We met recently with three of Brian Melzack’s consortium – but not Brian himself – in Central London in the expectation of learning more about the nature of their bid.
Waiting to greet us was one of the – then – consortium members, Haleem Kherallah. Haleem is into property, a lawyer and a registered FIFA football agent. He can certainly talk and we spent the first 20 minutes listening to him talking about football, particularly his ideas on how small clubs can survive. His philosophy is to develop or buy players cheap and sell them big. At one point, Haleem told us that he knew “what was wrong with every club in the league” and that “he could put them all right”.
At this point, two other members of the consortium arrive. One was a larger-than-life character who wouldn’t tell us his name – “Just call me JR,” he said. The other was Andy Clark.
JR, it seemed, was under the (wrong) impression that QPR1st had linked their consortium with the move to Milton Keynes. He said that referring to their bid as “Mickey Mouse” had cost them a lot of money. Quite why he had thought this was the case is a mystery, but we able to assure him that we had never stated or suggested any such thing. He replied that he must have been misinformed.
Haleem was continuing in full flow, and we obliged to point out that our financial advisor, Bill Butler, had limited time there and we really needed to discuss the financial implications of their bid.
Their supposed structure is simple – as JR set it out. They claim to have secured “substantial funding from a lender against collateral” (security in layman’s terms) and the intention is to buy out Chris Wright and leave adequate funds over for working capital. They also claim they would be buying Chris Wright’s shares and – depending on which answer you believed – would or wouldn’t be re-instating Loftus Road plc on the AIM market. This would remove the current embargo on dealing (buying/selling) in Loftus Road shares.
Bill pointed out that in buying Chris Wright’s majority shareholding (including the family trusts, etc), they would likely have an obligation to make a similar offer to buy out all the other shareholders. JR acknowledged this but we are far from convinced that he knew this before we mentioned it. He talked about keeping the fans involved financially, but we aren’t convinced he really has a full grasp of the issue. In such a share purchase scenario, we understand that smaller shareholders would have to receive the same price per share as Chris Wright.
In supposedly putting up sufficient collateral for borrowing (suggesting a market value of assets to be pledged up to 30% in excess of the funds borrowed), they said that they would not be tying in Loftus Road plc assets (including the ground), which would leave the club free of any charge and with a pot of working capital.
JR stated that he want nothing on the QPR 1st website before the following Wednesday as they were trying to keep a controlled profile until getting the green light to roll. He said that they have been involved in their bid for 10 months, at one time considering a joint bid with Andrew Ellis.
JR went on to say that (if their bid is successful) he will be working mainly on the finance side and also overseeing the Academy (which therefore would need to be re-introduced). He said he would use the youth team to launch “a new brand”. He said he was glad when Chris Wright took Twyford Avenue out of the equation (Haleem had the opposite view) as that meant that some of the interested bidders pulled out. In their deal, there would be a five-year agreement for QPR to use the training ground.
Haleem kindly paid for some of us to eat and drink (bloody QPR1st freeloaders…). Like a lot of talkers, he wasn’t a great listener, and more interested in getting his point across. There was a telling moment very early on when Haleem seemed to suggest he was unsure about Ian Holloway’s credentials – but quickly changed his tune once we let him know that we thought the manager was doing a fine job. He said that he would mobilise the Arab community in West London – and also by introducing players from the Middle East, who would come much cheaper than similar European/South American ones. He also said how attractive our location was and only a madman would want to move the club to Heathrow. Haleem is an extremely charming man, who exhudes energy. But if was on the board, then it’s all too easy imagining him interfering in team affairs.
However, we have since learned that Haleem is no longer part of the consortium, with suggestions that it is for those very reasons.
JR is a West Ham fan, but seems to have built quite a genuine passion for QPR and reckons our supporters are generally a decent lot. He is amusing and likeable, but clearly wasn’t entirely comfortable with some of our close questioning. He revealed that if QPR needed to move, they had earmarked three potential new sites, all within spitting distance of Loftus Road.
Andy Clark expanded on the branding theme that JR had mentioned earlier, saying that this would involve the club manufacturing the kit and creating a sports brand that would fit into the general ethos of what they were trying to create at QPR, ie innovative and top quality. It seems, Andy has a lot of experience in brand management and the plan is to build up and produce goods for all sorts of sports, ultimately to provide extra income for QPR. We talked to him about how the club could be run better, and he proved himself a good listener, taking our points and questions on board, and providing full answers.
The meeting was both informal and relaxed. On the face of it, the deal sounds feasible – but as with the Maurice FitzGerald bid, there are questions over where the backing is coming from and the detailed structure of the bid.
Fortunately, it’s not our position to back any bid, especially one over another. Our task is to convey as much practical information as possible, together with our impressions of those involved. Our club is in administration, but there is no pressing need to rush into a deal for the sake of it. Funding is there for the season – albeit there are (long overdue) budgetary constraints. With a half-successful season and a sustained level of support, which has been excellent so far, it’s likely there will be other, more diverse interest in buying the club.
Finally, we note with dismay, from our various meetings and contact, that Chris Wright seems prepared to sell to anyone with the right money (for him) but that the welfare of the club (which his PR machine has said he will protect)seems to have become a secondary issue. Perhaps this will not surprise some people, but we had gained an impression of someone who was being patient in the early days and perhaps was genuinely trying to flush out (and see off) the property developers, who would not think twice about dumping the Club.