[halifax_baggie]

No it isn't, but "Premier League" is. I don't really think many of the owners are concerned about the name, as opposed to having a team in the prem. Before Man City were taken over, they were hardly a fashionable club.

Neither were Chelsea, a yo-yo club with a lot of debt, Southamptom, Leicester were also up & down

[baggyman68]

is there any evidence this is happening or are these 90 pages just wishful thinking

[halifax_baggie]

is there any evidence this is happening or are these 90 pages just wishful thinking

No evidence 99% is speculation and statistics don't lie

[divinewind]

We won't be sold at that price. I don't think anyone would offer that for Chelsea let alone WBA.

[PsalmXXIII]

You seem the right person to ask this question, was or is there still a company called Kappa involved with WBA or Jeremy Peace.

Yup they own a large chunk of our shares (haven't got them in front of me but I think they own 20% of one of the subsidiary companies under the WBA Group parent company. Can find details later.

[stokelad84]

We won't be sold at that price. I don't think anyone would offer that for Chelsea let alone WBA.

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-worth-more-than-1bn-and-placed-ahead-of-chelsea-in-new-football-market-study-a2921371.html

Independent valuations from 12 months ago: £826m for Chelsea, £175m for West Brom.

[baggiejohn]

Slightly at a tangent, but here's an interesting web page.  showing the value of the squad. Leicester's squad value has increase from an alleged circa £40 million last season to a massive £140 million now. Not sure they've even bought a player yet

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/marktwerteverein/wettbewerb/GB1

[caravanc58]

Yup they own a large chunk of our shares (haven't got them in front of me but I think they own 20% of one of the subsidiary companies under the WBA Group parent company. Can find details later.

thanks for that, hadn't heard of kappa for a while.

[PsalmXXIII]

thanks for that, hadn't heard of kappa for a while.

Yeah I had to ask if it was the sportswear brand I hadn't heard from them in so long (it's not by the way, nor is it Smurfitt Kappa as other suggested). Kappa bought the shareholdings from Highfield Electronics Limited (Paul Thompsons company) in 2003 and have had them ever since - combined they made up the 50% shareholdings Peace needed to run the club back in 2003.

[caravanc58]

Yeah I had to ask if it was the sportswear brand I hadn't heard from them in so long (it's not by the way, nor is it Smurfitt Kappa as other suggested). Kappa bought the shareholdings from Highfield Electronics Limited (Paul Thompsons company) in 2003 and have had them ever since - combined they made up the 50% shareholdings Peace needed to run the club back in 2003.

glad you cleared that up, I was going to ask   this is the earliest I can find anything on kappa.
  http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/uncertainty-continues-at-west-bromwich-189278.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Peace

[divinewind]

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-worth-more-than-1bn-and-placed-ahead-of-chelsea-in-new-football-market-study-a2921371.html

Independent valuations from 12 months ago: £826m for Chelsea, £175m for West Brom.

It's ok valuing something, but billionaires don't become billionaires by paying way of the odds for a risk, namely a West Midlands football club.
If they paid the asking price of £175m how long would it take them to recoup that, bearing in mind they would have to spend close on another £100m developing the ground and squad?
West Brom aren't a brand name like Man U or Chelsea, and neither are Stoke.
This price is all about one mans greed, if he really cared about the club he would sell us to someone who have the money to take us further, and pocket a cool £80m for his minimum outlay.

But no, he wants to become filthy rich at our expense. He sees us as the goose that lay's him golden eggs,he always has done.
His main income is from us,not Kappa.

[Jimmy]

It's ok valuing something, but billionaires don't become billionaires by paying way of the odds for a risk, namely a West Midlands football club.
If they paid the asking price of £175m how long would it take them to recoup that, bearing in mind they would have to spend close on another £100m developing the ground and squad?
West Brom aren't a brand name like Man U or Chelsea, and neither are Stoke.
This price is all about one mans greed, if he really cared about the club he would sell us to someone who have the money to take us further, and pocket a cool £80m for his minimum outlay.

But no, he wants to become filthy rich at our expense. He sees us as the goose that lay's him golden eggs,he always has done.
His main income is from us,not Kappa.

Theres nothing to say Albion couldnt be though, a "brand" name/well known club. We have to accentuate our strengths. Only club, atleast for this season, from the West Midlands in the premier league - huge. Oneof the founding members of the football league - foreigners love history, lets play on it. Even the fact we have the word Albion in our name could be a selling point being that it conjures up images of a mythical past.

[halifax_baggie]

It's ok valuing something, but billionaires don't become billionaires by paying way of the odds for a risk, namely a West Midlands football club.
If they paid the asking price of £175m how long would it take them to recoup that, bearing in mind they would have to spend close on another £100m developing the ground and squad?
West Brom aren't a brand name like Man U or Chelsea, and neither are Stoke.
This price is all about one mans greed, if he really cared about the club he would sell us to someone who have the money to take us further, and pocket a cool £80m for his minimum outlay.

But no, he wants to become filthy rich at our expense. He sees us as the goose that lay's him golden eggs,he always has done.

 His main income is from us,not Kappa.

He won't get rich on gate receipts and merchandise will he - that's what you contribute. You sound bitter that someone has the nouce, vision and skills to make more money than you.

Envy is a deadly sin 

[PsalmXXIII]

It's ok valuing something, but billionaires don't become billionaires by paying way of the odds for a risk, namely a West Midlands football club.
If they paid the asking price of £175m how long would it take them to recoup that, bearing in mind they would have to spend close on another £100m developing the ground and squad?
West Brom aren't a brand name like Man U or Chelsea, and neither are Stoke.
This price is all about one mans greed, if he really cared about the club he would sell us to someone who have the money to take us further, and pocket a cool £80m for his minimum outlay.

But no, he wants to become filthy rich at our expense. He sees us as the goose that lay's him golden eggs,he always has done.
His main income is from us,not Kappa.

Haha what a post. So many flaws in the argument it's not worth tearing it apart 

[divinewind]

He won't get rich on gate receipts and merchandise will he - that's what you contribute. You sound bitter that someone has the nouce, vision and skills to make more money than you.

Envy is a dealy sin 

Not envious of him at all mate, just drunk off that he is feathering his nest with the money from our club, and leaving us to watch players of average ability, with a workman like manager.
The worst thing is some of our fans are agreeing with him for doing it.

[divinewind]

Haha what a post. So many flaws in the argument it's not worth tearing it apart 

Or you don't know where to start? 

[Sted1990]

I think this thread should be locked until we actually know something concrete, I'm
sick of waiting but it looks unlikely that we will be taken over this summer considering the date.

[divinewind]

Theres nothing to say Albion couldnt be though, a "brand" name/well known club. We have to accentuate our strengths. Only club, atleast for this season, from the West Midlands in the premier league - huge. Oneof the founding members of the football league - foreigners love history, lets play on it. Even the fact we have the word Albion in our name could be a selling point being that it conjures up images of a mythical past.

Totally agree, every word spoken. But a buyer would like to see what he is getting for his money. We could become all the things you say, but we aren't now,and it's now a buyer is interested in.
What he would see at this minute is a club that averages 25k for an home game, a third tier main stand and a team that has yo yoed and flirted with relegation for the past seven years.
Those are the cold hard facts that a buyer would investigate. What would i be getting for my money?
The Stan Cullis stand at Molineux still doesn't hold as many as the Brummie, but it looks impressive, and it is impressions that sell a business.
If Peace had gone ahead with his vision for our ground, a new West Stand and filling in the Millenium and Woodman corners then our stock would have risen considerably,whather or not we could fill the ground, it's all about impressions and imagination.
But at the end of the day that would have cost him money, the same as any half decent players we have been "eyeing" and "tracking", and we all know how much Mr Peace loves his money.
Don't get me wrong,there are far worse chairmen than ours, but thats their clubs problem not ours, i just don't look at him through rose tinted specs the way some of our fans do thats all.
I do understand where a lot are coming from, the dark days when we hadn't got two pennies to rub together, wolves fans gloating, because Jack had bought them.
I don't want those days back ever,but they could return sooner than we think with Peace's sheer stubborness and a price totally unrealistic. That's my grouse.

[PsalmXXIII]

Or you don't know where to start? 

Oh go on then I will, you've twisted my arm.

1. You don't know what the asking price is but slam Peace for some arbitrary £200m figure pulled out of nowhere.

2. You claim new owners would need to spend £100m on team and ground. Remind me again why we need to expand the ground and why new owners would need to do that? Again a figure pulled out of thin air. Leicester spent less then us last summer and won the league. £28m to transform a team who barely escaped relegation, were favourites to go down, into league champions. Again not sure what influence Peace has on what future owners spend? If new owners come in and don't spend £100m is that his fault too?

3. You've ignored numerous people reminding you that Peace can sell for whatever he likes, as it's his business. Why would ANYONE sell something for less than its worth? He doesn't owe us ANYTHING. It's his business, the money the club makes from us fans is absolutely minuscule compared to money made from his stewardship and keeping us in the league. Our club makes £100m+ a year just by staying in the league - is it any wonder why the main aim of the club is to stay up? If the fans paid £100m for beautiful football, maybe that'd be the focus.

4. The 'feathering of the nest' you seem to think is so morally repugnant is no different to any business owner worldwide. Would you rather have a chairman with a tight but realistic and disciplined approach to finances or a nutcase who spanks hundreds of millions on any old rubbish. You completely ignore that for someone so 'greedy' he sure looks after other people (the clubs) money. As you've pointed out he's not spending his personal wealth but by god he spends like it's his own money. There are considerably more chairmen who'd spend someone else's money like it means nothing. We spent £32.5m last year on transfers and some went better then others. Newcastle spent £90m over two windows and struggled. Least he'll leave here with healthy finances rather than gamble, lose and then bugger off.

5. Please start looking at this situation for what it is - a business transaction and running of a business. Take your personal opinions out of this for a moment and acknowledge the difference in the club since 2003. Look at the teams that have come and gone around us due to poor business practices. And the one thing that really baffles me about your stance is that you obviously despise Peace but the guy has acknowledged he can't take us further and is looking to sell. He's received interest so obviously values us at a reasonable level, and will, in the grand scheme of things, will be leaving soon.

And guess what? Him making money from the sale HAS NO BEARING ON THE CLUBS FINANCES. He sells HIS shares, his company. The clubs accounts don't change. He doesn't empty the vault into duffel bags, launch them into the back of his Merc and ride into the sunset with all our cash. What he's selling is his controlling shares - like selling the keys to your house, furniture and all. Nothing leaves with him, he leaves the last 13 years of his work to someone else. So detach yourself from the idea that evil dictator Peace is killing us - he's looked after the club, kept us from playing silly buggers and joining the greed league and will pass the torch.

[halifax_baggie]

Impressions don't sell businesses, Chelsea were no better than us untill Abramovic, Man City were no better than us, had an old decrepid ground but had the fortune to get a new ground thanks to the Commonwealth Games and attract the odd Arab billionaire or so,
We are better than both of them as we don't have huge debt and we have great supporters like you and me

[halifax_baggie]

Oh go on then I will, you've twisted my arm.

1. You don't know what the asking price is but slam Peace for some arbitrary £200m figure pulled out of nowhere.

2. You claim new owners would need to spend £100m on team and ground. Remind me again why we need to expand the ground and why new owners would need to do that? Again a figure pulled out of thin air. Leicester spent less then us last summer and won the league. £28m to transform a team who barely escaped relegation, were favourites to go down, into league champions. Again not sure what influence Peace has on what future owners spend? If new owners come in and don't spend £100m is that his fault too?

3. You've ignored numerous people reminding you that Peace can sell for whatever he likes, as it's his business. Why would ANYONE sell something for less than its worth? He doesn't owe us ANYTHING. It's his business, the money the club makes from us fans is absolutely minuscule compared to money made from his stewardship and keeping us in the league. Our club makes £100m+ a year just by staying in the league - is it any wonder why the main aim of the club is to stay up? If the fans paid £100m for beautiful football, maybe that'd be the focus.

4. The 'feathering of the nest' you seem to think is so morally repugnant is no different to any business owner worldwide. Would you rather have a chairman with a tight but realistic and disciplined approach to finances or a nutcase who spanks hundreds of millions on any old rubbish. You completely ignore that for someone so 'greedy' he sure looks after other people (the clubs) money. As you've pointed out he's not spending his personal wealth but by god he spends like it's his own money. There are considerably more chairmen who'd spend someone else's money like it means nothing. We spent £32.5m last year on transfers and some went better then others. Newcastle spent £90m over two windows and struggled. Least he'll leave here with healthy finances rather than gamble, lose and then bugger off.

5. Please start looking at this situation for what it is - a business transaction and running of a business. Take your personal opinions out of this for a moment and acknowledge the difference in the club since 2003. Look at the teams that have come and gone around us due to poor business practices. And the one thing that really baffles me about your stance is that you obviously despise Peace but the guy has acknowledged he can't take us further and is looking to sell. He's received interest so obviously values us at a reasonable level, and will, in the grand scheme of things, will be leaving soon.

And guess what? Him making money from the sale HAS NO BEARING ON THE CLUBS FINANCES. He sells HIS shares, his company. The clubs accounts don't change. He doesn't empty the vault into duffel bags, launch them into the back of his Merc and ride into the sunset with all our cash. What he's selling is his controlling shares - like selling the keys to your house, furniture and all. Nothing leaves with him, he leaves the last 13 years of his work to someone else. So detach yourself from the idea that evil dictator Peace is killing us - he's looked after the club, kept us from playing silly buggers and joining the greed league and will pass the torch.

Great post, I just couldn't be ar**d to argue with those who don't want to see, but would spend other peoples money in a flash and sell their assets and hard work at a knock down price

[divinewind]

Well, we are never all going to agree on this, so best to leave it now and see what happens.
It has gone very quiet on the takeover business, i don't think it will happen this year.

[halifax_baggie]

Well, we are never all going to agree on this, so best to leave it now and see what happens.
It has gone very quiet on the takeover business, i don't think it will happen this year.

Indeed, quiet doesn't mean nothing is happening just the franzied rumour mill and speculation has gone to sleep

[PsalmXXIII]

Well, we are never all going to agree on this, so best to leave it now and see what happens.
It has gone very quiet on the takeover business, i don't think it will happen this year.

Oh by all means no hard feelings felt and happy to agree to disagree!

I'm honestly not sure anyone has any clue about takeover talk anyway - seen nothing concrete even suggesting we are close, and the small tidbits that has been reported still include mad speculation that the richest man in China is a possibility. I'm still unsure how buying English teams makes China a global name for football. I'm hoping the China experiment ruins Midlands football and we don't get involved.

[divinewind]

To be honest i would be apprehensive about Chinese owners. We all know what happened to Cardiff.
Abramovich was a one off and since then Arabs,Yanks and the Chinese have snapped up football clubs like they are going out of fashion.
My other worry is,that if all the clubs have rich owners the unequal playing field will become more unequal for clubs like us.
Catch 22.