise when the foreign owner who has only ever seen ownership as an investment opportunity subsequently decides to cash in his chips and sell without compunction to whomever or whichever unscrupulous chancer is willing to buy.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:25 pm

Spiral wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:12 pm
As ever, the problem isn't so much the quality of the foreign owner a good fan owner sells to after doing his due diligence, problems arise when the foreign owner who has only ever seen ownership as an investment opportunity subsequently decides to cash in his chips and sell without compunction to whomever or whichever unscrupulous chancer is willing to buy.
Whilst I take your point I'm personally not sure an American investment firm would buy Burnley FC to asset strip it, I don't see enough of a value in that

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by kendaldave » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:26 pm

I imagine Dave Whelan thought he was leaving Wigan in good hands and look what's happened there.
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:27 pm

Spiral wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:06 pm
Not offended, no harm taken. If it goes tits up, the people writing on bedsheets will be the same ones who have been questioning the club's 'ambition' for years.
and if it goes well are they allowed to come on here and laugh at you for being negative ? :D

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:28 pm

kendaldave wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:26 pm
I imagine Dave Whelan thought he was leaving Wigan in good hands and look what's happened there.
that was an incredibly dodgy deal and very sad for Wigan indeed

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by ClaretTony » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:32 pm

kendaldave wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:26 pm
I imagine Dave Whelan thought he was leaving Wigan in good hands and look what's happened there.
Was sold on again though after Whelan sold it - maybe Bates thought he was leaving Chelsea in good hands when he sold to Abramovic, maybe the owners of Leicester and Wolves thought they were leaving their clubs in good hands when they sold out.
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by jedi_master » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:33 pm

Link below to an interesting interview with Alan Pace from a month ago, along with the first photo I have actually seen of him.

https://www.sportbusiness.com/2020/08/a ... mfortable/
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Spiral » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:38 pm

Vegas Claret wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:25 pm
Whilst I take your point I'm personally not sure an American investment firm would buy Burnley FC to asset strip it, I don't see enough of a value in that
Oh God no, I'm not suggesting anyone has maleficent intent. The phrase asset stripping is grossly overused in football. The problem is always handing over a club to people who have no clue about football club ownership. I don't think the franchise model in the US translates perfectly to the European hierarchal model and European fandom. Investment alone doesn't guarantee success, but a combination of incompetence and debt will invariably precede a death spiral. Often the realities of ownership hit within a few years, then the owners - who might have started out with the best of intentions - bail out, rather than stick around to address structural flaws they themselves, in their ignorance or incompetence, might have created.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Chester Perry » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:38 pm

kendaldave wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:26 pm
I imagine Dave Whelan thought he was leaving Wigan in good hands and look what's happened there.
Dave was already experiencing his problems by then, I think it was more the family that said enough dipping into the pocket, and not unlike the Walker's and the Davies's, wanted shut.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Danieljwaterhouse » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:39 pm

Don’t see the club as the purchase, they’re purchasing the potential/ability to be situated in a community and area that is geographically sound.

The club is a window into the uncapped earning potential they see in the Local area, Manchester and Lancashire if/when it becomes devolved.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by kendaldave » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:39 pm

The problem is that ALK Capital have no track record to speak of so no-one can know what their motives are and that worries me no end.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Danieljwaterhouse » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:41 pm

Father Jack wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:00 pm
Questions on my mind at the moment:

1. Whose side did the leak come from today? Names had previously been kept tightly under wraps. Is it the investors side trying to put pressure on Garlick to make a decision? Or visa versa? Or something else.

2. James Ducker’s article in the Telegraph talked about two rival American bids for the club. So who are the 2nd group?
No link known at this stage with ALK to an Egyptian investor based in the states. (Danieljwaterhouse - is this the other group)?

3. Also Danieljwaterhouse - you have suggested there maybe a stock market announcement - 7:15am if the investment goes through. Is this the 2nd / other bidder not ALK? Can’t see ALK as a listed company so struggling to make this fit.

4. BenWickes. Interested in your prediction of a potential announcement on Friday. Find the timing of today’s leak interesting if Friday is the day this week. Would feel it got so close without names leaking out but not quite all the way. Is it a good sign that this is now in the public domain?
Keep an eye out, and be mindful that companies can be stacked with companies.

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by KRBFC » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:41 pm

Burnleyareback2 wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:27 pm
I like your optimism.

Why not buy a different team for a much cheaper value? Rovers or Bolton? Apart from currently being in the premier league (which of course demands a huge price premium) why pick Burnley?
Are you really asking why we are currently a more attractive club than a League Two team?
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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:42 pm

Spiral wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:38 pm
Oh God no, I'm not suggesting anyone has maleficent intent. The phrase asset stripping is grossly overused in football. The problem is always handing over a club to people who have no clue about football club ownership. I don't think the franchise model in the US translates perfectly to the European hierarchal model and European fandom. Investment alone doesn't guarantee success, but a combination of incompetence and debt will invariably precede a death spiral. Often the realities of ownership hit within a few years, then the owners - who might have started out with the best of intentions - bail out, rather than stick around to address structural flaws they themselves, in their ignorance or incompetence, might have created.
well this lot (at least one of them) has been involved with a club, in all honesty though I have no clue if it was successful or not though

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Vegas Claret » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:43 pm

Danieljwaterhouse wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:39 pm
Don’t see the club as the purchase, they’re purchasing the potential/ability to be situated in a community and area that is geographically sound.

The club is a window into the uncapped earning potential they see in the Local area, Manchester and Lancashire if/when it becomes devolved.
which then begs the question will they invest in the team or just use it as an "in" with no real ambition for it ?

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Re: ALK Capital...

Post by Danieljwaterhouse » Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:47 pm

I would imagine that a successful image is essential

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