"The ICT Thread - From the Premiership to the Seaside"

[Sergeant Wilson]

14 minutes ago, CountyinBorders said:

True, but even when an American with nothing more than a basic knowledge of Scottish football can see that this man is a chancer at best and lunatic at worst and without funds, you do have to wonder what assurances have been put to the board. Has there been something even as basic as proof of funds?

He's got collateral.

[CountyinBorders]

6 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

He's got collateral.

With a promised investment of 2 dream rings per director for 2 years.

[ICTChris]

12 minutes ago, CountyinBorders said:

True, but even when an American with nothing more than a basic knowledge of Scottish football can see that this man is a chancer at best and lunatic at worst and without funds, you do have to wonder what assurances have been put to the board. Has there been something even as basic as proof of funds?

One of the guys in our WhatsApp group sent the story on Friday when it was published on the website, I got it when I was sitting outside the gym in my car.  I Googled the guys name and immediately replied saying "this has big red flags" - the guy's name comes up with crypto companies, he seems to have loads of 'business speaking' gigs but no actual businesses.  That was from a single Google search, let alone actually having a business carry out checks.  Who knows what the board did, my guess would be absolutely f**k all.

[LeodhasXD]

Is it at this point confirmed that Ketan Makwana is the majority owner? Or can the plug be pulled at some point?

[CountyinBorders]

15 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

One of the guys in our WhatsApp group sent the story on Friday when it was published on the website, I got it when I was sitting outside the gym in my car.  I Googled the guys name and immediately replied saying "this has big red flags" - the guy's name comes up with crypto companies, he seems to have loads of 'business speaking' gigs but no actual businesses.  That was from a single Google search, let alone actually having a business carry out checks.  Who knows what the board did, my guess would be absolutely f**k all.

But surely if Caley go under (god forbid that happens) after this the board could be taken to court for negligence?

[Buzz Killington]

12 minutes ago, LeodhasXD said:

Is it at this point confirmed that Ketan Makwana is the majority owner? Or can the plug be pulled at some point?

The club statement the other day just says they accepted an offer.  It also ends with :

Quote

More information will be released in the coming days and weeks and again on the legal completion of the deal.

So hopefully still time for it to all fall through.

[LeodhasXD]

2 minutes ago, Buzz Killington said:

The club statement the other day just says they accepted an offer.  It also ends with :

So hopefully still time for it to all fall through.

Cheers. Just the reporting on it terrifies me as it sounds so inevitable.

[ICTChris]

7 minutes ago, LeodhasXD said:

Is it at this point confirmed that Ketan Makwana is the majority owner? Or can the plug be pulled at some point?

For him to become majority owner, he needs to buy a majority of the shares.  He can either buy the shares from existing shareholders or the club can issue new ones for him to buy.  The club don't have an overall majority owner at the moment, as far as we can tell - there are various factions of people who own shares.  Muirfield Mills (group who invested around 2014) are one, David Sutherland and his family (former chairman of Tullochs who effectively owned the club from 2002) are another.  Alan Savage and Dougie MacGilvary (both former chairmen, owners of Orion Group and Weldex respectively) and their families also own a percentage of shares.  Either these guys need to sell their shares to Makwana or approve the issuing of new shares for him to buy.

Given that the club have said they have approved the bid in principle, we can assume that some sort of agreement has been reached.  The obvious thing would be for new shares to be issued as that would actually give money to the club rather than the guys who own shares - it would tkae millions of pounds to buy the shares of the existing shareholders and obviously that money would then go into their bank accounts.  The existing shareholders need to approve the issuing of new shares as it will dilute their own holdings.  One would assume that in the normal world the club and the shareholders would ask to see proof of funds from Makwana and his group before agreeing to this so we know he's going to actually come up with the money.  I say in the normal world as this is our club we are talking about, the board and admnistration are serially incompentent.

Looking at the details of Makwana's companies, one of them has a loan agreement with a Jersey based financial company.  It has to be assumed that's his funding but we don't know how much, we don't know what they have over him.  Is he expecting to make loads of money from lower league Scottish football so he can pay back the people loaning him the money?  If the people loaning him the money want control of the club why don't they just buy it, instead of using this odd person as a front?  The reasons why they wouldn't are not positive for the future of the club.

At this point, I honestly am starting to think it would be best to just go out of business.  Get it over with as I can't see any way this isn't going to happen.

[Grumpy Soo-sider]

2 hours ago, CountyinBorders said:

The Yank Part 2

 

And by god please don't let that man near Caley Thistle.

This looks like a complete and utter disaster waiting to happen. So many red flags and the Caley Thistle board seem totally unaware. I am genuinely worried about the future for ICT.

[The Moonster]

6 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

For him to become majority owner, he needs to buy a majority of the shares.  He can either buy the shares from existing shareholders or the club can issue new ones for him to buy.  The club don't have an overall majority owner at the moment, as far as we can tell - there are various factions of people who own shares.  Muirfield Mills (group who invested around 2014) are one, David Sutherland and his family (former chairman of Tullochs who effectively owned the club from 2002) are another.  Alan Savage and Dougie MacGilvary (both former chairmen, owners of Orion Group and Weldex respectively) and their families also own a percentage of shares.  Either these guys need to sell their shares to Makwana or approve the issuing of new shares for him to buy.

Given that the club have said they have approved the bid in principle, we can assume that some sort of agreement has been reached.  The obvious thing would be for new shares to be issued as that would actually give money to the club rather than the guys who own shares - it would tkae millions of pounds to buy the shares of the existing shareholders and obviously that money would then go into their bank accounts.  The existing shareholders need to approve the issuing of new shares as it will dilute their own holdings.  One would assume that in the normal world the club and the shareholders would ask to see proof of funds from Makwana and his group before agreeing to this so we know he's going to actually come up with the money.  I say in the normal world as this is our club we are talking about, the board and admnistration are serially incompentent.

Looking at the details of Makwana's companies, one of them has a loan agreement with a Jersey based financial company.  It has to be assumed that's his funding but we don't know how much, we don't know what they have over him.  Is he expecting to make loads of money from lower league Scottish football so he can pay back the people loaning him the money?  If the people loaning him the money want control of the club why don't they just buy it, instead of using this odd person as a front?  The reasons why they wouldn't are not positive for the future of the club.

At this point, I honestly am starting to think it would be best to just go out of business.  Get it over with as I can't see any way this isn't going to happen.

Are we perhaps looking at a similar situation that has gone on at Dumbarton, where the prospective owner took out a loan against the clubs assets, then used that loan to buy the club? Perhaps he's granted this Jersey based company one or more of your assets as collateral, as it's clear he's got f**k all of his own. 

[ICTChris]

Just now, The Moonster said:

Are we perhaps looking at a similar situation that has gone on at Dumbarton, where the prospective owner took out a loan against the clubs assets, then used that loan to buy the club? Perhaps he's granted this Jersey based company one or more of your assets as collateral, as it's clear he's got f**k all of his own. 

That would be the obvious conclusion to draw from it.

[welshbairn]

Verging on conspiracy theories now, but the guy who founded Factortech, the Jersey investment firm who have a charge on Seventy7 Ventures, George Nianias, appears in the Panama Papers as Vice President of Denholm Hall Russia Arbitrage, a firm specialising in lending to high net worth individuals in Russia. The various Denholm Hall named companies he was a director of have either been dissolved or he's resigned.

https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/82005233

 

[LeodhasXD]

6 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

At this point, I honestly am starting to think it would be best to just go out of business.  Get it over with as I can't see any way this isn't going to happen.

It's certainly my prediction with how it looks. These web3 grifters should be avoided like the plague.

If it was Alloa this was happening at I'd be making my preparations for a phoenix club.

[TheScarf]

This is 140,000,000% a final 'fuck you' from Morrison and Gardiner to the fans for the backlash from the Kelty debacle.  Those two cunts should be in the fucking jail.

[Buzz Killington]

Whats the charge, murder of a club a succulent football club?

[ICTChris]

33 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Verging on conspiracy theories now, but the guy who founded Factortech, the Jersey investment firm who have a charge on Seventy7 Ventures, George Nianias, appears in the Panama Papers as Vice President of Denholm Hall Russia Arbitrage, a firm specialising in lending to high net worth individuals in Russia. The various Denholm Hall named companies he was a director of have either been dissolved or he's resigned.

https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/82005233

 

The guy is a fund manager from Jersey, if he doesn't appear in the Panama Papers he isn't doing his job.

[lanky_ffc]

44 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

e we perhaps looking at a similar situation that has gone on at Dumbarton, where the prospective owner took out a loan against the clubs assets, then used that loan to buy the club? Perhaps he's granted this Jersey based company one or more of your assets as collateral, as it's clear he's got f**k all of his own. 

Still mental to me that this is allowed to happen.

[Stephen Malkmus]

Can't believe The Caley board's first meeting with Ketan Makwana was filmed.

[Otis Blue]

49 minutes ago, Grumpy Soo-sider said:

This looks like a complete and utter disaster waiting to happen. So many red flags and the Caley Thistle board seem totally unaware. I am genuinely worried about the future for ICT.

Nice of you to add your heartfelt concerns for the financial health of ICT ... no doubt in a private moment you'll also be surmising as to the ultimate future of the mighty Spiders once the Haughey lad gets bored of temporarily funding his southside plaything in favour of helping his wee pal Brendan seek an alternative to perennial Champions League irrelevance.  A wee touch of irony here perhaps?

[Artemis]

55 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

For him to become majority owner, he needs to buy a majority of the shares.  He can either buy the shares from existing shareholders or the club can issue new ones for him to buy.  The club don't have an overall majority owner at the moment, as far as we can tell - there are various factions of people who own shares.  Muirfield Mills (group who invested around 2014) are one, David Sutherland and his family (former chairman of Tullochs who effectively owned the club from 2002) are another.  Alan Savage and Dougie MacGilvary (both former chairmen, owners of Orion Group and Weldex respectively) and their families also own a percentage of shares.  Either these guys need to sell their shares to Makwana or approve the issuing of new shares for him to buy.

Given that the club have said they have approved the bid in principle, we can assume that some sort of agreement has been reached.  The obvious thing would be for new shares to be issued as that would actually give money to the club rather than the guys who own shares - it would tkae millions of pounds to buy the shares of the existing shareholders and obviously that money would then go into their bank accounts.  The existing shareholders need to approve the issuing of new shares as it will dilute their own holdings.  One would assume that in the normal world the club and the shareholders would ask to see proof of funds from Makwana and his group before agreeing to this so we know he's going to actually come up with the money.  I say in the normal world as this is our club we are talking about, the board and admnistration are serially incompentent.

Looking at the details of Makwana's companies, one of them has a loan agreement with a Jersey based financial company.  It has to be assumed that's his funding but we don't know how much, we don't know what they have over him.  Is he expecting to make loads of money from lower league Scottish football so he can pay back the people loaning him the money?  If the people loaning him the money want control of the club why don't they just buy it, instead of using this odd person as a front?  The reasons why they wouldn't are not positive for the future of the club.

At this point, I honestly am starting to think it would be best to just go out of business.  Get it over with as I can't see any way this isn't going to happen.

The going concern note to the 2023 accounts (lodged on 3 July 2024) says
”The Directors are currently in dialogue with interested parties who are looking to invest in the future success and financial sustainability of the club by providing permanent equity funding via a share purchase”
So it looks like the intention was for any investors to acquire newly issued share capital rather than buying out the existing shareholders.