Ranson puts in takeover bidUpdated: May 8th, 2007
The consortium headed by Ray Ranson have made a formal bid to buy City, I’ve been reliably informed.
I understand a cash offer in the region of 40p per share was made on Wednesday, valuing the club at around £22million. As part of the offer chairman John Wardle and shareholder David Makin have been asked to “take a hit” on their outstanding loans which currently total £23m.
Ranson’s initial approach was met with a lukewarm response from the board last month. The terms of Wednesday’s offer suggests Ranson may have a long way to go to satisfy shareholders’ demands.
Any successful bid will have to balance the demands of Wardle and Makin to have their loans repaid as well as the interests of shareholders such as Mark Boler, who will be looking for the highest possible share price. When net assets and goodwill are taken into account, a value of 70p per share could be deemed realistic.
I’m told Ranson’s British-based consortium would not add any extra debt to the club and their plan would involve a new board and manager. “They intend to turn the club upside down and go through it from top to bottom and in particular have targeted strengthening the scouting network, looking at the commercial activities and reviewing the administration side,” a source tells me.
The group have a five to ten year plan which would involve “a small amount of cash” being made available to the manager.
There are also rumours that the board have received a second formal bid, possibly from the Americans who recently toured Carrington. While their identity is still unknown I’m told they are “not big players” and definitely not the same Americans who approached the club in December.
Although recent rumours have suggested a Denver businessman and the people behind the Schechter & Co loan (Schechter & Co arranged the loan on behalf of an unknown lender), my information is that neither of those rumours are accurate.
Billionaire Clark Hunt, whom I suggested as a possible candidate last month, can also be ruled out. I understand that investigations by Radio Five Live have revealed that no current US sports franchise owner is currently interested in buying City.
~ I hear the club are getting a bit jumpy about takeover information leaking to the media. Last weekend Danny Hall (the son of TV celebrity Stuart who works for City’s solicitors Eversheds) reminded appropriate staff of their responsibilities not to disclose any information about a possible takeover, warning them that they could be jailed for up to seven years for breach of confidentiality. Not as jolly as his dad, is he?
The next manager
I received an email from Finn Gronn in Norway the other day, suggesting Trond Sollied would make a fantastic manager for City.
The 47-year-old Norwegian has an amazing managerial record, winning league titles in Norway, Belgium and Greece.
Better still he’s available. Sollied was recently sacked by Olympiakos, despite the side being top of the Greek Superleague at the time.
Sadly, a less exciting prospect is now looking increasingly likely. An Eastlands mole informs me that Wardle has already approached Peter Reid with a view to him replacing Pearce, which suggests that this Daily Mirror story might be spot on.
City’s financial history
I’ve just been updating the timeline of City’s shareholding history, so today’s probably a good day to run it.
There are still several gaps. There seems to be little information on shareholders from early 20th century to the late 1960s, and I haven’t found any account of how Peter Swales and Stephen Boler came to acquire their large shareholdings.
If anyone has any information I can add to the timeline please email me via the Contact / Contribute button at the bottom of the page.
The timeline will be kept in the Finances section here.
April 13 1894: Manchester City Football Club formed as limited company. Publican John Edward Chapman serves as chairman for eight years.
Founding shareholders:
John Edward Chapman (publican) - one share
Samuel Barnett (schoolmaster) - one share
Robert Hayes (telegraphist) - one share
Frederick William Skinner (slate manufacturer) - one share
John Robert Connelly? (schoolmaster) - one share
Alfred Jones (brewer) - one share
Edwin Hudson - one share
Charles McCouglan? (agent) - one share
William Raymond? (publican) - one share
Alexander (illegible) (signwriter & decorator) - one share
Robert Heath - one share
1901-02: Newspaper magnate Edward Hulton provides financial backing.
Mar 08 1904: Edward Hulton dies.
Oct 1904: Directors Joshua Parlby, John Chapman and Lawrence Furniss banned for three years and finance director G Madders suspended for life by FA for financial irregularities
May 31 1906: Former chairman W Forrest suspended until Jan 1 1907 and directors Allison and Davies suspended for seven months months
1910-1963: The exact dates the following chairmen served is unclear, but here are the references I have found to City chairmen in this period, along with the years:
1910: W A Wilkinson
1928: Lawrence Furniss
1933: Albert Hughes
Apr 1937 & 1949: Bob Smith
1958 & May 63: Alan Douglas
Apr 1965: Albert Alexander become chairman.
1970 board:
Albert Alexander (chairman) - 560 shares (28%)
Frank Johnson (vice chairman) - 521 shares (26.05%)
Eric Alexander - 27 shares (1.35%)
John Humphries (Umbro shareholder)
Sidney Rose
Chris Muir - 103 shares (5.15%)
Total shares in issue: 2,000 (including 300 ‘missing’ shares)
Apr 1971: Peter Swales joins board after being given 10 shares (0.5%)
Aug 14 1971: Double glazing tycoon Joe Smith and Simon Cussons, a member of the soap manufacturing family, become directors.
Early Dec 1971: Albert Alexander given title of President. His son Eric Alexander becomes chairman. Joe Smith named vice-chairman.
Feb 1972: Pub landlord Ian Niven joins board.
March 1972: Swales becomes vice-chairman.
Oct 5 1972: Eric Alexander stands down. Swales appointed chairman.
Smith becomes president and Cussons vice-chairman. Chris Muir, who left in 1969, returns to board.
1985-86: Freddie Pye appointed vice-chairman.
Late 1980s: Swales and kitchen tycoon Stephen Boler acquire large shareholding.
Autumn 1993: John Maddock appointed general manager.
Feb 05 1994: Francis Lee appointed chairman after paying £3million for 112,337 shares from Swales and Boler at £13.35 per share.
1994: Colin Barlow, John Dunkerley and David Holt become directors.
1994: Ashley Lewis joins board, representing Boler’s stake.
Oct 02 1995: Company floated on OFEX.
List of shareholders:
Francis Lee - 3,882,660 shares (21.6%)
Other consortium members - 3,713,196 shares (20.66%)
Greenalls PLC - 2,498,477 shares (13.9%)
Stephen Boler - 1,648,356 shares (9.17%)
PJ Swales Ltd & exors of PJ Swales - 1,255,704 shares (6.99%)
Total shares in issue: 17,971,806
Jul 1996: David Bernstein appointed to board.
Jan 01 1997: Michael Turner, formerly commercial manager at Liverpool FC, appointed chief executive with effect from 3rd March. Colin Barlow continues on the board with responsibility for special project development.
Feb 17 1997: Rights issue raises £11.8m before expenses. Stephen Boler and “John Wardle & his associate” each pay £5m for 6,250,000 shares. 1,998,343 shares are sold to other subscribers.
New list of shareholders:
Stephen Boler - 7,898,356 shares (24.12%)
Trustees connected with
John Wardle & his associate - 6,250,000 shares (19.09%)
Francis Lee - 3,882,660 shares (11.8%)
Other consortium members - 3,713,196 shares (11.34%)
Greenalls Plc - 2,498,476 shares (7.63%)
PJ Swales Ltd & exors of PJ Swales - 1,255,704 shares (3.84%)
Total shares in issue: 32,470,149
Dec 12 1997: Colin Barlow, John Dunkerley and David Holt all resign from board. Dennis Tueart appointed director.
Mar 16 1998: John Wardle appointed to board.
Mar 17 1998: Francis Lee resigns as chairman. Bernstein replaces him.
Jun 25 1998: Non-executive directors Andrew Thomas (his alternative director Norman Summers) and Ashley Lewis are appointed to the newly formed audit and remuneration committees of the Board.
Oct 30 1998: Stephen Boler dies. Boler’s shareholding to be managed by Walbrook Trustees, representing the Boler family.
Nov 23 1998: Chief executive Mike Turner resigns. Chairman David Bernstein assumes a number of Turner’s responsibilities. Chris Bird becomes chairman’s assistant.
Jun 01 1999: John Wardle appointed deputy chairman. Chris Bird promoted to chief operating officer. Alistair Mackintosh becomes finance director.
Dec 06 1999: BSkyB buys 9.95% of club for £5.5m. £4.8m of loans from Wardle & Makin converted into shares. Wardle, Makin and Boler family awarded 5,390,538 bonus shares following triggering of clause in Dec 1996 rights issue. Total of 13,468,683 new shares issued.
New list of shareholders:
John Wardle - 13.99%
David Makin - 11.01%
Walbrook Trustees - 18.89%
BSkyB - 9.95%
Francis Lee - 7.24%
The Greenalls Group Plc - 4.84%
Total shares in issue: 53,672,693
Jul 27 2000: Thomas resigns as director. Bryan Bodek appointed to the board as BSkyB’s representative and replaces Thomas on both the audit and remuneration committees.
Feb 07 2001: De Vere Group PLC (formerly The Greenalls Group Plc) sells “substantially all” of its stake to Makin and Wardle.
New list of shareholders:
JC Wardle - 16.1%
David Makin - 13.85%
Walbrook Trustees - 18.75%
BSkyB - 9.88%
Francis Lee - 7.13%
Total shares in issue: 54,089,353
Dec 24 2002: Chris Bird appointed managing director - development. Alistair Mackintosh appointed managing director - finance
Feb 27 2003: Chris Bird tenders resignation.
Mar 05 2003: David Bernstein resigns.
Mar 07 2003: Chris Bird leaves
May 19 2003: John Wardle becomes chairman. Bryan Bodek appointed deputy chairman. Alistair Mackintosh becomes managing director.
May 25 2005: Ashley Lewis leaves board.
Jan 25 2006: Mark Boler becomes director.