There has been so much takeover activity outside the Premier League in the last couple of days of this week that I have had difficulty in keeping up. Watford has emerged as the latest target, but I have no inside knowledge about the identity of their mystery suitor. However, it was announced on the stock exchange yesterday that Lord Ashcroft was in talks which could lead to a full takeover.
There has been so much takeover activity outside the Premier League in the last couple of days of this week that I have had difficulty in keeping up. Watford has emerged as the latest target, but I have no inside knowledge about the identity of their mystery suitor. However, it was announced on the stock exchange yesterday that Lord Ashcroft was in talks which could lead to a full takeover.
Admittedly, Hornets fans have been speculating about this on the web for days. But the problem with what appears on the message boards and the like is that it is often nothing more than speculation. Sometimes someone hits on the right idea, often by accident as much as a result of inside info. I know that at my club I get fed up with people who say they get inside dope from the tea lady at the training ground. For what its worth, there has been talk of consortiums from India, Italy and Russia.
The Hornets had their time in the sun in the 1980s when they were owned by Sir Elton John who is still honorary life president and Graham Taylor was manager. They finished second in the top flight when it was not the Premiership. No disrespect to Watford, but football has changed and it would be difficult for a club of their size to achieve that today. But they are in a prosperous area, albeit on the outskirts of London with top clubs not so far away.
The club has been losing money: parachute payments from the Premier League ended in 2009 and media income fell by £10.4n. A concert staged by Sir Elton John in the summer raised £1.23m. Revenues last year fell from £23m to £16m as the Hornets had an indifferent year in the Championship. Some pundits then marked them down for an inevitable relegation to League 1 this year.
Lord Ashcroft has helped the club out considerably after rescuing it from the threat of administration a year ago. His role in the Conservative Party has attracted some controversy and there was some speculation at the time that it would become the club of choice of Dave Cameron’s Big Society. However, for all his stalwart efforts in Zurich, I don’t think that Dave is really that much of a football fan. He likes to play tennis and no doubt enjoys the Eton Wall Game.
Lord Ashcroft owns 37 per cent of the company and is owed £6.5m in loans. Whoever buys the club is going to need fairly deep pockets. Other significant shareholders include Valley Grown Salads, the vehicle of two former chairmen and the brother of one of them. Last December Lord Ashcroft’s investment vehicle, Fordwat, paid off a £4.9m loan that Watford owed to Valley Grown Salads.
Something is clearly going on because their shares closed up 2.5p on Friday at 9.5p, valuing the club at £4m. Hopefully for Hornets fans this particular candle in the wind will be not be snuffed out.