Potential DaGrosa Takeover

This is the article with the new info: https://theathletic.com/2993130/202...ins-in-stasis/?source=emp_shared_article&s=09

Anyone with an Athletic sub care to copy and paste?

 

My bet is on a North Koreans.

 

It has been over a year since Joseph DaGrosa entered a period of exclusivity to purchase Southampton Football Club.

Since DaGrosa’s flirtation with buying the club in September 2020, potential buyers have continued to come forward in an attempt to buy Gao Jisheng’s 80 per cent stake in the Premier League side. But a sale hasn’t been completed, meaning an element of uncertainty continues to hang over the club.

In this time, both Newcastle and Burnleyhave been sold, with added investment coming into Wolves, Leeds and West Ham.

Gao, as is well known, chooses not to invest in Southampton and wants the football club to be run as a self-sustainable entity. When the pandemic took hold last year, the club’s hierarchy turned to MSD Holdings to borrow £78.8 million with the interest at 9.14 per cent, which will cost them £7.2 million per year.

The Athletic has learned that for financial reasons there is now a growing need for Gao to offload his stake sooner rather than later.

It’s also understood that his daughter, Nelly Gao, went to China at the beginning of the pandemic and is yet to return to England despite a relaxation around international travel.

Nelly took a more active role at the club when she became a vice-chair of the board in June 2019, establishing herself as the direct link between Southampton and her father. But since she has been in China, the St Mary’s side has continued to be run by Martin Semmens and Toby Steele, Southampton’s chief executive and managing director, on a day-to-day basis.

Southampton have come close to proceeding with new buyers over the past year, but the pandemic and the threat of a European Super League saw interested parties walk away from negotiations.

The latest concern shared by those with knowledge of the process is the prospect of an international travel ban due to the Omicron coronavirus variant. This fear, albeit minor at this stage, comes at the beginning of what is described as an important month for the club.

It is understood that there are at least two parties at the table, and industry sources suggest that there’s still a chance Southampton could be sold before the end of 2021, although supporters have learnt not to get too excited by such talk given their club has been on the market for quite some time.

It’s believed that one of the parties at the table is keen on the kind of multi-club model currently commonplace among would-be investors.

Semmens previously said at a fans’ forum that the club could be sold in an instant, but that fans wouldn’t like who it was sold to. There has been a real emphasis behind the scenes on ensuring Southampton ends up in the right hands.

Yet it is minority shareholder Katharina Liebherr, rather than Gao, playing the more active role in finding a new owner for the club. This is because when Gao bought the club in 2017, he agreed to a clause that would give Liebherr the power to veto any potential future sale of his stake. It was therefore deemed to make the most sense for her advisors — along with Semmens and Steele — to do most of the legwork when it came to finding a new owner.

Gao will, however, have to sign off on the price, which still ultimately gives him the final say on whether any takeover goes through. In essence, both parties will need to be satisfied with the new buyer before a deal can be done, which naturally decreases the chances of a quick sale.

Gao has never confirmed how much he paid for his stake, although it is thought to be somewhere in the region of £180 million and that he will want to claw as much of that back as possible in selling up. Sources indicate that, sadly for Gao, this is unlikely given the financial impact of coronavirus on the business world.

It is widely accepted that until Southampton are under new ownership, they will always be fighting an uphill battle in terms of financial clout.

Despite the best efforts of those working behind the scenes, trying to maximise the tools at their disposal to ensure the team remains competitive, the club are essentially in a state of stasis.

Selling Southampton hasn’t been easy, but it’s hoped white smoke — signalling a change of owner — will emerge from St Mary’s sooner rather than later.

Until then, it’s business as usual on the south coast.

 

Abbreviated version in case Athletic come and tell us off;

- Gao wants/needs to offload sooner due to financial reasons.

- Could be sold before the end of the year.

- At least two interested parties at the table, one of them keen on a ‘multi-club’ model (like City group, Red Bull).

 

Much appreciated, thanks.

A lot of ifs, coulds etc, but the overall message is that we are getting closer to finally have new ownership.

Interesting times ahead it seems, a multi-club model would be interesting. RB Southampton?

 

I posted it in to my fellow saints mates whatsapp chat and they all shouted it down saying who would want to buy us right now!

 

Is a lot of words without really saying anything to me. We are still for sale and there are interested parties, this has been the case for ages.

“Interested parties” doesn’t really mean much, I’m sure lots of people would be interested until they got down to the nitty gritty of the finances when they wouldn’t be interested anymore

 

I think lots of people. We've been operating under ridiculously strict financial conditions as a club, and somehow just about making it work. Ish.

I'd love to see what Ralph could do with a bit more flexibility in the market.

 

Not just Ralph, but Crocker. I believe him to be very good at his job, and I believe that he has the right plan to take us forward. But we have to avoid self-immolating before he has a chance.

 

Not the most detailed thread from Sheldon, but I doubt the club or people close to the club will be leaking names or clues if any deal is close enough to be a possibility by the end of this month.

 

Is there any indication on what circumstances apparently exist to push Gao to be trying to sell at a likely loss?

 

We're heavily in debt and growing more so with each passing month, and Gao lost a large portion of his fortune a few years ago when his company tanked and he had to sell off his majority stake.

 

I am intrigued by Martin Semmens’ comment in the past about being able to sell the club “tomorrow” but the fans wouldn’t like it

i wonder what sort of person he could be talking about to be that confident

Clearly not a sovereign wealth fund of a Middle Eastern dictatorship - because it is already clear most fans don’t care about that

I’d guess either :

- an American “chancer” who wants to try and leverage to club. But we aren’t big enough or popular enough for that

- another person who doesn’t really have the funds to actually invest .

The latter ?

 

This is the obvious solution - we join forces with the club down the M27, and march forwards together. Can't see any problems with that

 

Southmouth. Or as per the locals, Saaffmooff.

 

Ralph being quoted, in the Echo, as saying if there is ever any news, we will be told about it. (Paraphrasing)

 

Maybe another Sisu.
We dodged a bullet with them, as can be seen by looking at what happened to Coventry.

 

Red bull is the one name I keep seeing being mentioned.

 

well the owner has lots of money , can’t see it myself though .

 

I think it is only being mentioned by people on twitter who are hoping it does/does not happen.

Yet to see anyone with an ounce of credibility bring it up.