At last the pieces of the jigsaw begin to fall into place. The announcement by the club this morning of a management buyout may be the thing that finally takes QPR out of administration. However, QPR1st wonders how sustainable this latest bid really is.
QPR1st has been trying hard to get to the truth of what has been happening over the last week. Having had just two bidders interested in the club since last Summer, a mysterious third emerged in David Davies Q & A on the official website. Subsequently, one of the originals, the Winton-Fitzgerald
bid, has been withdrawn as reported on this site earlier in the week, while yesterday the Melzack bid found its offer pushed to one side.
The new front-runner is believed to be a management buyout, involving chief executive David Davies, acting chairman Nick Blackburn and director Ross Jones. Davies has confirmed to QPR1st that he has lodged a bid, but he will not comment on the detail. QPR 1st has heard that it amounts to £11m, financed at 8%/yr interest. We have also heard that it is founded on a
mortgage of the Loftus Road ground. We understand that Chris Wright will be left with a small shares holding but that he will not be a part of the proposed board. The MBO is also believed to be approaching the rejected bidders for backing, which makes QPR1st wonder just how secure the financing
for the MBO proposal is.
QPR1st trusts that those involved in the bid will be resigning their current positions in the meantime.
As ever, QPR1st finds itself seeking information. How much of Chris Wright’s debt is paid off by the MBO? What working capital will the new company have to take it forward? What deal will be offered to shareholders? Will the deal be completed on time to meet the league’s deadline? What provisions are there in the deal for fan representation on the board?
Meanwhile, QPR 1st calls on administrator Ray Hocking to explain what it is about the MBO that makes it so much more attractive than the other bids. For example, we understand from one of its proponents that the Melzack bid included a long term lease on Loftus Road with buy back options which, under the right financial conditions, may have been a very good deal for QPR. In addition, it brought in £4m more than the MBO is reportedly offering. Meanwhile the Winton-Fitzgerald bid offered the chance of a democratic structure in the club’s decision-making and, QPR 1st understands, plans for developing Loftus Road closer to Premiership standards.
Messrs Davies and Hocking, if you have at last found the bid you have been looking for, now is the time to win the fans’ over to it by revealing all.
Melzack consortium statement
The following has been provided to QPR 1st this afternoon in response to urgent requests for an update of the status of their bid. Comments on todays unfolding events will appear later today.
Melzack Statement
“The funding for our bid has been agreed, and we believe it will take a month to complete and for Queens Park Rangers to be taken out of administration. The Melzack consortium bid would rescue the club from imminent receivership and liquidation, provide stability in which to regroup whilst ensuring the club remained at Loftus Road long into the future unless the demands of success required the consideration of moving for the benefit of the club.
unfortunately we cannot reveal the structure of the bid at present as it would not be appropriate to conduct such negotiation in the media and on various websites.
The Melzack consortium comprises several partners who are committed to QPR’s future and also managing the finances to ensure the club does not again find itself in such a perilous position. Significant amounts of money have already invested in bringing our bid to this stage shows how serious consortium is with regard to stabilising and ensuring the long term future of the club.
Brian Melzack is QPR through and through and other members of the consortium are serious and committed to the cause. The consortium are also open to working with other groups as proved by reaching out to the Wintons, however we would draw the line at any involvement with Ron Noades.
We were informed by the administrator that ours was the best bid on the table and that we would be in a position to formally proceed on Monday of this week and as a result of today’s news we now understand why the administrators had delayed their final decision and have since become elusive.
we apologise to the supporters for not being able to be more open about our bid throughout, but this delicate type of transaction cannot be conducted effectively in the public spotlight especially when it concerns a football club which is full of emotions, Our bid is still on the table and we await clarification of the position”.