[BaggieBoy04]

Even support North of the border. I think it would be unlikely even if we weren't applying for the Community Asset that us as fans or Sandwell Council would allow Lai to sell a Ground so historic and that has been there for 125 years and has virtually been valuable to West Brom's Economy. But at the same time with Modern football these days and we don't what Lai could be thinking he might sell it of for houses as the ground being small, the area and the land he might see it as putting off Perspective Buyers. At least now the Shrine us safe and this begs the question why didn't Walsall ask/Walsall Council get the Bescot put as a Community Asset same as any football ground it is afterall the heart and sole of communities many grounds have been there when the Community they were in expanded. But good work from Sandwell Council. I can't imagine there would be many objections to the plan.

[johnny Cash]

There’s no need to worry about it being anything other than a stadium, they’ll know they’d not get the go ahead 

The worry is the stadium being sold (potentially on the cheap) and the club / stadium becoming seperate entities. That comes with long term issues and detrimental future costs.

Making it a community asset at least stops this happening quietly. No fans should be against this and I’m glad the council have seemingly unanimously got on board. 

[graka]

I might be naieve here. Could Lai sell the ground to one of his other companies and charge us rent to recoup his outlay?
Or sell the ground to anyone and withdraw the money via dividends again to help recoup some of his outlay?

[Albionic]

Don’t rule anything out, Coventry !!!

[BalisPen]

Knowing our luck we'll eventually end up with Bassini.

[johnny Cash]

Don’t rule anything out, Coventry !!!

The Ricoh was still there. The issue was rent.

I’m fairly certain there haven’t been any professional club stadiums that have just been demolished for housing or other use without an alternative stadium being built, it just doesn’t happen and certainly won’t happen to us.

We might not be the biggest of clubs, but we are big enough there would be national outcry.

[Albionic]

The Ricoh was still there. The issue was rent.

I’m fairly certain there haven’t been any professional club stadiums that have just been demolished for housing or other use without an alternative stadium being built, it just doesn’t happen and certainly won’t happen to us.

We might not be the biggest of clubs, but we are big enough there would be national outcry.

I was thinking more the sale of highfield road and having to move to Ricoh which was on rental basis and that’s where the trouble started

[LiamTheBaggie]

I am not unaware of the emotional attachment, but the truth is it’s not and never has been”our ground”, it will always be the owners/majority shareholders…
There are many a club that have sold there stadium ,moved and done ok since,Bournemouth,Brighton,Man City etc.
Many on here have spoken before about the need to expand if we want to actually become a big club,that’s without even mentioning the surround area…imagine being a Hertha Berlin fan tomorrow and having to endure either the waggon and horses or a lucozade from Greg’s.

The ground is the home of a football club and no football club should be selling their home and then having to pay extortionate rents going forwards.

If owners are selling football grounds to make additional money then that is the sign of a poorly ran football club.

I find it somewhat ironic that you cite Brighton as an example given they bounced between Priestfield and the Withdean because the club never had a ground. The current ground is owned by the owner who is a Brighton fan and more than happy to provide his wealth to the football club. The other case you raise is owned by their local Council.

That really is not the case here though is it?

We have an owner without a pot to pee in who is already using the clubs money to prop up his other failing businesses.

Any ground sale for us is in the sphere of clubs like Sheff Wed, Reading, Blues and others - not Brighton.

[skyclad99]

The ground is the home of a football club and no football club should be selling their home and then having to pay extortionate rents going forwards.

If owners are selling football grounds to make additional money then that is the sign of a poorly ran football club.

I find it somewhat ironic that you cite Brighton as an example given they bounced between Priestfield and the Withdean because the club never had a ground. The current ground is owned by the owner who is a Brighton fan and more than happy to provide his wealth to the football club. The other case you raise is owned by their local Council.

That really is not the case here though is it?

We have an owner without a pot to pee in who is already using the clubs money to prop up his other failing businesses.

Any ground sale for us is in the sphere of clubs like Sheff Wed, Reading, Blues and others - not Brighton.

Pleased you answered this one Liam as I was in the process of penning something similar.

As you say the Man City ground is owned by the council and there is a 250 year lease in place. The ground is also used for other purposes such as concerts etc ( I saw the Chilli peppers there a few years back) so is being run as a successful commercial venture by the council. I think West Ham have a similar arrangement; again smart as the ground owners pay for the police etc on match days.

I am not sure what agreement is in place with the blues, but the ground was sold for £22m to a Chinese holding company and blues pay £2m a year to rent it back. As I said in an earlier post I don’t think the team saw any of the revenue raised.

You know our owner has zero interest in our club and that is why a potential sale of our ground is very concerning; all he is trying to do is get some of his money back and I really fear where we are going with this.

[Ronnie Allen]

I might be naieve here. Could Lai sell the ground to one of his other companies and charge us rent to recoup his outlay?
Or sell the ground to anyone and withdraw the money via dividends again to help recoup some of his outlay?

I’m a bit late to this party, but reading through these posts my mind did start going through various scenarios. One in particular bothered me. Lai’s chances of getting a decent wedge when he sells the club depend entirely on our getting to the EPL.

What if we don’t? What if we become another Champs also ran. What’s the best he can do to get back even a semi respectable sum for his naive purchase? What would selling the land for development bring in? Significantly more than selling a mid table championship club? All questions I don’t know the answer to, except to say nobody buys a football club to make money from football. We know (or think we know) that Lai wants to get rid of the millstone that WBA has become. If you were his financial advisor, what would your advice be?

[SmethDan]

I’m a bit late to this party, but reading through these posts my mind did start going through various scenarios..... If you were his financial advisor, what would your advice be?

If I became his financial advisor I'd sit him down and suggest his previous advisor could have provided more secure alternatives for his investment groups' revenues. Never tell someone they've made stupid financial choices as it dents the ego and makes them defensive.

Then I'd let him know of an exciting opportunity in the final stages of its development which his group could acquire at a reasonable price. A time machine I've been researching how to build via the internet which can be exclusively theirs for the bargain basement price of £100,000,000 so they could go back and make a more informed decision.

I'd then explain how they'd effectively be £88,000,000 up on their initial outlay and suggest a modest 10% brokerage fee for my services. Sold as described, lump sum up front with the only guarantee being no refunds if it doesn't actually work. Eventhough it very definitely might if they all close their eyes and wish. A lot. Then I'd go for cocktails in Jersey.  .

[NJS]

This is my take.
I'm not sure that any land can be sold for other than its present use unless it gets planning permission.  I'm certain Sandwell would not give it, but the developer could appeal to the planning inspectorate.  Developers are possessed of a lot of money and thus access to very good silks so it would not be that outlandish if a developer bought the land at a knock down price from Mr Guochuan and applied for change of use.  28,000 letters of protest to the planning inspector would probably sway the argument but you never know.

Mr Guochuan may be in a bind.  China has gone from something like 8% annual growth to 0.4% - mainly by its sledgehammer army-enforced approach to Covid (locking down up entire cities at the first sign of infection and giving locally developed vaccines of uncertain efficacy).  Some developers have got their fingers burnt in the huge boom in infrastructure projects.   President Xi's shutdown of Shanghai will not have done the holding company Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited any favours.  Lai's fellow directors may be looking around desperately to keep the business afloat.

To compound the misery Xi has ordained that every business above some turnover must now support a CCP committee to guide it to conformity with Chinese Communist principles which Xi is busy reforming.

With this nightmare of an owner, anything is possible.  Thank you, thank you JP for your careful and considerate succession planning.

[baggiejohn]

This is my take.
I'm not sure that any land can be sold for other than its present use unless it gets planning permission.  I'm certain Sandwell would not give it, but the developer could appeal to the planning inspectorate.  Developers are possessed of a lot of money and thus access to very good silks so it would not be that outlandish if a developer bought the land at a knock down price from Mr Guochuan and applied for change of use.  28,000 letters of protest to the planning inspector would probably sway the argument but you never know.

Mr Guochuan may be in a bind.  China has gone from something like 8% annual growth to 0.4% - mainly by its sledgehammer army-enforced approach to Covid (locking down up entire cities at the first sign of infection and giving locally developed vaccines of uncertain efficacy).  Some developers have got their fingers burnt in the huge boom in infrastructure projects.   President Xi's shutdown of Shanghai will not have done the holding company Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited any favours.  Lai's fellow directors may be looking around desperately to keep the business afloat.

To compound the misery Xi has ordained that every business above some turnover must now support a CCP committee to guide it to conformity with Chinese Communist principles which Xi is busy reforming.

With this nightmare of an owner, anything is possible.  Thank you, thank you JP for your careful and considerate succession planning.

Unless it's part of a major development plan for the area, GL wouldn't get a lot of money for the stadium & it's land.
He's more likely to sell it's naming rights, so IMO, were unlikely to lose the stadium, but we could lose The Hawthorns.

[gazberg]

Someone just posted on Twitter that it is 6 years today this fraud announced his takeover of us.

6 years too long.

[Topman]

I went back and found the early posts of when he took over, most people were really excited. I even remember central news being at the ground and some expert said we could be as big as Man City, seriously. A few posters laughed at wolves takeover, how wrong we all were, what an anti climax

[SmethDan]

Someone just posted on Twitter that it is 6 years today this fraud announced his takeover of us.

6 years too long.

Given how so much of his time with us has dragged it's gone surprisingly quickly on reflection. Six years, bloody hell.

[gazberg]

I went back and found the early posts of when he took over, most people were really excited. I even remember central news being at the ground and some expert said we could be as big as Man City, seriously. A few posters laughed at wolves takeover, how wrong we all were, what an anti climax

The fact he said the club would be self-sufficient didn't bother me in the slightest. The fact that he virtually immediately took no interest did.

[gazberg]

Given how so much of his time with us has dragged it's gone surprisingly quickly on reflection. Six years, bloody hell.

It's felt like an eternity for me. Things certainly went downhill very fast that i would agree with.

[BigFrank20]

Any one here know how Wisdom Smart Corp in Hong Kong fit into the bigger picture?

[baggiejohn]

Any one here know how Wisdom Smart Corp in Hong Kong fit into the bigger picture?

This is the company to which Lai lent circa £5million.

Lepkowski et al, claims that because they have substantially reduced their share capital, they won't be able to repay the debt.

On the other hand, research suggests that it's not possible to unilaterally reduce share capital, it has to be authorised. A condition of the authorised reduction in share capital is the company has to demonstrate it can fulfill its obligations on debts.

As far as the comments on Articles of Association is concerned, it appears that changes were needed to accomodate the latest EFL regulations.

[Beefy]

I was just going to ask the same question. The Company Lai borrowed £5 Million to to help them through covid has apparently run into trouble and has been revalued.
It was £24 Million it's now been valued at £1000, so as CL and AG put it the chances of getting the money back has gone.
Listen here...

Exciting stuff on the field - worrying stuff off it

That's the summary - now listen to the podcast covering all things #WBAFC with @GoldbergRadio @chrislepkowski

https://t.co/GvYjFlmadX

[baggiejohn]

I was just going to ask the same question. The Company Lai borrowed £5 Million to to help them through covid has apparently run into trouble and has been revalued.
It was £24 Million it's now been valued at £1000, so as CL and AG put it the chances of getting the money back has gone.
Listen here...

Exciting stuff on the field - worrying stuff off it

That's the summary - now listen to the podcast covering all things #WBAFC with @GoldbergRadio @chrislepkowski

https://t.co/GvYjFlmadX

I would be really carefull with Lepkowski & Goldberg, everything they say about the financial aspect of the club is speculation.
Neither are financial specialists & most of their comments are clickbait
They tend to rely on input from Keiran Maguire, who gives a generalised as opposed to a specific opinion.

IMO, their opinions on the football side of WBA are just about worth listening to, but not their opinions on the financial side.

[hardtobeat]

Unless it's part of a major development plan for the area, GL wouldn't get a lot of money for the stadium & it's land.
He's more likely to sell it's naming rights, so IMO, were unlikely to lose the stadium, but we could lose The Hawthorns.

We will never lose The Hawthorns ! As far as the fans go that’s what it will always be called. It’s a bit like when owners re branded their pubs majority of patrons still referred to their watering hole by its original name

[Albionic]

This is the company to which Lai lent circa £5million.

Lepkowski et al, claims that because they have substantially reduced their share capital, they won't be able to repay the debt.

On the other hand, research suggests that it's not possible to unilaterally reduce share capital, it has to be authorised. A condition of the authorised reduction in share capital is the company has to demonstrate it can fulfill its obligations on debts.

As far as the comments on Articles of Association is concerned, it appears that changes were needed to accomodate the latest EFL regulations.

Is business law international ? 

[baggiejohn]

Is business law international ?

I'm not sure that it's business law, more a global code of practice for stock markets.

In the absence of statutes, codes of practice are normal reference points.