Sporting Club deny Everton takeover rumours

It's no great wonder the club is unsalable if that's what's being asked. Disgraceful.

Link

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/Everton-refusing-comment-rumours-225m-10272631

- building a new stadium,
- signing commercial deals with global brands and
- creating a new model for fan communication.

Oh, and they've won trophies.

In short, he seems too focussed an individual to waste his time "negotiating" with Kenwright.

"All I can say to that is that the information did not come from Everton — and that is 100%."

Who knows?

One thing for sure, though, the Sporting KC group know what they're doing.

Having said that, I can't imagine there is much they could learn on marketing from Everton although on the playing front the facilities at Finch Farm might open their eyes a little!

Asking price now 𧶙 mill apparently?

𧶙 million – really glad Bill has only the Club's best interests at heart... Mind you, after all the money the Board members have put into the Club from their own pockets, they deserve to make a few bob on a sale of 𧶙 million.

We'd have to rewrite the Wizard of Oz with blue shoes. Make em suede and maybe we can see Elvis leave the building.

This one does seem to be more legit to me, if McNulty is bothered reporting it and it doesn't come from the club. What's not to like about having suitors... and therefore being able to possibly move the club ahead? And keep Barkley, Stones etc.

Perhaps it's not about a takeover at all, and Kansas will take Howard and we'll get Butland in his stead? (Feb rumors: http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2015-02-15/tim-howard-eyeing-return-to-major-league-soccer).

But most importantly, maybe we'll find out after all: Who is the man behind the Everton curtain?

Then one very curious Blues fan tweeted a certain Robb Heineman if he was visiting Everton on Saturday, who then proceeded to retweet that. Still no big deal, right? After all, the Everton USA fan group just had a great trip to Goodison not so long ago...

It's not season ticket renewal time... maybe, just maybe?

Move along now, nothing to see here.

I wonder how many prospective investors have already moved on because Blue Bill was looking for such an extreme margin? Seems a bit greedy to me and that we are expected to believe it's because no investors have been ’right’ for the club when in fact it's more likely than none of them have been willing to pay the inflated price.

Anyway, I’m just going on gut hunches and maybe the figures are way off or in fact very reasonable but doesn’t feel that way. Either way it would be good to get a team in place off the pitch who really know how to run a high class sports team.

I am afraid I cannot shift my cynicism. Coming so soon after the announcement of an AGM, this does seem to fit the Bill to shift attention away from the usual "where's the investment?" questions.

No doubt in February there will be some more new ground stories.

I am positive we would all LOVE to see some ambitious and rich new owners, but until they're are in the news splashing the cash, I will look on with hope rather than expectation.

Whether or not there is substance to the stories and whatever the club response will be, it does no credit to the club's image to take a three monkeys attitude.

Thank you for the 'unofficial' forums!

Is he likely to spend a 3rd of his wealth to buy the club and then another 3rd of his wealth to improve the stadium and funds for the 1st team squad...? No, I don't think so either.

I guess the Yanks could 'do a Man Utd' and endeavour to load the purchase price onto the club against future profits but I suspect that would take a lifetime to clear.

In reality, we've yet to see any justification for Bill's selling price being even as high as 𧴜M but he's spent his life in cloud cuckoo land so, perhaps, this story is par for the course!

That was in 1999. It was also for 68% of the shares not all of them. Personally I wouldn't want Everton sold to Americans. They're only interested in profit and don't have anywhere near enough money to compete with Europe's richest clubs.

We need someone who is basically prepared to invest 100's of millions without any prospect of getting it back. Like City and Chelsea's owners.

FSG took over at the RS thinking they could make Liverpool successful on the relatively cheap. They are now paying Klopp £7,000,000 a year. No doubt he'll want a huge transfer budget. A lot more than what Brenda spent and a wage structure to match. Not to mention redeveloping Anfield.

If we just want to go on as we are then no doubt these Americans would be adequate but if we want to really compete we need a multi billionaire with money to burn.

For how many years now?

Not having a clue how figures are set (𧶙mill - 𧶲 mill) I must say, that seems steep to me, for a debt-ridden club with a stadium that needs rebuilding/replacing.

What I would say though, that if this story has any foundation, I'd me made up if the American group bought it. If we are going (well if BK and Co are going) to sit around waiting for a Sheikh, or an Oligarch to come along along and sprinkle us with stardust, we'll be waiting a very long time!

Jamie (14) your post seems somewhat cryptic (or maybe my nerves have gone!) What have you read?

I really do hope it's true but, like most of us, I can't help thinking it's panto time again... (Well, AGM time anyway!!!)

The media can screw things up by jumping the gun on occasion and especially when Everton are involved. Not that I can see anybody buying Everton in the near future, media hindered or not.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/premier-leagues-richest-clubs-how-6293748

Sooner or later, we will be sold, and a deal will be struck so these stories are inevitable; will it happen that this the one? Maybe it is...

"I can handle the despair... it's the hope I can't."

I disagree. We don't need (nor are likely to get) an owner who just wants to throw £100s of millions at us without any hope of a return. That's a tiny number of people in any case, it's not really that great for football in general, it's not really sustainable in the long run, and I don't particularly want to be some oligarch or Arab royalty's plaything.

Far better as an alternative is some solid investment that makes us more competitive, but at the same time an approach that runs us as a high quality business model; so that Everton, not "Mr Billionaire", is the sustainable part of the concern; investing in youth development (which we're already pretty good at), commercial activities, stadium infrastructure.

I would far prefer a more Arsenal style model for the future than a Man City or Chelsea type model.

Bill didn't want to let go when we were on the verge of administration, so I find any of this story difficult to believe now that we are due to receive a record amount of TV money.

If someone is offering the sort of money mentioned above, however, then he may have no choice but to sell if the others want out and his health is failing. Compared to the likes of Villa though, I just can't see us being sold unless it was for a drastically reduced price.

Personally, I don't believe a word of it. I wouldn't even put it past this mob to leak this story to deflect some of the criticism that will be coming their way from the soon-to-be-aborted WHP project.

Why should any would-be purchaser of Everton think there is easy money to be made here even with the new TV monies coming in? Villa at 𧵎M seems a far better bet.

Read into that what you will.

What about us? The fans, don't we count at all?

Regarding the asking price, would player value of the squad not demand that sort of figure?

Not that I'm prone to speculating, obviously.

I need to go to bed.

All these posters talking about the Venky's and problematic Yanks make me laugh. When one of our own has taken the piss for the last 15 years, lying through his back teeth and stagnating the club, I would even venture to say the guy in the flat in Manchester would have shown more interest in taking the club forward.

Wake up people, this is what Bill's good at. A couple of yanks visit Goodison for Dunc's testimonial, get a bit of the VIP treatment with seat's in the Directors Box, and hey ho, were being sold for £225m...(Complete with 10 outstanding mortgages/charges against the club!)

FFS... I'm off to see the wizard... or the shrink.

TV money is not guaranteed (relegation) and neither are player values (injury, loss of form and reduced time on contracts)...

I can maybe believe there has been some interest, but then they hear the price??

Let me know when we're in the due diligence phase!

Current owners are unable to provide the money to address that particular issue so new owners, whoever they may be, are our only hope.

The other relevant point to the comments are 'controlling interest'. 51% to be precise... that means Bill and another could sell the bulk of their shares and still keep an interest... if they wanted too.

For some reason I think this will happen...

It's the price though. £225M? Just say that out loud! It's crazy. I could see that price being acceptable without the debt we have, but not in addition to the debt we have.

If it's £225M for the shares alone... that's approximately £335M when debt is factored in!

ProSoccerTalk has also learned that other ownership groups of pro franchises in the US are "in the running" for Everton as Kenwright looks to be gaining some ground in his hunt for fresh investment. Numbers suggested for the purchase of the club have been rumored to be around $150m for the team itself, then $85m for Goodison and then to clear the club of the debt levels it had in 2014, that would take another $50-75 million. In total, Kenwright and the board would be willing to let the club go for significantly less than the $347 million figure previously reported.

The more I think about it, the more I think £250 million is way to high. I'd love the Americans to take over and if they did a job along the lines of the other lot's owners, then we'd start getting somewhere.

Some on here are like women at a dance saying who they want or don't want as suitor! All we can do is hope that any prospective buyer/s are on the same lines as the Yanks over the Park

By the way, how much did Randy Lerner want for Aston Villa? That ground looks in a lot better shape than ours and I'd be interested to know what, if any, debts they have.

Isn't there a statement due from the club in November regarding the WHP project? If there is, I can't see it coming to fruition with this lot in charge.

I'm going for a Lemsip!

Or, put another way, while Goodison crumbles, Bill and his uber-rich cronies refuse to invest a penny of their own money while we pay millions in interest to an anonymous company in the BVI with the same business address as Robert Earl.

There is none so blind as those that can't see.

I think we just have to give Kenwright his due, he has at least put the club back on solid ground. Has there been missteps, yes. But we are on the cusp now where a relatively modest investment would get us into the top three on a regular basis.

If you compare Everton now to 10 years ago, it would be very hard to say Bill has done a bad job.

I'm going to be blindly positive and put it down to naivety...

'We are on the cusp now where a relatively modest investment would get us into the top three on a regular basis.'

...definitely naivety.

You're not related to Martin Mason, are you? Martin takes the piss but at least he knows his football.

Regarding your last sentence, I wouldn't go that far....

We'll believe a genuine take over bid, only when someone with a huge fortune at their disposal, stands in front of a camera and utters the words "I want to buy Everton FC" and not before.

I haven't done the maths but I don't need to... eg, Stones £40 million; Barkley probably the same... and that's forgetting Lukaku, McCarthy and others!

It wont happen but don't underestimate the value of the club at the moment.

The prospective purchasers would, I guess take over all responsibility for paying the staff on the payroll, take over all the debts which some say are around the £100 million mark, buy the shares from the various selling parties, and then look to do something with the ground. Or go into a massive development of a new ground.

So, assuming a new ground would cost at least £150 million. (That's my guess; if anyone could put a more accurate figure, please do so.) That mounts up to around £𧹈 million before we bought any new players.

I don't know that anyone would want to put that amount of cash into this club. I hope that the rumour has some truth in it but, if this bunch in charge want that much, I couldn't see anyone buying our club.

I think we'd be lucky if the board were offered 𧴜 - 𧵎 million, considering the financial position of the club.

The men from Kansus, buying off the invisible man? truth is definitely stranger than fiction!!!

"clear the club of the debt levels it had in 2014, that would take another $50-75 million" It would be double those figures in pounds!

Surely £200M+ must be in the ballpark for a Premier League club with some good players?

I meant double the 50-75 to give £100-150m for the debt, rather than using fx rates.

We have a good young side, that is our best asset. Other than that we have shite hole of a stadium, shite deals commercially and we rent our own training ground. 𧶙m... Woweeee!!!

You can see the owners are real football people as opposed to other US team owners who are just businessmen. The team is well run on and off the pitch and very well marketed.

The main plaza in KC has viewing parties for big games which attract huge crowds. Kind of amazing given that KC has traditionally been an NFL/baseball city.

Vernier meanwhile is the big Corp that college students aspire to work for in this region. With that said, it's a lot easier and cheaper to build a good team out here than in England.

The supposed asking price would amount to about 20 percent of the owners' net worth. Considering that much of the network is tied up in shares, real estate, illiquid investments, it's hard to see them raiding the piggy bank to plunder all that cash.

I just don't see it happening. They are way too involved here trying to make KC a football Mecca. They might have asked about it but I don't see the money angle playing out but who knows?

I don't know which worries me the most.

Now I am not sure about these rumours that the Americans are moving in. But having looked at what they did for Kansas, they have proved they can improve a soccer club in the USA. I have read on here many times that fans believe the business model at Everton is all wrong and the board are happy with mid table mediocrity and given our turnover that would probably be accurate. The question is would the Americans bring in a new dynamism with a new business approach.

Would or even could they deliver a new stadium while keeping the necessary playing staff required to maintain their Premier League status while the ground is being built. Would a new ground produce enough revenue to provide us with the funds to improve the playing staff. Theoretically maybe but what about practically.

I personally would welcome change at the top. Not because I think Bill has done a bad job, but more the circumstances of the financial situation we have. Looking at the prospective bidders they seem to know how to improve business and bring success. Let's wait and see, eh.

As you discovered, Everton do not have massive debt. It's fairly normal compared to other Premier League clubs. It's a little higher than it probably should be due to taking out yearly loans against the Premier League television money. They've been doing this every year since about 2005 I believe. The other major debt was a long-term loan taken against gate receipts. That's fairly normal for most clubs.

The 2013-2014 finances stated a net debt of £28 million and a gross debt of £49 million (the difference is the roughly £21 million in cash we had on hand at the time). The debt has stayed fairly steady over the years and, for the most part, has been manageable (other than in 2011 when they had to sell Arteta to satisfy the payment).

I pointed out that Bill & his "Friends of Everton" bought their share for £22m (rumoured to have then been put onto the borrowings) and had, in fact, sold off everything and were looking to fuck off with extraordinary returns.

But at least he's one of us...

Interestingly though, it seems from the interview Parry gave to the Red Echo that you can put all sorts of conditions and covenants on sales, but there's nothing to stop the buyer ignoring it all once the deal is done.

Why are we taking out huge loans when we're not buying players or infrastructure?

We know why, don't we.

I seem to remember that the "asking price" if the board were to sell was around £200 million, when the Kirkby stadium was expected to be built.

So now, a proposed takeover would be asked for £250 million? As Matt has posted, someone believes that figure is only there to stop a "grab and run away with the profits" operation. What profits?

I can't see anyone paying £250 million for Everton and then either having to redevelop Goodison or build a new stadium on top of that.

I hope a group of investors are prepared to buy out the current bunch in charge, but more than likely, that's what current bunch want as well! A rich payday.

So Bill Kenwright is "prepared to sell if someone stands in front of him and says he wants to take Everton forward." but before they do, he wants £250 million?

I think they'd run a mile at that price.

Bill Kenright is Chairman and like any larger organisation there are shareholders. The entity sometimes makes a profit and has the right to reward shareholders with dividends if the board see fit. Its highly unusual for the shareholders to continue to throw money in as they already have when buying their shares.

Comments like "they haven't thrown a penny of their own money in and continue to burden us with debt" just show your ignorance and stupidity. Who is 'US' are you a shareholder an owner of a slice of Everton, paid for with your own money; or just a consumer of their product like the majority of us?

If you were a consumer of McVitties Jaffa Cakes and thought " fuck these things are so good, every Saturday I'm going to eat a pack of them" would you then want to tell the board of McVitties to request the shareholders put more money in to make better Jaffa Cakes... then start harping on about the Jaffa Cakes you got in the eighties were better than the Jaffa Cakes today... Think that sounds stupid then read some of the posts on here...

A takeover per se isn't necessarily a good thing. Ask Villa fans.

But if true and they are good, that would be brill.

Sadly it it you who lacks sense.

Obviously we can't compare apples with orange-based biscuits...but are McVities one pack of Jaffa-cakes away from bankruptcy? Is the McVities factory about to fail it's safety inspections? Have McVities been trying to sell the company 24/7 for well over a decade?

Stick to the cream crackers, Jakob, you're in over your head.

James 109, your right it is a business and not a hobby, but the facts are that The Chairman, is supposed to be in it for his love of Everton. This sentimentality has allowed him to get away with some disgraceful manoeuvres down the years. As Matt says, AT LEAST HES ONE OF US.

Knob.

If the analogy doesn't stand further scrutiny, then don't use it.

1234567 - All Good Children Go To Heaven.

I also believe they've used loans and public money to build their stadium and team which doesn't bode well IMO. For me it's Bill Gates or Warren Buffett or someone of real wealth.

Well Jacob (115) Hope you don't mind one of the unedjucatid having a bit of a say here, becos I found your little post a bit on the objekshionabl side, like.

I wozn awear dat Lindon as put a bar on orl us tick tipes from ritin on ere an avin are say.

In my eyes, anyone who uses the terms US, WE, OUR, when writing in the context of their association with Everton FC are doing no more than expressing their feeling of belonging to and being a part of, a Tribe, a Family, A Club, A way of living that has gone on from Grandfather to Father to son...and Daughter!

Whoever writes on here, I would think, has a tad more devotion, loyalty and belonging to OUR club, than a packet of bloody McVities Jaffa Cakes.

First and foremost, most of us (at least some of us.,or at least I do) state openly that we haven't had a business education, or even an education. But that doesn't mean they/we/I can't discuss (even if it is an uneducated, unbusinesslike submission) any aspect of The Biscuits, oops Our Club that comes to mind.

Seeing as I only got 2 O Levels (and one of them was in Art) I don't suppose I fall into the class of the Educated Elite but I'm an Evertonian, as are all the other posters on here...I think. And feel that we all contribute to, and love for better or worse, the Entity of Everton Football Club.

There's a view that we are just Consumers, Customers, which I find Crackers (sorry about the biscuit alliteration.) If we are consumers, that means to me that we can just wander over to Park and go and watch the other lot.

After all, they've won loads more than us. Or more to the point, just sit in the pub with a lot of other reds and watch them on the telly.

From an uneducated perspective and I do own to not having much busiuness sense, (or any sense come to that,) I thought (could be wrong here) that if this entity is a business, there is a slight differencve between a shareholder and the owners who are also shareholders.

If it's a buiness then the owners would decide whether to spend money, or not. Liverpool's owners seem to be investing in the club by building a new stand, with probably more to come.

Spurs are building a new stadium, Arsenal have already done so, has have Sunderland, Middlesborough, Newcastle have redeveloped theirs, United have done the same and OUR lot have done, exactly what?

There are many views that come on here, some are going to agree, some are not, to any post that's put on. Some great discusions. some heated debates and some good laughs, amongst Evertonians.

However, it's rare that I have seen such a denigating diatribe of fellow supporters, sorry, customers, as yours.

That's me fucked then.

Personally I will never understand how the current owners failed and remained in control after the once in a life time Kings Dock fiasco, everything owners have tried to do since will always ultimately be a failure due to Kings Dock which was our Golden moment.

Sadly Bill and his friends lack serious business acumen no capable group of businessmen could fail to deliver kings dock it really was a winning lottery ticket handed back as only had 99p instead of a ٟ.

But he is a blue with passion for club they have steadied the ship with help of TV money. With better business men and more financial clout from Americans ideal solution would be for Bill to stay as Chairman and the Americans to do the rest, get rid of rest of the board, Elstone and his gang of embarrassing hangers on.

Our Chairman is also well connected and respected within football, when we sell players we sell for top dollar, if he had backing from people with more financial backing, drive and interest health permitting Bill could be a great Chairman for a few more years. We all know it is his friends bank rolling the debt and we all know they are not over committed they are helping a friend and making solid investment, even if price was 𧴵M that is profit of 𧴜, not a bad return on lending mate money.

Football is money these days to make money on Everton any new owner would need plan to finance and build new ground and to improve on the pitch, as fans if they can do that who cares if Arab, American or Chinese we need investment as I hate having Bill's dream of finishing in top 6 I want to dream of winning cups and challenging for top 3, keep our current young players for another 3 years we could dream again??

And a new ground or revamped GP is 15 years overdue and without new owners we will never have a solution to ground issues as Bill and Co are incapable of delivering ground having failed for 15 years to detriment of club

What seems lost on you is: You, I, any non-shareholder or supporter of any football club have no right to lecture the Chairman, Board or the shareholders on how the they spend their's or their families money. It's really is a case of put up or shut up...

We all know that Everton have failed over the years but unless we decide to invest our own money; we have no say in how the club is run...

If this board decide to sell for a very handsome profit then in my opinion 'good on them' it's a business and they've just done very good business.

Have a cocoa and Jaffa Cake, I'm off for a pint, ta ta.

Please see me after school. Your grammar is appalling.

I don't let this stuff get me down anymore, it's just another episode of, Bugger off, we're not for sale, and that won't change until Bill goes.

Post #96 says $50 to $75 million for the debt should equate to between 㿌 and 㿜 million shouldn't it?

There are approx $1.55 to the pound...

Or have I miscalculated?

Because of Bill's nefarious poverty its proven impossible to acknowledge that in spite of all of the evidence that Everton are fielding a better team, week-in & week-out, than at any point in the last 30 years, we are actually going to hell in a hand basket because Willy from Wavertree who knows finance because he works the register at ASDA says so.

You/we will all miss Kenwright because, while he can't pump in billions of his own money into the club; Everton are better at every level now because of him.

There are approx 1.55 dollars to the £
Or have I miscalculated

Unpopular you'll be for saying it but you are correct. There is a massive disconnect with some fans who believe that as non-share holding customers of a PLC that they have or should have any significant say in how it is or should be run let alone when the owners should be changed.

Of course we have massive emotional attachment to the Company (not a club really?) but that alone doesn't give us a say in how it should be run. The Company is obliged to treat us with respect to ensure that we buy the product but they have no obligation to do any of the things that are often irrationally demanded of them.

RIP Howard Kendall, a massive presence at the club as both player and Coach. Best wishes today against Man Utd.

As for a record profit of 㿈m that's laughable as the difference between our total income and total expenditure was ٣m.

!!! We have an emotional attachment to the Company?!!! Name us one who does (apart from yourself). Such drivel.

And not an attachment to a club!!! Delusional.

Finally, I don't think that Bill Kenwright views those who are at games with him as customers. Football is different to Tesco.

For the record, a business entity as much scrutinized as Everton could maybe post false annual reports for a year or two before Her Majesties accountants from hell came knocking on the door. More especially, as the intricacies of the secret set of books that are only known to the initiates of the inner circle, keep publishing versions of them on ToffeeWeb.com

I'm willing to look at any financial statements you have that back that number up. I was looking at the Swiss Ramble's analysis of the 2013-2014 financial accounts where gross debt is 㿝 million:

http://swissramble.blogspot.com/2014/12/Everton-blue-sky-mining.html

You on the other hand have consistently been described as a WUM and demonstrated your inability to understand what debt is.

On the point of ability to repay debt, the accounts clearly show that we are unable to repay the debt, unless of course we sell assets and the only saleable assets we have are the players.

My worry is that people on here will see you as somebody who actually has some understanding of the true financial position of EFC when you patently don't.

All the figures I quote are from the Club accounts, are you doubting their veracity? Can you explain why they are not correct?

Or will you just continue to make spurious comments with no substance behind them as you usually do?

As for the ability of the Club to manage debt, do you think that increasing borrowing and increasing debt year on year is managing the debt?

This from a highly reliable source.

Everton better in every way? We haven't won a cup for 20 fucking years,

DONT YOU REMEMBER WHAT EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB USED TO STAND FOR, MIKE????????

Just spoke to my brother because my kids are fuming that he's got a ticket for Bournemouth, and he said it's easier to fly. They are not really fuming, by the way, they are just having a laugh. But don't you realise what Everton Football Club, means to people?

It means everything, and 20 years without a trophy... and a ground that is a shambles, highlights everything, to me.

Kendall gave us back our pride, but The Evertonian, who has mortgaged us up to the hilt, has never had any real pride to begin with. He used to have holes in his shoes, and now he wants 𧶲 Million to relinquish us? Some fucking Evertonian that man is.

I watched the video on the screen today when Howard Kendall's Everton fucking destroyed United five-nil.

IN THE NAME OF LOVE, BILL, PLEASE SET US FREE!

I seem to remember you arguing that, as the Board were all leaders of their industries and having vast commercial acumen, they were already maximising the club's potential commercially.

Those who argued against the Boards apparent amateurism were more or less called idiots. Possibly the idiots were proven to have a point...

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A little older but a lot more reliable.

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When £225M is quoted for the club, please don't make the mistake of thinking this is for BK only; he will get a share price and only receive 26% of that total cost depending on debt write-off. The price has gone up and so it should: you get a minimum £100M cash next season for being in the EPL, plus if you add to that the sale value of players like Stones, Barkley and Lukaku, then it's obvious why any owner would want upwards of £200M, so why are some of you so blind to those simple facts re EPL fees and player sell-on?

Any new owner could easily get their money back in two years so the value of any sale is based on the asset value and goodwill. Staying in the EPL and having those players alone gives you upwards of £200million. Why can't you see that when purchase prices are quoted? BK is entitled to ask for that regardless of if he 'deserves' it or not. Get over it — he owns 26%.

Or the other lot removing Hicks and Gillette?

As Bill constantly reminds us, he is only a custodian of the club and, in many people's eyes, he is the problem not the solution.

It doesn't matter how many shares you hold if enough of the Customers (supporters) want you out.

I agree with you that the TV deal should enhance the sale value of the club but to only take the players and TV deal money into account is building the valuation on a falsehood.

There are significant debts to deduct from that plus the need to reinvest in GP or build a new stadium.

I would concur that ~£225m is a reasonable starting point provided the debts are taken care of out of that figure.

It doesn't matter how many shares you hold if enough of the Customers (supporters) want you out.

If true, then I guess not enough supporters do want Kenwright out, coz he's still here, despite all the campaigns over the last few years.

If true, then it would explain how the club was finally rid of Agent Johnson back in 1999. (These are the only two examples I feel able to address.)

If false, as I believe it to be, Kenwright's shareholding has underwritten his control of the club all these years; it's ill-health that will lead to him being ousted.

If false, it was similarly Johnson's shareholding that enabled him to take the club forward / hold the club back [delete as appropriate], and other issues (Park Foods crunch, Tranmere ownership, etc) which ultimately forced his hand, despite never being anywhere near as popular with the fanbase. Remember, his ownership of EFC dragged on for over a year before Kenwright (and True Blue) drove the price down from a ridiculous £140M to something more reasonable.

At the end of the day, it is all about the number of shares owned.