Three bids have already been made for Port Vale FC and more might well come in. At present neither former director Mo Chaudry or local firm International Piping Products have made a bid.
Joint administrator Bob Young told fans at an open meeting, “We have three offers already and we’re talking to three other parties with a couple of those likely to make bids,” said Young. “We will set a closing date for bids either tomorrow night or Monday at midday.
Three bids have already been made for Port Vale FC and more might well come in. At present neither former director Mo Chaudry or local firm International Piping Products have made a bid.
Joint administrator Bob Young told fans at an open meeting, “We have three offers already and we’re talking to three other parties with a couple of those likely to make bids,” said Young. “We will set a closing date for bids either tomorrow night or Monday at midday.
“I believe the bids we’ve received are adequate, so it’s a case of us making sure that they have got the money. We’ve asked the people who have already submitted bids to send us proof of funding. I don’t know the people who have submitted bids, but we’re doing research on them and their companies to make sure they comply with Football League rules.”
Young also stated that he believed no former club directors were involved with the bidders and also hopes the administrator’s preferred option will be identified by early next week. The chosen candidate will then be obligated to pay a non-refundable five-figure cash deposit to advance to the next stage. They will also present cash-flow figures for the next three years and show where the money will come from. Such precautions are necessary given some recent experiences with football clubs in administration.
Young still expects Chaudry to make an offer, but he is less certain about IPP staying the course. “I think IPP have been a little bit surprised over the media coverage, the amount of hits on their website and the amount of management time involved. It would be a relatively small part of their empire in turnover terms, but it might be quite a big drain on their time.” For a medium-sized company, the challanges of becoming involved in the very different business of a football club are considerable.
It was initially believed that Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Vale’s largest creditor, had agreed to a £600,000 bail-out to help the club survive until the end of the season. But Young revealed that the club have so far only needed to receive £200,000 from the local authority, although he didn’t rule out requesting more funding.
With Vale’s debts standing at £2.8m, the administrators are also in negotiations with the Professional Footballers’ Association over securing a loan of £50,000-per-month until the end of the campaign to contribute to the players’ wages. The loan is likely to hike up the club’s football creditors’ debt to around £300,000, including £80,000 of unpaid players’ wages for February.