Potential Takeovers and Investors

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Comments

  • alderzalderz
    By way of comparison, Tony Fernandes bought QPR in 2011/12. They were in the Premier League, we were in the championship. Since then, we have finished above them every single season (an average of 19 places above them).

    Another hated Premier League owner is Mike Ashley. Since Gold & Sullivan bought West Ham, we have finished ahead of Newcastle 7 out of 12 seasons. Ashley is worth approximately 3 times what Sullivan is worth.

    I don't like the owners (to be honest, any football club owner is a corrupt capitalist who has exploited the working class to horde wealth, so I don't really like any of them), but we have had a better time of it than clubs in similar situations. Newcastle were a bigger club than us until Ashley came in. A lot of people (including me) would have preferred Tony Fernandes to buy us when Sullivan & Gold did.
  • yoyoyoyo
    When the owners finally sell up I hope it's to people who have the future of the club In heart and mind, not just to the people who bid the most. Of course money talks but there's more to it than that. A long term investment plan and vision is required
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Its a slightly different situation at Palace

    The new bloke has paid £87.5m for an 18% stake and is now one of four "co-owners". The other three also hold 18% and the remaining 28% is owned by three other shareholders who were part of the group that took over Palace in 2010
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    It may help if we knew who the individuals are in this consortium.
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    edited August 2021
    C&Bsky
    ASLEFshrugged said:





    Stancilaus Mabika and Paul Alan John Mills are the only directors of PAI Capital and PAI International, Mills is sole director of PAI Investments, Shanghai.

    And now i've got to go back to work, someone else can Google

    and
    MrsGrey said:



    A Companies House search ...


    Mabika has no other directorships, he is Zimbabwean, resident in the UK with correspondence address in China.

    Mills has 4 directorships: PAI International, PAI Investments, PAI Capital and 3P Technologies Ltd.

    and
    ASLEFshrugged said:

    Their only football connection seems to be "Partner for Development" Philip Beard who was QPR's Chief Executive from 2012 until 2015 when he quit because Les Ferdinand was appointed as Director of Football

  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    The main guy with the money is the son of an Azeri businessman but he's got an Interpol warrant out because his father is accused of corruption. His father's already been arrested. They say it's politically-motivated and that might be true but it seems unlikely then that they'll be able to access their wealth. Lots of energy projects apparently. I assume that's what the business in Afghanistan is - probably under threat right now.

    https://theathletic.com/2753521/2021/08/06/west-ham-takeover-bid-the-legal-dispute-surrounding-pai-capital/

    I think at this point I accept G&S as owners but I do want them out of the running of the club. I want proper, professional structures for recruitment and managing the club.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Indeed Nasib Piriyev seems to be the money many, the others are the respectable "front",

    He claims to have been a West Ham fan since the 80s although Claret and Hugh claim he tried to buy Olympique Marseille in May 2020 with the assistance of a Chinese bank.

    I am no more convinced that someone claiming to be a West Ham fan would try to buy Olympique Marseille than I am that a pair claiming to be West Ham fans would buy Birmingham City
  • LukerzLukerz
    Clearly wanted to sell Payet back to his beloved Irons
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    Thanks for the Info, I am not convinced to say the least.
  • HamstewHamstew
    edited August 2021
    PAI are releasing an interview this morning but through the west ham way podcast. It's only exclusive to those who pay for their patron service initially. I find that a bit odd from PAI personally.
  • OldCastleSwiftOldCastleSwift
    I think the interview will be made fully public over the weekend in mainstream media.

    PAI seem to be close to celebrity mattress salesman Tom Skinner, who in turn is close to the guys that run The West Ham Way, so I guess that's the link.

    Feels like a rather unprofessional way of doing things, but maybe they're trying to get involved with popular fan sites which isn't necessarily a bad thing I suppose.
  • LukerzLukerz
    Manipulating the fan base to try & get onside and force the owners to sell is not great ethically from them. They want the club, the owners have demanded a certain price, pay it or shut up.
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    I got as far as 'celebrity mattress salesman' and now I can't stop laughing.

    What a world 🤣🤣
  • HamstewHamstew
    edited August 2021
    It will probably be available for everyone to hear soon after but to me it seems not very inclusive for everyone from PAI and is already dividing the fan base. They could have gone through them and said please make it available for all straight away. It's a funny way of trying to get all fans on board imo. This isn't who's going to play left back at the weekend kind of news.
  • IronHerbIronHerb
    Lukerz said:

    Manipulating the fan base to try & get onside and force the owners to sell is not great ethically from them. They want the club, the owners have demanded a certain price, pay it or shut up.

    But you don't criticise GSB for not meeting 'the price'?
  • OldCastleSwiftOldCastleSwift
    edited August 2021
    Hamstew said:

    It will probably be available for everyone to hear soon after but to me it seems not very inclusive for everyone from PAI and is already dividing the fan base. They could have gone through them and said please make it available for all straight away. It's a funny way of trying to get all fans on board imo. This isn't who's going to play left back at the weekend kind of news.

    Cresswell 👍
  • LukerzLukerz
    IronHerb said:

    Lukerz said:

    Manipulating the fan base to try & get onside and force the owners to sell is not great ethically from them. They want the club, the owners have demanded a certain price, pay it or shut up.

    But you don't criticise GSB for not meeting 'the price'?
    Herb - I don’t need to. The price of a player (I assume you mean?) is different to the price of a business, but Sullivan is not in the press stating his offer for player x had been rejected & the club need to accept the offer & come to an agreement.

    I have no issue with them pursuing to buy the club if they feel a deal is to be done but do it quietly & not publicly.

    Getting cosy with the supporters is not genuine for me & is just their way of getting a swell of support behind them to force the owners to sell below what they want.
  • whupathmanwhupathman
    MrsGrey said:

    I got as far as 'celebrity mattress salesman' and now I can't stop laughing.

    What a world 🤣🤣

    does he sell ,biscuits as well, otherwise I'm out
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    edited August 2021
    West Ham Way is Ex’s podcast isn’t it? So I think they’ve just gone to the most popular person, who uses Patreon now as his main platform (and I don’t blame him because he does do a lot of work and there’s less abuse there than on Twitter). I don’t think that’s particularly divisive as there aren’t too many West Ham platforms I’d trust.
  • KuchinghammerKuchinghammer
    Magazines, underwear, mattresses... a certain theme emerging with our esteemed owners...any further comment will probably lower the tone so I'll stop there ;)
  • BubblesNeverDiesBubblesNeverDies
    From what I've read on here and on some other places, I wouldn't touch PAI Capital with a barge pole. Their whole approach stinks, their background is obscure, their plans are vague and ill-defined with no mention of the West Ham Football team, their behaviour unprofessional.

    From another site:
    The company was only set up last year, they have no declared accounts at companies house. At present they have only had one deal, in which they purchased and by the look of things liquidated a company, proceeds from the deal (not profits) were 200 million pounds. None of the partners in this company have independent wealth over the millionaire status. There are no Billionaires working for PAI.
    PAI is a subsidiary of PNN, the owner of which is now in prison in Azerbaijan. His son is the person behind PAI and he, as I believe is wanted for fraud in Russia and Azerbaijan.
    Perfect person to buy West Ham

    Sorry if some of this has already been posted.

    I'd much rather stay with GSB with all their faults until someone serious turns up.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    So seems West Ham Way did this interview first, leading to the podcast. Also seems like they will challenge them, which is good.


  • HamstewHamstew
    For me releasing it to a site where there is a paywall whilst at the same time trying to improve communications with the fans and also get them all on side is a bit odd.
    Tbh there isn't that much in the statement anyway. Looks a bit Wikipedia to me.
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    Interesting.

    Pg 2, left hand side, last question. Hmm.

    Pg 2, right hand side ... 'the club cannot rely on its traditional fan base to fill a stadium of 66,000' . Hmm.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    edited August 2021
    Agree about the Wikipedia thing - seems like they've researched the backstory. I see what you're saying about releasing to a paywall as well but also think they're probably the most credible. Claret & Hugh could maybe be an option but I've always got the impression (maybe unjustified) that they're kind of a tool for the owners. They also usually release a portion of their podcast to all, not just the Patreon subscribers.
  • HamstewHamstew
    edited August 2021
    C & H would be bad imo. I have no issues it being on the west ham way site I just think the whole Patreon thing could not have been mentioned for just this specific bit of news. Just my opinion.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    MrsGrey said:

    Interesting.

    Pg 2, left hand side, last question. Hmm.

    Pg 2, right hand side ... 'the club cannot rely on its traditional fan base to fill a stadium of 66,000' . Hmm.

    Clearly not true that we can't fill the stadium. Even more interesting that he talks about the rich and middle-class moving into the E20 area rather than traditional Newham. There's a ton that the club can do to connect more to the communities there, who are picking up West Ham more anyway. A lot of the immigrant families who moved in there were a bit scared of West Ham because of the violent reputation (I'm not saying this is justified and of course it wasn't all or even most supporters supporters, but it's a fact that many people were scared of West Ham fans) but my generation started to embrace our local club. Still, there's so much more to do there to make sure the community around the club is supporting West Ham and the fan base isn't all in Essex.

    Also has he been through those developments? Buildings are going up but I cycle through there all the time and barely see a soul.
  • alderzalderz
    re: The West Ham Way Podcast. I occasionally listen to it but only on Spotify. The only part that is removed is Ex's transfer roundup stuff. I personally think a bit too much is being made of the paywall.
  • OldCastleSwiftOldCastleSwift
    edited August 2021
    They actually tweeted the interview not long after it landed on the Patreon site, so yeah, I think too much is being made of it.

    I don't expect PAI to be particularly au fait with which fan sites charge for access and those that don't; I suspect they've chosen what is seen as the most popular site out there.

    Surprised Mrs G didn't get a call, actually 🤔
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    If Jorderz can get me an interview on behalf of WHU606 I'll switch my agent to him
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