Trust chair Keith Morgan, a football finance expert, writes to members in the wake of the reported interest of a Gareth Bale fronted consortium in buying at least a share in Cardiff City FC.
There has been considerable discussion on social media recently about a bid to acquire Cardiff City FC from current owner Vincent Tan. The situation seems to be somewhat confusing but the actual position appears to be as follows:
Claims that an actual bid by a US based consortium has been made are a bit misleading. As a result of a conversation the Trust has had with the club at board level it seems that no formal bid has been made for the club to consider. Rather, a notice of intention to make such an offer was delivered direct to owner Vincent Tan who seems to have had little interest in it and, in the absence of an actual bid, the matter was not progressed further. The board have confirmed that no bid has been received and that one is not anticipated.
In a very recent Sky Sports interview Gareth Bale stated that he would be interested in being involved with a consortium looking to acquire the club but didn’t claim that an actual bid had been made. He said that something might happen in the future but put no timescale on it.
The consortium seem to have to date just started what I would call a “fishing trip”. i.e put some bait on a line to various football clubs (Plymouth Argyle have been mentioned to date but there may have been others) to see if any of them take a “bite” by showing an intent to explore the matter further.
I have taken soundings from some of my former business colleagues in the accountancy world (some of them having football advisory experience) and their view, and one that might be shared by the owner, is that it would be inadvisable to consider a sale of the club at the moment for a number of reasons, including the following
- As a consequence of last season’s relegation the club’s income from TV/media rights and the solidarity payments through the EFL agreement with the Premier League has dropped by a total of approximately £10m. This obviously impacts on the selling value of the club.
- The formal hearing in the ongoing legal claim against FC Nantes is due to be held in just a few months time in September with a ruling laid down by the end of this calendar year. If the claim is successful (and there is great optimism that it will) then the club could benefit by many millions of pounds. This would significantly increase the value of the club.
In summary, the position remains uncertain. The Trust will continue to provide updates and commentaries if and when the situation changes
Keith Morgan
Chair