Scummers’ alleged bid talks are off. The non-news in full:
Southampton Leisure Holdings plc (“the Company”)
Offer talks terminated
The Company announces that it has terminated offer talks and therefore is not in discussions with any party regarding a potential offer for the Company. Accordingly the Company is no longer in an offer period.
Enquiries…
Back in April last year we were led to believe that Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, had approached cash-strapped Southampton football club with a takeover offer. Sadly, the idea crashed.
There was some sort of attempted boardroom coup last summer, followed by the unlikely news in October that one Onye Igwe, from an obscure hedge fund called Sisu Capital, was planning to take control of the club via a fund raising pitched at 40p a share.
Either Igwe came to his senses, or the numbers didn’t add up, or both, since that’s the last we had heard of the Scummers’ grand refinancing before Tuesday’s news.
The stock fell 3p to 31p in response.
Other saviours of this once proud club (etc) include a south coast barrister called Jonathan Fulthorpe who specialises in planning disputes and a Canadian company, MLSE, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team. Allegedly.
What a joke.
Related links:
CTRL + ALT + DEL: Saints to get rebooted? – FT Alphaville
Alpha Saint – Southampton’s unlikely saviour – FT Alphaville
A team effort – Portsmouth FA Cup victory
Declaration of interest: the author of this post was raised in Portsmouth.