On Thursday, a man called Justin Barnes had a meeting with another man called Julian Pitts – in a summit that could shape the future of the biggest club in England outside of the Premier League.
Barnes is a close associate of Mike Ashley and has been described as the former Newcastle United owner’s ‘most powerful and abrasive lieutenant’. Pitts is the national managing partner for restructuring at administrators Begbies Traynor, who are overseeing the sale of crisis-hit Sheffield Wednesday.
Daily Mail Sport understands the meeting had been in the diary for some time and was not called to discuss the club, but it is safe to assume that Wednesday will have featured heavily in Thursday’s conversation, 24 hours after the club’s proposed sale collapsed.
Indeed, to those who believe Ashley – with his expertise in distressed businesses – may well be just what is needed in S6, the pre-planned meeting could be the first bit of good fortune to befall Wednesday for some time. Ashley was one of nine interested parties who provided proof of funding to the tune of £50m to Begbies. He also made a bid north of £20m.
Late on Wednesday night that group of nine had an email from Begbies telling them the sale was back on, and that they had a week to make another offer after the Bord Group, who had blown everyone else out of the water with their belief-defying bid of £47.8m, withdrew from the process.
All of a sudden there is a deal to be done and to a man like Ashley, that could prove too much to resist.
All of a sudden there is a deal to be done for Sheffield Wednesday and to a man like Mike Ashley, that could prove too much to resist
The Bord Group’s proposed takeover collapsed just three days after Wednesday suffered relegation to League One, at the home of their rivals Sheffield United
There are many hurdles to overcome for the Sports Direct supremo, and anyone else who fancies a challenge. Much has been made of the EFL’s ‘25p in the pound’ rule that means if a bid fails to provide such compensation to creditors, then the Owls will start next season in League One with a 15-point deduction – something that could prove fatal to attracting a buyer.
Sources believe there is a conversation to be had with both the EFL and the Independent Football Regulator. The biggest creditor by far is the club’s hated former owner Dejphon Chansiri, who is owed around £64m. Why should a buyer pay £16m to compensate him for his mistakes?
There are also non-negotiables for secured creditors. Around £7-8m secures control of the company that owns the stadium, football creditors total around £2.5m, mainly in outstanding fees. A hefty chunk of that is thought to relate to the signing of Ike Ugbo from Troyes, a forward who has subsequently scored zero goals in 54 Championship appearances.
The taxman is owed around £3m, with administrative and legal costs another £3m. Before you get to Chansiri, it’s already £16m. Double that and you avoid the 15 points. It is, according to those with knowledge of the process, highly unlikely that anyone – including Ashley – will be bidding anywhere near £32m.
The 25p rule was meant to negate the impact on local businesses. It was not brought in to pay for the wanton mistakes of an owner who nearly put a grand old club in the ground. To that end Ashley, or other interested parties, may even offer to pay that 25p to the non-secured creditors who are not called Chansiri. It is thought such a move would cost around £1.5m.
Should it get to a place where this 159-year-old club stands or falls on a payment to Chansiri, it is hard to see the EFL insisting the money is handed over.
Three or four of the nine have told administrators they remain keen, and Ashley’s main opposition appears to be the Storch group, who told BBC Radio Sheffield this week they are ready and waiting.
But according to insiders, few were amused last time they made a bid, only to significantly move the goalposts on deadline day by trying to include incentives for promotions to the Championship and Premier League rather than cash up front – of zero use to creditors, who tend to want to be paid now.
The biggest creditor by far is the club’s hated former owner Dejphon Chansiri, who is owed around £64m. Why should a buyer pay £16m to compensate him for his mistakes?
An advantage for Ashley and Storch is the transparency of their funding. Ashley would sail through tests given his businesses are based in the UK with information readily available at Companies House. Much of David Storch’s success has come from the aviation services industry in the United States and well-regulated businesses. Again, compliance with EFL and IFR requirements would not be an issue.
Sheffield-born entrepreneur Ryan Howsam explored the situation before the Bord group gained exclusivity on Christmas Eve, with a view to making his friend – ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan – part of the management. Jordan lambasted the Chansiri situation on talkSPORT after the collapse while Howsam told local media he would not entertain an offer without assurances that no points deduction would be forthcoming.
So here we are. And yet there was relief inside Hillsborough when the deal collapsed. ‘It just never smelled right,’ said one club source. ‘It sounds like a really stupid thing to say but there’s a confidence that other, more suitable options are ready to step in.’
However, an agent who has experience of dealing with the Bord group at Dunfermline Athletic has only praise. ‘If you put a player in at Dunfermline you get paid straight away,’ they said. As Daily Mail Sport revealed, they paid a non-refundable £2.5m deposit, and further sums paid to keep the club going means they have just set fire to £4m.
Group member Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil blamed differences between the bid they had lodged, which later emerged to be that staggering £47.8m, and the actual value of the club. This newspaper asked how – given the amount of time that had passed and due diligence taken – the difference only came to light now.
Bin Jamil, a member of the Jordanian royal family, said a structural survey of Hillsborough, which highlighted the full extent of the finance needed, only landed on Monday. Some believe that is a smokescreen, and that the group had realised that they were unlikely to pass either the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test or the requirements of the Independent Football Regulator.
Since administrators arrived in October, hundreds of thousands has already been spent on making the stadium safe, which will have given a clue to the costs needed. A local firm working on the South Stand did so for free on the promise they would be paid when the next tranche of EFL money landed in January.
The Bord group is now history, along with their £4m, and the hope is that Wednesday do not go the same way. Is that a real possibility? If no bid is forthcoming relatively soon it is difficult to see a future, not least because of those stadium costs. The fans’ trust could step in and scale everything back but they would need hundreds of thousands a year to fund an ageing, 40,000-capacity home.
If no new bidder is forthcoming, the club would need hundreds of thousands a year to fund the maintenance of Hillsborough, their ageing, 40,000-capacity home
It is to be hoped the ghost of Chansiri does not continue to haunt Sheffield Wednesday
Ashley is a man with an eye for a bargain and Wednesday are approaching that territory.
Despite all the problems, this is a club with a huge fanbase and huge potential. Should he get things right, £20m may seem a snip in a few years’ time.
Much will depend on any points deduction – if a year in League One is difficult to stomach, two may prove impossible. One avenue may be to press for the deduction to be delivered in this already-doomed season.
It is to be hoped the ghost of Dejphon Chansiri does not continue to haunt Sheffield Wednesday.
