Sporting Club CEO spells out Everton interest

"I actually think there are a couple of legitimate groups that are talking to Bill Kenwright right now about buying the team," he told ESPN. "But I think there are some serious groups that are in the mix and I think it will get solved in the next few months."

How does he know?

If Everton's own expert valued the Club at £130M ... which lunatic is going to pay £225M??!!

Whatever the for-sale price, being over priced will have a detrimental effect on the club in new owners reinvesting into the club.

Who knows what the future holds but the Chairman has done a great job for the club and community with the resources he has.

So it seems we will go on stagnating for a while longer.

So at least we won’t be the Everton Chiefs playing at the Matalan Park stadium.

Still, as a shareholder, if someone really is foolish enough to value the club at £225M(!), I’ll be selling my tiny holding in flash! (Current share price x the number of shares = about £47M value!

(Yes, I know there is also a premium for control, just pointing out the massive difference between the current ’value’ of the club per the share price and supposed amount the major shareholders are looking at.)

But if the rumours of Bill’s illness are true then surely it is only a matter of time before the club is put up for sale? His health must be of paramount importance to him and his family and Everton FC, although important to him, will have to take a back seat, which is okay for a brief period of time but not for the long-term future of the club.

It would seem to me that, given the other board members aren’t sufficiently interested in the club, it will have to be sold – and sold in the next six to twelve months. Whether the price is right... none of us know, but we just have to wait to see what transpires.

Bill has shown himself to be unable, or unwilling, to find a buyer for almost two decades now. Why should we suddenly think he's had an epiphany and seen the light?

If the man isn’t ill, wouldn’t it be incumbent upon him to say so? But it would appear that he isn’t in the best of health as his absence from Goodison Park for most if not all of this season would seem to support.

The playing squad may be worth more than £100M but the debt is around that and GP (our only asset) is mortgaged to the tune of £15M.

I think the valuation of ~£125m is about correct in the current climate but I can't see Earl and Green going for that.

Watch his space.

Sporting KC averages less than 20,000 fans because the soccer/rugby stadium seats just under 19,000. They sell out their games.

Also, in 20 years (odd that time period for Everton history isn’t it) Sporting KC, and the Wiz/Wizards before the name change, have won titles, currently hold the MLS Cup, and just won the Open Cup. Seems maybe Everton ownership could learn a little about winning things from these folks.

There is no doubt we could have been sold many times before this point, but it’s clear the likes of Earl, and possibly the other two, will be holding out for maximum returns. They clearly realise the value of the club will only increase as the broadcasting rights to the Premier League sky-rocket.

I wouldn’t hold my breath on any sale though, especially as the Aston Villa & West Brom sales recently fell through, even after they reached the due diligence process. As I’ve often stated on here, we are absolutely crying out for fresh thinking and a new approach at boardroom level. It’s an absolute sin the way Goodison Park has been left untouched while we lurch from one failed scheme to the next.

Either way, a price of £225m (or even half of that) is ridiculous for a Club with no assets other than players and Sky revenue. I never thought this was on and just a set-up for the AGM.

He will need to be forced into selling at a realistic price and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.

If Everton, are sold for over £200 Million, then the people doing the selling will have won an absolute fucking fortune.

The people saying shareholders don’t have to invest a single penny might be right. But anyone who has saddled our club with so much debt over the years, rather than spend a little of their own money, has shown what their true intentions have been since day one.

Bill has always been after investment with him remaining at the helm and that is enough to dissuade outside money coming in.

Our motto is incorrect as we are now survival driven; as long as we are clear of relegation struggles, we will continue to tread water.

Also, the sum mentioned to be £225 mill would include all the clubs debts, and then we are close to £130 mill in money paid to our current owners.

I would sell only to buyers with a special interest in the sport... or best, in Everton.

Liverpool is owned by Americans, so is Man Utd. I can't say I envy neither of them for their ownership...

It’s a sad reality that football is now about how much money can be squeezed out of TV companies and fans to feed the fat paypackets of owners, shareholders and the players. I'm getting severely pissed off with football in general and the money men who have steered the beautiful game on to a path of greed and corruption.

The game needs a major club to go tits up or a sensible wage cap before an end is brought to this madness. Rant over and back to the real world tomorrow where I direct destitute families to their nearest food bank!!!!

On the price. The club doesn’t have a sticker price – it’s a negotiation. Rooney wasn’t for sale at £50M... it was just a negotiating position.

The evidence for our eventual sale is starting to mount... we know it has to happen at some point.

I’m not particularly black and white when it comes to Bill. I believe he has had partial success but failed to attract true investment to push us on. He kind of mirrors our former manager’s performance. He’s been part of some terrible schemes, plans and missed opportunities; I want him gone but I am convinced that he believes he is seeking out the right buyer for the club.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if somebody bought out Robert Earl’s 23% and another 3% on the open market to become our largest (albeit not majority) shareholder. That would at least force Kenwright's and Woods's hands.

MLS teams in order to build an identity for soccer here have been changing names of clubs and naming new ones along the lines of every other country which is why we have Sporting KC, NYCFC, Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, FC Dallas, etc.

Andy,

They started play in Arrowhead Stadium, which is what you are referring to. It isn’t even located in Kansas but rather, Missouri, and was not a good place to watch soccer. They then moved to a recently built baseball stadium (minor league) while Sporting Park was being built. This was slightly better (but under 10,500 seating, but still was a baseball stadium. IT was at least in Kansas City, Kansas. Since being in the Sporting Park facility, the attendance is regularly sell-outs.

Fantastic. Means we can borrow more to generate more interest payments for Bill’s "Friends of Everton".

Let us take EFC as an example. If we suddenly had a 60,000 seat stadium, why do we believe that we will magically get a further 20,000 paying fans attending games every other week?

Apart from a few games each season we do not play to capacity crowds now, so where are the additional "paying" fans going to come from?

This is equally true of West Ham, Spurs etc.

I grant you that nothing can equal the live match-day experience, but with so much "live" TV coverage nowadays and the opportunity to record matches to watch them several hours after they have been played, I sometimes think the drive for larger stadia is a folly.

Having said that there is nothing to equal a live match-day experience, equally, in my mind, there is nothing so demoralising as watching a live game in a stadium where up to 50% of the seats are empty.

Firstly, it’s more to do with non-matchday revenue possibilities like concerts, RWC, etc.

Secondly, it’s cheaper to build bigger now and fill it when the club becomes more successful than to try to expand or relocate later.

Sadly for Bill, this is becoming more and more pressing as an issue because of his health and I understand, metaphorically speaking, there are vultures circling waiting to pick up a bargain if and when he lowers his price and his conditions.

I believe he will have a say in who takes over Everton, if they ever do while he is in charge, but I also think other people will have a bigger say.

He wants his legacy to be a safe pair of hands; many others just want someone with money who could move the club forward, but sadly his ego means he doesn’t acknowledge that viewpoint.

It’s funny how it’s come from Kansas, because behind the scenes at Everton, we have our very own wizard, (Magician, says Bill!) who is every bit as invisible, but a lot more influential, maybe?

What kind of shareholders, or members of the board, would sell the training ground for such a paltry sum, with a view to renting it back at such extortionate rates? Desperate men, or people who don’t really care about the football club?

Maybe the Wizard just doesn’t exist, And the sale of Everton will go through smoothly!!!!!

Who would be left in charge? There would be a power vacuum.

Earl has a major shareholding but has never been interested; Green is just a ’friend’ who certainly wouldn’t be interested in running the club... so it looks like Elstone who is 2nd in command if BK is incapacitated.

So I think this is why the takeover talk is going on, and this time I think something will happen. Bill is clearly seriously ill, as he has missed a number of games this season and even more worryingly for me, hasn’t yet made a statement or said anything publicly about Kendall’s death.

Bill’s health is definitely the main factor of this takeover talk, I have no doubt about that at all. I really hope that he recovers from whatever illness he is fighting.

Some people on Twitter have been saying he possibly has a brain tumour, whether that’s true or not I don’t know. Has anyone heard anything recently?

I don’t think he is naive, I think he wants what will suit him rather than Everton, but like yourself I don’t know the man; I think you would trust him a lot more than me.

No, I don’t know him personally and like you I don’t trust him; however, my comments are more than supposition and guesswork – they do come from sound information reliably obtained.

If they instigated this process at all then the timing must’ve been somewhat right, otherwise why bother? Therefore, reading between the lines, the outrageous price must have been the far bigger stumbling block.

Interesting to read that they see the club as profitable even with the debt; but then if the club is to pay extortionate interest rates to a clandestine operation in the Caymans... well, I guess there is money to be made.

Price not right = Bill is asking too much for his shares. But again, his hand may be forced due to ill-health.

[Possible scenario; no personal knowledge.]

Long answer — Nooooooooooooo.

"£225million... 40,000 fans = £5600 each. Not entirely unaffordable. What are we waiting for?"

Quite right. Let me have your email address and I'll give you my bank details so you can make the first contribution!

As to the possible sale, we can but dream. We've been down this road god knows how many times. Until there’s something concrete, I think we can safely move on, unless people want to carry on dreaming.

As for BK ’wanting to leave the club in capable hands’ — that’s hilarious. What a perfect way to have a built-in excuse for never letting go! He can always just say ’the seller wasn’t the correct fit’. He’s living his dream and he just isn’t going to let go of the train set (unless someone is daft enough to offer up a ridiculous price.... and still leave BK in charge = never going to happen in his lifetime).

We’re stuck with him for better or worse for a few seasons yet. (Just like GP.)

Don’t really understand what the nationality of the owner has to do with it. Main thing is that the owner (can be from Mars for all I care) runs the club properly and tries to take it forward the right way. If supporters can come from anywhere, why not the owner(s)?

As to your question: Well, Arsenal are majority owned by an American (haven’t exactly done too badly) as well as Man Utd (how many trophies have they won since 2005 when the Glazers took over? You don’t find too many Man Utd fans moaning about them now...). It’s always easy to pick out the likes of Blackburn, Leeds and Portsmouth but every other club doing well was also taken over at some point by someone – English or otherwise.

Other examples off the top of my head: Southampton are owned by Swiss – not doing too badly since they took over a few years ago. Barcodes owned by a Brit and they have been a basket case of a club.

I was told he was not in his seat on Saturday Considering the HK tribute plus Man Utd at home, then I am inclined to believe he is not too good.

If it is an illness, I wish him a speedy recovery.

However, I thought we'd had a couple of media articles over the last few months referring to Bill Kenwright having been ill. And, as Ken suggests, missing so many matches, the inference seems obvious.

As for whole takeover of Everton, I'll believe it only when I see it, and by that, I mean the takeover is finalised and our new owners are paraded at Goodison.

Of the two clubs you cite as examples of who it has worked out well for, the foreign investment hardly transformed their fortunes, did it? Not like either were languishing in mid-table or hovering above the relegation zone before they came in.

I guess that whatever is wrong with BK then he probably doesn’t want it in an open forum, which I fully understand. I don't think he or the club have said anything publicly about it and I think it should be left that way. I know some may say he should divulge what is wrong, but unless it impairs him making decisions about the club, then he should be allowed to carry on without constant questions.

It's another difference with the Yanks. Seems whenever a public figure has a health problem, they just come right out with it and say what they have, even where they are getting treatment, and that's just the norm. After all, it's not something all this mouth-covered whispering is going to change...

Plus if the guy is ill would you want the world to be openly discussing your illness, and speculating about the what if all the time.

I’m simply saying the nationality of the owner is (imo) irrelevant – main thing is how the club is run. There will be examples of clubs being run well and not well for pretty much any nationality so I don’t agree with your statement in post #56 – assuming I read it right.

Btw – I don’t expect any owner to have to cough up multiple millions of their own money and pump it into a black hole (not sure where I stated this in my post btw), all I ask is that the club is run well from a business perspective and has a plan that is substantially more than just avoiding relegation – which is essentially what the Everton Business Plan has been for about 20 years (in fact since BK took over......). Fans not being treated as idiots would also be a bonus but then we can’t have it all.....

Ken (#61) – I understand where you’re coming from but until it's confirmed I’m not going to believe BK is seriously ill. He was okay enough to hold an interview promoting his theatre company not too long ago. I don’t wish anyone ill health but I’m not going to start wishing people well if it’s not even known whether they are actually ill or not – at the moment, only rumours.

For clarity, my post specifically stated American owners because that is what this thread is about.

’I’m simply saying the nationality of the owner is (imo) irrelevant – main thing is how the club is run. There will be examples of clubs being run well and not well for pretty much any nationality so I don’t agree with your statement in post #56 – assuming I read it right.’

It’s not a statement, it’s a question. How can you disagree with a question?

’Btw – I don’t expect any owner to have to cough up multiple millions of their own money and pump it into a black hole (not sure where I stated this in my post btw)’

Have I insinuated somewhere that you did?

’all I ask is that the club is run well from a business perspective and has a plan that is substantially more than just avoiding relegation – which is essentially what the Everton Business Plan has been for about 20 years (in fact since BK took over......). Fans not being treated as idiots would also be a bonus but then we can’t have it all.....’

Good for you ,mate.

So many people with just a wee little twinge of Anti-American in them... and a few who just don't like us at all.

It would make for some fantastic little posts on TW.

Oh, and yes, we'd not only tell you if the owner were ill, we'd definitely tell you where he's getting treatment, what the prognosis is, and we'd quote his / her's doctor for good measure.

What's there to hide? Is a bout of leprosy going around? Anyone pick up any juicy STDs lately?

If he were young it might be different but, the way things stand for him at present, I firmly believe that he seeks what’s best for our great club.

As for him having long and fond memories of the Blues, I'm think a good deal of his memories have more than a tint of fantasy about them.

It will be interesting to see if he is able to make the AGM or whether some sort of announcement will be made beforehand.

Much as I dislike the man, I hope if he is ill, it is not too serious.

If 'Mericans buy Everton there will be some side-splitting one-liners here.

Good luck with those little critters. Shampoo vigorously, and often. I'll put my flag away out of respect for your hilarious post and your "ailment".

As for his slightly over-the-top fond memories... well, Dave, he’s not only a scouser, he’s also in Show Business. That gives him a double excuse. Ask Evertonians about Dave Hickson, Alan Ball, the Golden Vision, Big Dunc or Big Nev and they will fantasize till the cows come home. According to Moyes, Martinez and Joe Royle, BK has a great knowledge of the game and can talk football all night long.

As much as I have read and respected your posts, I can not agree BK is a true blue but as you say, he is in show business. There are a number of true blues that have either played, managed or overseen EFC and Kenwright does not come even close to the ones I could name.

You have to remember that he has the power to steer our ship in the new found wealth of the Premier League and it looks like he is the man overboard.

I do, however, believe he is a supporter of EFC but does not go through the emotions of us little folk. He judges defeat and bad publicity as a personal threat, so the main reason he wants us to be successful is to take pressure off him.

He could be forced to sell his shares, for example, if there are drag-along rights which are not uncommon. This is where a pre-agreed valuation is met and a certain number of shareholders have accepted a bid, requiring a minority block to sell.

It's difficult to know the dynamics without the details. The past failure to sell was attributed by many on here to BK blocking such a move. Again difficult to say if he could do this; perhaps the valuations were below a certain threshold which preserved his minority rights. We will not know unless details of the shareholder agreement are made public.

The statement from the prospective buyers hints at a timing issue as well as a price issue. What could the timing relate to? New Stadium plans? Or some change in the shareholder construct? BK’s health?

There are more questions than answers from this episode.

But he needs to do the right thing and sell the club; it’s time for big changes at Everton or we will get left behind. I do believe that it we don’t change ownership soon then all the improvements we have made will be cast to the wind.

As for his knowledge of football, I had a ten-minute conversation with him a few years ago, had to put him right on a couple of Everton matters that most of us knew, including one about his idol Davie Hickson.

He went on all those trips as a Director or Chairman of Everton, loves the limelight and the glory of being part of the club.

He must have been the only young boy who went in the Boys Pen at Goodison and the Kop at Anfield... a load of nonsense like a lot of the twaddle he comes out with.

As for Dave Hickson. I also loved the fella but can only remember little bits and pieces. I even have trouble with last season. Maybe you're one of these lucky guys with total recall. If so then you were being unfair with Broadway Bill.

http://swissramble.blogspot.ie/2014/12/Everton-blue-sky-mining.html
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/31/Everton-record-profits-reduce-debt

Everton's books are annually audited by independent accountants. That's how it works. No smoke and mirrors. That means that you can have faith in the annual reports. Last one was 31st October 2014, so we should have another one very soon. So we do actually know how much the club is in debt.

I would suggest the increased asking price is down in no small measure to the reduced debt, capacity to earn TV money and young, promising squad.

Everton have two ongoing loans which are a bit like a mortgage. One (£30 million) will be repaid in full with interest in 2027. The other, which is variable (£20.1 million last year) is taken out yearly and is repaid annually, from TV revenue. They are to help with the operating costs of running a Premier League team and almost all clubs have them. To include them as part of net debt would be misleading and they would not have to repaid immediately to facilitate a sale.

Again, here's my source.

http://www.stdomingos.com/an-investigation-into-the-finances-of-Everton-part-2-financial-performance/