raveydavey to buy Thorp Arch*

raveydavey · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 6:00 pm Post subject: raveydavey to buy Thorp Arch*

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...cil-to-buy-Leed-United.5657380.jp

LEEDS United has received a major boost when senior councillors voted to buy their Thorp Arch training ground.
With time running out on a £6m buyback option, the city council's executive board agreed a deal under which the council would borrow money to buy the facility and rent it back to United.

It will be leased to the club for a fixed period at the end of which the club can buy it from the council.

United sold Thorp Arch to Scumchester businessman Jacob Adler in 2004 at the height of their financial problems. They were given a 25-year lease and the option to repurchase.

With that option due to expire on October 10 and United unable to raise the money, the club turned to the council for help.

Executive board members last month rejected the loan idea but have now decided to buy and lease Thorp Arch to United on commercial terms.
The decision – taken after lengthy discussions with press and public excluded – follows examination by council officials of the club's bank statements, accounts, cash flows and financial forecasts.

After the meeting council deputy leader Coun Andrew Carter said: "We are going to continue discussions with the club. We have formulated an offer which we are going to make to them. We obviously want to help if we can."

He said the rent the club paid would cover the council's loan repayments.

He said it had been made clear there was no possibility of the council lending United the £6m and added: "Anything we do must be at no cost to the council tax payer and minimum risk to the council."

Officials will now negotiate details of the offer with the club before submitting it to Coun Carter, council leader Coun Richard Brett, Labour group leader Coun Keith Wakefield and Morley Borough Independent leader Coun Robert Finnigan.

A condition of the deal will be United agreeing to support a range of "football in the community" initiatives.

Leeds United chief executive Shaun Harvey said: "We are delighted to learn that the council wishes to offer us support and we now look forward to continuing discussions to bring this matter to a successful conclusion."

* raveydavey, a Leeds council tax payer for many years, immediately pledged that the council could use his council tax money for the purchase of TA, rather than anything trivial like paying binmen, keeping facilities for the old folk open or filling in potholes in the road.

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eddiesleftfoot · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:26 am Post subject:

Fill the potholes in with the old people

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wewantourdarbyback · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 3:40 pm Post subject:

Bloody glad I've been a student for the three years I've been in Leeds therefore not seen my council taxes wasted on a football club.

Don't get me wrong I love Leeds United but Wood lane is starting to smell atm.

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raveydavey · Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:10 pm Post subject:

wewantourdarbyback · Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:14 pm Post subject:

cardboardbox?Youwerelucky · Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:07 am Post subject:

Sort of good news I think, however I would be interested to know how a club who made a profit of 4.5 million PLUS the sale of delph and the other youngsters, PLUS the sale of the high earners couldn't manage to raise the finances?? Or at least put half of the money into the pot??

So are we any further on with the TA thing? Surely this means it is just a different owner? We still don't own it?

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raveydavey · Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:52 pm Post subject:

raveydavey · Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:22 pm Post subject:

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...ted-and-council-chiefs.5699529.jp
Leeds City Council and Leeds United have struck a deal over the future of the club's Thorp Arch training ground.

Council bosses last month voted to make an offer to United regarding the purchase of the complex.

Now the local authority has announced it has agreed terms with the football club.

Subject to due diligence checks, the council will buy Thorp Arch from its current owners, Scumchester-based company Barnaway Ltd, then lease it back to the club.

United sold the complex to Scumchester businessman Jacob Adler in 2004 as they tried to stave off financial collapse.

They were given a 25-year lease on the facility as well as an option to repurchase it for a fixed price of about £6m.

That option, however, expires on October 10 - and earlier this year concerns were voiced the site could be lost to the club and the city once United's lease runs out in 2029.

Leeds approached the council for help after failing in attempts to raise money themselves for the buy-back.

The council's joint leader, Coun Richard Brett, said: "We have settled the main terms of any agreement with Leeds United and look forward to completing our due diligence work so that matters can be concluded as soon as possible."

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halfaperson · David Batty Joined: 13 Jun 2007 Posts: 1157

Ive written to Huddersfields council asking them if they can help out their neighbours in any way. Expecting a short reply anyday now

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Gopher · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:16 pm Post subject:

It may only say a couple of words Halfa.

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raveydavey · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:32 pm Post subject:

raveydavey · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject:

from t'YEP:

The deal to sell Leeds United's Thorp Arch training ground to Leeds City Council will be completed by October 15, according to club chairman Ken Bates.

Leeds City Council have agreed to purchase Thorp Arch from its private owners and lease the complex back to United. Bates announced in last night's programme that transfer of ownership will be finalised no later than a week tomorrow.

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raveydavey · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject:

Oh dear - now the TA deal "requires League approval"

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...ted-Arch-deal-requires.5721012.jp

The Football League will be asked to give its approval to the deal reached by Leeds City Council to buy Leeds United's training ground at Thorp Arch.

The council's prospective purchase of the £6million complex, which could be completed next week, is dependent on the Football League sanctioning the lease agreement negotiated between the local authority and the League One club.

Leeds plan to rent Thorp Arch from the council after approaching it for help in purchasing a property sold by the club to private property developers in 2004.

At the time of that sale, United's board negotiated a buy-back clause which gave the club until October 2009 to raise the funds needed to reclaim the freehold at Thorp Arch.

Leeds approached the council for financial assistance earlier this year, insisting they had neither the money nor the access to lending facilities required to complete the purchase themselves. The council has since agreed to buy Thorp Arch and lease the facility back to the club, subject to the completion of due diligence.

The deal would appear to erase the threat of Leeds losing the use of their state-of-the-art training complex in future years, and chairman Ken Bates announced this week that the transfer of the freehold to the council would take place by this Thursday, October 15.

Leeds City Council, however, has confirmed that the Football League will be required to provide its approval before the council borrows the funds needed to complete the sale. A deal will not be announced until the governing body gives its blessing.

The council is still in the process of carrying out due diligence having agreed terms with Leeds.

Its joint leader, councillor Andrew Carter, told the YEP: "The Football League will need to sign the deal off before it goes through. That's an absolute deal-breaker.

"We haven't received that approval yet because we haven't finished our due diligence. But because of the details involved in the deal, it's essential that the Football League says yes to it."

Coun Carter did not comment on the nature of the details which require the Football League's attention.

In a separate development, the League's board announced on Thursday that it had written to United to ask for clarification about the identity of the club's owners.

The request was prompted by recent reports raising doubts about who holds overall control of the Elland Road club, and whether United's owners have passed the League's fit and proper persons test.

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wewantourdarbyback · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:28 pm Post subject:

On t'beeb for a few days now:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/f.../teams/l/leeds_united/8299058.stm

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30 Mill · Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 9:20 pm Post subject:

You have got to be kidding me - If I sold my house do I need some housing authorities approval to sell it? If i sell my car do I need AA to approve it?

What a load of w@nk!

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raveydavey · Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject:

Now in tonights YEP, the screw is being turned with a double page spread banging on about how the deal must be completed before Thursday...

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...ted-Deadline-looms-for.5726819.jp

Leeds United remain optimistic that Leeds City Council will complete its purchase of Thorp Arch on time, with the full backing of the Football League.

United have confirmed their training ground must be in the hands of the council by Thursday afternoon to comply with the buy-back clause they have on Thorp Arch and expect that schedule to be met in a deal which would end any lingering uncertainty about their future use of the state-of-the-art complex.

The council has agreed to purchase Thorp Arch from Barnaway Ltd – the company which bought the property from United for £4.2m back in 2004 – and rent it to the club, but the proposal has a number of hurdles to clear before it can be officially signed.

Leeds City Council has been performing due diligence on United's finances and was continuing that process towards the end of last week. Should it be satisfied by the information it receives, the local authority's plan to buy Thorp Arch would then require the blessing of the Football League.

League approval is an essential part of the agreement, described by the council's joint leader, Andrew Carter, as a "deal-breaker" and "non-negotiable".

The Football League, however, is unlikely to provide that permission until it is entirely satisfied that questions about the identity of United's ownership have been addressed.

The League's board wrote to Leeds last week asking for clarification over the individuals behind Forward Sports Fund (FSF) – the off-shore company which holds a 100 per cent shareholding in Leeds – after reports alleged that chairman Ken Bates claimed in error that he was one of the club's owners.

The allegations raised the question of who ultimately controls the League One club and whether United's owners have passed the Football League's fit and proper persons test.

The directors and beneficiaries of FSF, which gained control of Leeds after a Bates-led takeover in 2007, have never been publicly named.

Leeds City Council also wishes to see confusion over the ownership of United resolved before it proceeds with the purchase of Thorp Arch, though the need for rubber-stamping by Lord Mawhinney's organisation was a factor before the League made its demand for fresh information from Elland Road last week.

As part of the agreement reached between United and the council, it is understood that Leeds intend to use a portion of the central income they receive from the Football League as financial security, helping the club to guarantee their future obligations to the council.

League One clubs receive around £640,000 annually from the League, raised through television, sponsorship and other commercial agreements, with the money paid in instalments.

A spokesman for the League said: "We understand that part of the security package included in the agreement would see the club assigning part of its central income from the Football League as security.

"Requests of this kind from clubs are not uncommon."

United chief executive Shaun Harvey has vowed to comply with the Football League's demand for clarification about the club's owners and said he was aware of a request from the council for similar information.

"The question's been asked in different quarters and it's become an issue," Harvey said.

"I understand that the council have asked for information (about United's owners) and we're looking to provide it within the parameters that the club are restricted to.

"It's fair to say that we'll be dealing with all the parties involved in this – the League and the council – at the same time."

Asked whether he feared the matter of ownership might hinder or threaten the council's deal to buy the training complex, Harvey said: "I don't. We as a club are optimistic that it will go ahead as planned."

The council is committed to the Thorp Arch deal – Coun Carter expressing his belief that it will "be okay" – but the local authority will abandon the plan if the League is unwilling to sanction it.

Coun Carter said: "It's not a case of us approaching the Football League to ask them to check the deal over. From the very start, the Football League was always required to give its approval.

"For reasons of commercial confidentiality I can't discuss the finer details, but the Football League's approval was always part of the deal that's on the table.

"That was the case long before the issue of United's ownership came up, and that part of the deal isn't negotiable. But I have to say that I think it will be okay."

Leeds presently pay in the region of £486,000 a year to rent Thorp Arch from Barnaway Ltd and the buy-back clause negotiated when the property was sold five years ago by the Leeds board, headed by ex-chairman Gerald Krasner, is in its final throes.

The original option was set to run until October 10, 2009 – last Saturday – but the deadline was recently extended by five days with the agreement of Barnaway director Jacob Adler.

Writing in his programme column before Leeds' Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie against Darlington, Bates said: "Leeds City Council have agreed to fund the purchase of Thorp Arch and completion will take place by October 15."

Harvey said the five-day extension was agreed specifically to assist Adler, who was otherwise engaged in the lead up to October 10.

Harvey said: "It wasn't an extension that we requested. The original date clashed with a religious holiday and it would have caused the landlord a problem.

"He was happy to work towards the 15th instead, as we are, and the date was amended accordingly."

The council has negotiated a 14-year lease period with Leeds for Thorp Arch, after which time the club will have the option to acquire the complex.

United will also be able to buy back the land at an earlier date if they raise the necessary funds.

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raveydavey · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject:

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.c...nited-Elland-Road-club.5735313.jp

Leeds United were today hoping to see Leeds City Council conclude its purchase of the club's training ground at Thorp Arch.
The council had until this evening to exercise the buy-back option which United agreed on Thorp Arch when they sold the property to private developers five years ago, but the deal was still to be finalised this morning.

Leeds City Council was planning to buy the state-of-the-art complex for around £6m and rent it back to Leeds, with the club having the option to acquire the site in 14 years' time or earlier if they can raise the necessary funds.

The local authority has been carrying out due diligence this week and the deal also needs the approval of the Football League.

United intend to use a portion of their central income from the Football League to guarantee their lease agreement with the council, a plan which the League described as "not uncommon". Were the council to fail in its attempt to tie up the deal today, United would be forced to request an extension to the buy-back clause from Thorp Arch's owners, Barnaway Ltd.

Leeds' existing lease runs until 2029 and gives them use of the facility until then, but they would have no exclusive right to purchase the property in future years if the buy-back option expires.

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cardboardbox?Youwerelucky · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:34 am Post subject:

End of thread Rolling Eyes

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wewantourdarbyback · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 2:03 pm Post subject:

Council funding shouldn't have been needed in the first place anyway, that 4 million profit last year and Delph's money have all disappeared into Bates pocket as usual.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/f.../teams/l/leeds_united/8309746.stm

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raveydavey · Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject:

******************** STOP! ******************

Now the deal has fallen through, can we please post anything further on the other thread on the subject please, to keep everything from here in one place.

Thanks

******************** STOP! ******************

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