In its bid to make Liverpool FC the first Premier League club in the UK to be purchased by its own fans, the board of ShareLiverpoolFC has confirmed that it has managed to raise the funds required to underwrite the costs of organising and delivering a full share issue.
This is great news, and ShareLiverpoolFC's approach is infinitely preferable to the negative, confrontational and divisive approach of 'Spirit of Shankly'.
From the ShareLiverpool FC site:
It will require large numbers of LFC fans to buy a share for the plan to succeed, but set against the fact there are more than 4 million LFC fans in UK & Ireland alone, and uncounted millions more abroad, it is an achievable goal. If the sum raised is insufficient to take a majority stake in the Club, the board would seek to partner a suitable majority owner by purchasing a minority share which cannot be diluted by further share issues, with Club board representation and pre-emption rights. If in the end, ShareLFC is unsuccessful, the cash will be returned in full to everyone who put money in.
ShareLiverpoolFC Board member, John Aldridge said: “I’m delighted ShareLiverpoolFC is now able to push on and issue the share offer. We’ll need a tremendous response from the fans but I think millions of them are desperately worried about the current situation both on and off the field. At last, they’ve got a chance to actually to do something about it. Our fans have brought us ‘back from the dead’ in matches many times before: think only of the ‘miracle’ of Istanbul. They can do it again – this time at the heart of the Club itself.”
Long-time ShareLiverpoolFC supporter, John Barnes, said: “It’s excellent news to hear fans will get the opportunity to pool their money and buy a stake in the Club, whether it’s a majority stake or just a significant piece of the action, all under stringent financial regulation. No one who has ever played for Liverpool can be in any doubt that these fans are the football club: the unique, core ‘brand’, as they call it these days, of LFC. If they are it, why shouldn’t they own it too?”
Sign me up! I believe in this project 100%, and I will definitely be buying my share when the time comes. I would urge all Liverpool fans to do the same.
Note to SOS: This is how you run a fan-led campaign to change things at the club. No flag-burning; no embarrassing chants at parties; no xenophobic approach to the club's owners - just an intelligent, viable plan and the conviction and perserverance to make a difference in the right way, i.e. The Liverpool Way.
To understand more about how ShareLiverpoolFC works, please take a minute to read through the following information:
Executive Summary
Detailed Proposal
Who is Involved?
Frequently Asked Questions (Financing the stadium/generating transfer funds etc
This is great news, and ShareLiverpoolFC's approach is infinitely preferable to the negative, confrontational and divisive approach of 'Spirit of Shankly'.
From the ShareLiverpool FC site:
It will require large numbers of LFC fans to buy a share for the plan to succeed, but set against the fact there are more than 4 million LFC fans in UK & Ireland alone, and uncounted millions more abroad, it is an achievable goal. If the sum raised is insufficient to take a majority stake in the Club, the board would seek to partner a suitable majority owner by purchasing a minority share which cannot be diluted by further share issues, with Club board representation and pre-emption rights. If in the end, ShareLFC is unsuccessful, the cash will be returned in full to everyone who put money in.
ShareLiverpoolFC Board member, John Aldridge said: “I’m delighted ShareLiverpoolFC is now able to push on and issue the share offer. We’ll need a tremendous response from the fans but I think millions of them are desperately worried about the current situation both on and off the field. At last, they’ve got a chance to actually to do something about it. Our fans have brought us ‘back from the dead’ in matches many times before: think only of the ‘miracle’ of Istanbul. They can do it again – this time at the heart of the Club itself.”
Long-time ShareLiverpoolFC supporter, John Barnes, said: “It’s excellent news to hear fans will get the opportunity to pool their money and buy a stake in the Club, whether it’s a majority stake or just a significant piece of the action, all under stringent financial regulation. No one who has ever played for Liverpool can be in any doubt that these fans are the football club: the unique, core ‘brand’, as they call it these days, of LFC. If they are it, why shouldn’t they own it too?”
Sign me up! I believe in this project 100%, and I will definitely be buying my share when the time comes. I would urge all Liverpool fans to do the same.
Note to SOS: This is how you run a fan-led campaign to change things at the club. No flag-burning; no embarrassing chants at parties; no xenophobic approach to the club's owners - just an intelligent, viable plan and the conviction and perserverance to make a difference in the right way, i.e. The Liverpool Way.
To understand more about how ShareLiverpoolFC works, please take a minute to read through the following information:
Executive Summary
Detailed Proposal
Who is Involved?
Frequently Asked Questions (Financing the stadium/generating transfer funds etc
YES!! I've literally just this moment signed up, and then come on Newsnow. I'm only 17 and £3,000 is all I have. Is it possible to pledge more than £500?
ReplyDeletealso, do you know how much they have so far? and, surely anything less than 50% will have absolutely no effect on how the club is run (decisions are made by 51% of the club's ownership)
ReplyDeleteI admire ur support for such a good cause as the best owners of liverpool can only be the fans because they will be 100% looking for the good fortunes but then think of how u r trying to boycott sos they hav been backing liverpool way longer than u hav and are devoted lfc supporters so show them sum respect or jus dont speak about them coz u hav no right to.
ReplyDeleteMy previous point is backed up by the fact that only 60 people support the sosos and much more people and real fans support the sos
ReplyDeleteThe SOSOS has only beeng going for a week. SOS is poison. ShareLiverpool is what fans should be backing.
ReplyDeleteShareLiverpoolFC will not work, mainly because of Rogan Taylor, to buy the club SOS and ShareLiverpoolFC need to work together, two seperate campaigns will result in failure.
ReplyDeleteSpot on, Jaimie. I've registered with them as soon as they got started. Well thought out and intelligent campaign.
ReplyDeleteWell Done Share Liverpool. My only concern slightly is that maybe if they had made the shares cheaper that they might have had massive subscription. What do you think Jaimie?
ReplyDeleteThe article is incomplete. You cannot review the possibilities for fan ownership without referencing SOS.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Supporter-Ownership-Announcement.html
The SOS scheme addresses several weaknesses in the Share Liverpool scheme. The £500 barrier to entry has been removed by the credit union approach. With the money in the credit union it is also more readily realisable. Converting pledges to actual investment could be problematic for Share Liverpool.
In practice neither SOS or SL are likely to succeed individually and they will have to work together.
SL have been hampered thus far by uncharismatic leadership. It may well be a winning combination with Share Liverpool appealling to wealthier individuals and SOS delivering larger numbers of smaller shareholders.
The SOS barbs are very petty. You may disagree with the protests and the SOS stance in the owners, but what is wrong with the SOS fan ownership proposals? They are a hybrid of the Share Liverpool scheme that you find so admirable.
how much will shares be ??
ReplyDeleteIf it works for barca then why can it not work for LFC?
ReplyDeleteRead the article this morning and was wondering what were your thoughts on it :-D
ReplyDeleteRead the article this morning and was wondering what were your thoughts on it. Now I know :)
ReplyDeleteHow much have you pledged Jaimie?
ReplyDeleteAs I said earlier: the EOTK story published argued that Dalglish had been turned down for the job and he was devastated and on the verge of resigning. That's the part I disagreed with, and that's clear from my article. The story was baseless.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, there are no quotes from Dalglish, and 'The Times' article states the following:
Dalglish has told friends that he would like the job, although he is not willing to compromise the club in any way by making his interest in the position known.
How convenient - he's not willing to make his interest in the position known.
When I hear the man himself say it, then I'll believe it.
In any event, if Dalgish wants the job, it makes no difference to the fact that RAWK/EOTK article was baseless scaremongering. There's a big difference between Dalgish being interested in the job, and being turned down and on the verge of resigning in devastation.
As soon as shares are available, I will buy one. i would buy more than one if it was possible, but it's one share per fan only.
ReplyDeleteI think this comment has been appended to the wrong article.
ReplyDeleteYou can invest more money in loan stock. Whilst you would only ever receive one vote, there is no upper limit as to how much money you could invest. This is make clear in the FAQ page that you linked to in the article.
ReplyDeleteI have signed up, i don't think anything will come from this, but i will offer my support anyway.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, Jaimie, is it possible to add and edit button, so i can edit my many typo's?
fair enough. it wouldve been better if share liverpool and SOS had linked though - as it is the end product is divisive. You also have to ask exactly how many of these people are going to stump up the cash when the time comes. None the less, its a genuinely good looking plan IF they do it right.
ReplyDeleteHell, we could end up with sos and share liverpool owning two halves. That would be wierd.
Sorry JK , but i believe Share-Liverpool and SOS have been working on a joint venture for a few months now.
ReplyDeleteI believe the deal to merge has been declined , for what ever reasons , but the mere fact that SLFC actually worked very hard and closely with SOS must mean they regard them in a much higher light than what you do ...
I wonder how that is ?
All that matters is that the declined the merger, which is why I'm now supporting them. If in the future, SL do merge with SOS, then as long as those driving SL are in the driving seat - and ex players remain involved - then I won't have a problem with it.
ReplyDeleteHi Jaimie
ReplyDeleteIn principle I think this is a good idea. But.. and I am not being difficult, do you think this approach can:
- raise the money needed to buy the club at £600M-£800M?
- In additon riase the £500M needed for a new stadium?
- Ensure a a relaistic transfer kitty? (Min £25M per season)
- Pay competative wage bill for players, £800K + per week?
I love the idea of this, but in reality we are talking about a load of cash needed for this to work. And I mean take the club forward, not just keep it afloat?
Cheers
Those are all good points. I don't have all the answers, but I imagine commercial investors would have a lot to do with raising the necessary finance. Plus, money would need to be borrowed to fund certain things, and this is not different to how the club has been run for decades. Liverpool was taking out bank loans long before Hicks and Gillett arrived on the scene.
ReplyDeleteFrom the SL's FAQs:
<span><span><span>Q. How will SLFC finance a new stadium?</span></span><span><span> </span></span> </span>
<p><span>A bigger stadium is a necessity for LFC. Given the current situation we have an open mind as to whether it should be a new stadium or an extension of Anfield. The financing of a stadium (new or extension) isn’t that complicated, and whatever options are available to the current owners are also available to us.</span>
<span> </span>
</p><p><span> However, we would have a big advantage over the current owners in that the club would have a far stronger balance sheet than it has at the moment. The stadium hasn’t moved forward for the simple reason the current owners have not been able to raise the finance. They can quite rightly point to the lack of credit in the markets generally in the last year but the overriding problem for them has been that they saddled the Club and their holding company with too much debt to fund their purchase and running of the club, leaving no ability to raise further funds for the stadium. </span>
<span><span><span> </span> </span></span>
</p><p><span>Under ShareLiverpoolFC ownership, the Club would be in a far stronger financial position. We are proposing the repayment of some £250 million of bank debt; and significantly improving the terms on the remaining £100 million debt because of the injection of the new capital. With the financial strength of the Club much improved it would then be much better placed to raise the additional financing necessary to increase the capacity of the stadium (new or existing). Because the Club wouldn’t be saddled with having to repay other debt, the increased revenues from the larger capacity could be used for the repayment of capital and interest on the stadium borrowing. </span>
</p><p>
</p><p>
<span><span><span><span>Q. How will SLFC generate money for transfer fees?</span></span><span><span> </span></span> </span></span>
</p><p><span>LFC is currently one of the best followed and most successful clubs in Europe. Unlike Man City (or Chelsea a few years ago) a new owner will not have to make extensive (and expensive) additions to the playing staff to take the club up a number of levels immediately on taking over the club. That said, we recognise that it is essential that LFC is able to compete at the top end of the transfer market ongoing. Our assessment is that LFC will be better able to do that from its operating cash flows than it is at present with the expensive short term debt that it currently carries. Our plans do not anticipate the need for material ongoing cash injections from its shareholders. We understand that this is the way that other clubs such as Man Utd and Arsenal operate and how Chelsea would like to. [...]
<span>.</span>
ReplyDelete<span><span><span>Q. What would any incoming commercial partners get for their investment?</span></span><span><span>
</span></span></span>
<p><span>What any prospective joint venture commercial partner might seek to get out of their investment with us in LFC would depend on their own business plans; at this stage we can’t be any more specific than this. However, a lot of major businesses have invested in football clubs in recent years and a number are still actively looking. They all have their own reasons, some of which involve gaining access to the club’s fan base for cross selling or increasing their own global profile. We see no conflict in doing this in partnership with that same fan base. In fact we see this as a major advantage for a potential partner.</span>
</p><p>
<span><span><span><span><span>Q. How can we make sure that any incoming commercial partners are 'fit and proper'?</span></span><span> </span> </span></span></span>
</p><p><span>
Yes, of course we have to ensure that any partner is “fit and proper” In our opinion “fit and proper” covers a wide range of criteria from financial strength of the organisation to meet the obligations it takes on to the personal integrity of the individuals behind it. Whilst there is a process we would have to go through to assess any partner ultimately fit and proper is a matter of judgement. We would be setting high standards in any judgements we make.</span>
</p>
Yes, I know, and I would definitely be willing to invest.
ReplyDeleteI'm well up for the SL thing. I just worry that there wont be enough participants willing to invest £500.
ReplyDeleteI've not read the SL website in full yet, does anyone know if there is an option to sell on your share? I assume there will be.
Additionally will the share value be protected so that it always costs £500? or maybe fluctuates with inflation.
What you dont want is scenario whereby the shares are available on the open market for people to make money on as that is not the aim of the game.
Anyone got any info on this?
Additionally I, along with probably many other fans would be willing to further donate towards transfers at 0% interest. It would be like shareholders not recieving dividends with the money being re-invested.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happens, we need to make sure that the right people are involved and somebody has a 51% stake.
The only problem I see with having commercial investors aswel is that a major investor would want the 51% stake to control the club. Otherwise it becomes directionless andwe would end up with a situation like we have now.
Can anyone see a major shareholder not wanting a 51% stake? I think its unlikely.
does this printed in your response above completey rubbish you recent articles on LFC and its level of Debt etc. Have you seen the light.
ReplyDelete<span>However, we would have a big advantage over the current owners in that the club would have a far stronger balance sheet than it has at the moment. The stadium hasn’t moved forward for the simple reason the current owners have not been able to raise the finance. They can quite rightly point to the lack of credit in the markets generally in the last year but the overriding problem for them has been that they saddled the Club and their holding company with too much debt to fund their purchase and running of the club, leaving no ability to raise further funds for the stadium. </span>
<span><span><span> </span> </span></span>
<span>Under ShareLiverpoolFC ownership, the Club would be in a far stronger financial position. We are proposing the repayment of some £250 million of bank debt; and significantly improving the terms on the remaining £100 million debt because of the injection of the new capital. With the financial strength of the Club much improved it would then be much better placed to raise the additional financing necessary to increase the capacity of the stadium (new or existing). Because the Club wouldn’t be saddled with having to repay other debt, the increased revenues from the larger capacity could be used for the repayment of capital and interest on the stadium borrowing.</span>
Read more: http://www.liverpool-kop.com/2010/06/care-about-future-of-lfc-throw-your.html#ixzz0qMC7hqnb
No.
ReplyDeleteThis is not feesable at £350 mill is it.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the ShareLiverpool scheme as financially feasible. Explain to me why a commercial investor would take 2% loan stock??? Or the bank for that matter???
ReplyDeleteIf a commercial investor, or the bank, were willing to take such a paltry return then the club would have no problem servicing the debts. You think the owners like paying more than 8% interest?
You can describe the loan stock as equity... but would the bank and commercial investor have majority control? Probably not, the whole point of this thing is to allow the fans to have control. So unless ShareLiverpoolFC has a plan to raise the whole £350m or close to it (which I doubt will be enough to buy the club anyways), this whole plan doesn't fly.
Barcelona managed to get 150,000 fans onboard their ownership scheme and they pay an annual due.
ReplyDeleteSome sources claim the club is still more than 300m euros in debt though.
I'm all for share Liverpool FC and will pledge my support with cold hard cash should the time come, but would think twice if the mentally challenged flag burners were involved!
ReplyDeleteit does mate. The level of debt according to SLFC is circa 350m according to you its 100m less you are obviously right and everyone else is totally wrong BarclaysCapitol, RBS infact all the financial involved say the same thing debt level 350 interest 40m. I know this isnt the topic but you are the only person who thinks the level of debt is less than stated above. If youare that good with numbers maybe you should become a Banker :-D
ReplyDeleteDid you say 'banker'?
ReplyDeleteHa Ha
God I'm sad..
This is why debating these issue with people like you is pointless: you just do not see and/or fail to understand the nuances of the situation.
ReplyDeleteHow many times do I have to say this? The following is irrefutable recorded fact:
* The CLUB, i.e. Liverpool FC is run through a company called 'Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd' (LFCAGL)
* There are 4 holding companies owned/operated by H+G: 2 are based in the UK; 2 outside.
* The two IN the UK are:
1. Kop Football Limited (KFL)
2. Kop Football (Holdings) Ltd (KFHL)
* The TOTAL current level of Debt on LFCAGL is 226m.
* The TOTAL current level of debt on KFL is 351m
* The 351m is NOT OWED BY LFCAGL, and it is NOT LIABLE for that debt.
* For the latest financial year, LFCAGL owes 9.3m interest, NOT 40m.
The distinctions between the various companies are vitally important, and will prove to be so when the club is sold.
Going around saying that 'Liverpool FC is debt by 351m and has interest payments of 40m) is 100% WRONG. The press do this because they can't be bothered to report the distinction. It's seemingly too complicated for people to understand. Plus, the higher figures sound more damaging.
I've explained these points in detail over and over. If you don't want to accept them, that's your problem.
This is why, even when I don't agree with you, I enjoy coming to this site. As an American I appreciate the fact that you are not promoting the "Yanks out!" mentality but the "George and Tom" out mentality. I really enjoyed this article in particular. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeletegood read jamie,I always read your posts because they are always unbiased etc and I agree with your view of sos,spoilt little brats
ReplyDeleteThe corporate structure is a red herring. However the web of companies are structured, the only asset in all the companies is LFC. The long term position is that H&G are going to pay off all of the debts with the proceed of the sale of the club.
ReplyDeleteIf the interest is not being paid by money from the club, it is being added to the loan.
Ultimately a huge amount of money has been loaned against the club. There are significant interest costs. The money is not going to be paid from H&G's pocket. So it is either going to come from the fans or the next owner.
Jaimie is only promoting ShareLiverpool because he thinks it would annoy SOS. You'll see from his previous articles that he's very much a fan of our current ownership. The fact is that many people have signed up to both ShareLiverpool and SOS, myself included, and see both groups as being (for all their differences) very much working towards a common goal (if not exactly working together!) - Both groups see the removal of Hicks and Gillett as being the most crucial issue facing the club, and both groups see fan ownership of the club as being the ideal conclusion.
ReplyDeleteYanks Out. SOS.
Jaimie is only promoting ShareLiverpool because he thinks it would annoy SOS. You'll see from his previous articles that he's very much a fan of our current ownership. The fact is that many people have signed up to both ShareLiverpool and SOS, myself included, and see both groups as being (for all their differences) very much working towards a common goal (if not exactly working together!) - Both groups see the removal of Hicks and Gillett as being the most crucial issue facing the club, and both groups see fan ownership of the club as being the ideal conclusion.
ReplyDeleteGet The Yanks Out. SOS.
Burning flags with a <span>xenophobic approach is NOT the way to get change. I do like the concept and creation of a group that has LFC's best interests at heart and for that reason will not disrespect SOS, but, this is the 21st century. Riots and name calling does not get results, (there's lots of examples of that method failing throught history) Share LFC has taken the diplomatic approach that,with enough support, should get the result ALL LFC fans want, and that is a change of ownership . No tempers raised, no harm done. Just posotive change.</span>
ReplyDeleteSLFC appear to disagree with the articles that you were posting last week Jamie. Several articles ago, you were proclaiming that the H&G debt was not harming LFC. SLFC seem to agree with many posters that the debt saddled on the club is having a negative impact because the leveraged debt means that we can't borrow more funds to fund the stadium. A point that was made time and again but you refused to accept. I wonder what are your views now?
ReplyDeleteimma cookie
ReplyDelete<span>
ReplyDeleteIn the last month both Spirit of Shankly and ShareLiverpoolFC have had a significant number of approaches urging both organisations to work harder for a more formal arrangement between them.
Both organisations want to reassure their members and registrants that they entirely share the view that supporters' organisations need to work together in order to secure fan ownership of our club.
Spirit of Shankly and ShareLiverpoolFC have worked hard over the last few months, and particularly the last few weeks, to formalise the combined work of both organisations toward this shared objective.
There were some difficulties in developing the structure of a merged organisation but both organisations remain totally committed to working towards the same goal and have never lost sight of this fact during the dialogue.
We are pleased to say that the discussions that have been continuing have resulted in the issues between the organisations being largely resolved.
Both organisations are currently finalising the details of how a unified organisation to deliver fan ownership will work. We would hope to be able to make a formal announcement within the next couple of weeks about this, but it is reassuring that we can now look forward to coordinated supporters' ownership being pursued in tandem by both Spirit of Shankly and ShareLiverpoolFC.
http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spirit-of-Shankly-and-ShareLiverpoolFC-Update.html</span>
I see ShareLiverpool and SOS are shortly to link up, Jaimie.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/Spirit-of-Shankly-and-ShareLiverpoolFC-Update.html
Will you continue your anti-SOS stance under such circumstances? Or perhaps drop your support for ShareLiverpool?