Takeover parts 1 & 2

[markavfc40]

I like the rest of us want the best deal for the future of AVFC. Whilst Lerners bid seems fantastic whose to say the AV06 bid can't be better. People appear to be basing their not wanting AV06 to win on the fact they don't like the sound of Padfield. This guy is just a front man and would not be seen again if the AV06 bid is successful.

I think we should all hold fire a little here and see how this all pans out as the AV06 bid may well be the better bid for the future of AVFC.

I can't understand why some feel they most show an allegiance/loyalty to Lerner and to even consider another bid may be better is in someway betraying Lerner.

As I think PB said this is a win/win situation and is not something to get all worked up about.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

He respects tradition, he's not a showboater, he's fan and player-friendly and has a lot of money - I don't know what more you could ask for in an owner."

Don't you wish your club was owned by someone like that?

Well if you are an Aston Villa fan, your wish may be about to come true, according to American sports journalist Tony Grossi.

The fairy godfather in question is Randy Lerner, who owns American football team the Cleveland Browns, and is close to buying Villa from long-serving chairman Doug Ellis for £62.6m.

Grossi covers the Browns for the Cleveland Plaindealer newspaper and has observed Lerner at close quarters.

He is impressed by what he has seen and believes Villa fans should have every reason to feel happy about the transaction.

"He likes the tradition - fans should feel good about him," said Grossi.

"Lerner grew up in Cleveland and knows the team's history, and wants to get them to the point where they're winning again, so people can pass on their memories.

"I'm sure that is what appeals to him about Aston Villa."

When the Cleveland Browns franchise moved to Baltimore in 1995, Lerner Snr paid a then-National Football League record $530m to bring the team back home.

Lerner Jnr assumed ownership in 2002 when his father died and since then has devoted his efforts and money to trying to restore the glory days to the team he loves.

If Lerner does take charge at Villa, his style of management will be very different to that of predecessor Ellis.

"When the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys were big winners, no-one knew who the owners were. That's the way Lerner likes it at his team," revealed Grossi.

"He is a laid-back person, who hires people to do the managing and lets them get on with it.

Any time I asked him about branching out into other sporting endeavours, he always said his total passion and energy were with the Browns

Tony Grossi

"He is media shy, which is one reason why I don't understand him getting involved in English football - he doesn't appear in front of the camera much, rarely speaks and is happy to be in the background."

Indeed, Grossi says he was surprised to hear about such a low-key individual choosing to enter such a high-profile arena as the Premiership.

"Any time I asked him about branching out into other sporting endeavours, he always said his total passion and energy were with the Browns."

Any talk of American investment in English football inevitably draws comparisons with the Glazer family's controversial purchase of Manchester United - and the debts that incurred.

But Grossi says he cannot see any such problems at Villa.

"All the profits are split between clubs in the NFL and Cleveland ticket prices are a little below market value," he said.

"He often gets a hard time from other owners because they want to raise prices but he is very fan conscious and doesn't want to upset them."

Greg Brady of Detroit sports radio station WDFN says he can see similarities between the Browns and Villa.

"The Browns have had some close calls but never made it to the Super Bowl. Villa are a bit like that," he said.

The Glazer family's takeover of Manchester United upset many fans

"They often have a nice run to the quarter-finals of the Uefa Cup but you don't think of them being in the elite group of teams.

"Maybe Lerner will give them a chance to play with the big boys."

Brady said Villa's level of expectation is likely to ensure Lerner avoids finding himself in such a high-pressure situation as the Glazers at Old Trafford.

"Manchester United can always go out and spend if they have to but Villa aren't like that," he stated.

"Every year you look at them and think 'maybe a Uefa spot', so what is there for them to lose?

"It might be too late to have a huge impact this season but if he is prepared to open his wallet, they could be ready to fight with the Arsenals of the world for important players."

Since arriving at Cleveland, Lerner has not waved a magic wand to solve their on-the-field problems - they have not managed to win more than half of their games in any of the last three seasons.

But Brady says that given time, Lerner could bring an end to Villa's years of stagnation.

"I'm sure he knows what happened with Glazer, so he can't just go in and start raising ticket prices," said Brady.

"But if you're a Villa fan, why not give it a roll of the dice?

"How they win is based more on manager Martin O'Neill, but he needs players and it looks like Randy Lerner may get the pocket book out. It looks like the pieces could be in place."

Here

And before anyone starts, the Cleveland Browns' success has been restricted by certain NFL rules which DO NOT apply (obviously ) to English football.

[GlasgowVilla]

At the end of the day, Rothschilds have to vet the 'bid' (of which there is no such thing as yet) from AV06, and Rothschilds have to decide whether or not to recommend it to the board (based on the remit and guidleines for recommendations given them by Aston Villa).

If they feel it is a better bid than Lerners, having recommended his bid (seemingly) on the strong basis of his plans for us, then surely it is a good thing for Villa.

That all said, I still don't like the idea of faceless backers with a front man that will slip away upon completion.

I trust that, if a bid comes in from AV06, then these backer will have to be named.

[BOF]

I have a question for those in the know.

There is now 21 days from when Lerner's bid was accepted.

Is there ANOTHER 21 days IF Padfield's bid is accepted ? Or do they all have to finalise within the original 21 days. In other words is September 4th D-Day or could we have multiple sets of 21 days depending on how many times the bar is raised ?

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

The Mail understands that AV06 have a combined wealth amongst their board members in excess of £10billion, including at least two billionaires and further backers from the United States, the Middle East and across Europe.

Nice!

"But we are more than prepared to step aside if Mr Lerner can match our £30million transfer budget inside the next 17 days."

Fair enough!

Lerner is believed to have pledged £50million to O'Neill.

Ha! Never mind Padfield, old bean.... £50M + MON + An amazing board = Jackpot Lerner!

[dont_do_it_doug.]

oh god not more. cant tehse guys admit defeat?

Why? If they've got the money to burn then you can't realy blame them. It's like you placing a bid on Ebay for that 1 piece lycra batman suit you've always wanted, would you give up so easily?

I know it's a crap analogy, you'll have to forgive the cold :winkold:

On the other hand it's always better to be proactive than reactive. This does have a bit of an amature feel to it.

Anyway, I highly doubt Rothschild would reccomend another bid to the board under any circumstances, they already got their man......

[stevenjos]

If they do not bid til mid next week then we have no chance of signings before the window.

Stretching this out wont be so Win/Win if we have any injuries during the campaign and we are plunged into a relegation battle.

Im just hoping that this will be sorted asap.

[ChrisVillan]

Padfield to bid £70?

I think Randy can beat that.

[villafan306]

I thought it was a 10 day period - that expires next Thursday so they would need to do it by then.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

"We have money for transfers, up to £30million in the August window if we can get the deal done quickly enough and we are confident we can.

"But we are more than prepared to step aside if Mr Lerner can match our £30million transfer budget inside the next 17 days."

Fair play to them.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

I have a question for those in the know.

There is now 21 days from when Lerner's bid was accepted.

Is there ANOTHER 21 days IF Padfield's bid is accepted ? Or do they all have to finalise within the original 21 days. In other words is September 4th D-Day or could we have multiple sets of 21 days depending on how many times the bar is raised ?

I'm sure that I read Ellis has set a ten day window. In this time Padfield has to make his bid(iirc).

Anyone recall reading that?

[villafan306]

The Birmingham Mail artcile

Consortium set to make £70m Villa bid

Aug 15 2006

By Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

THE AV06 consortium are set to mount a serious challenge to Randy Lerner's hopes of a swift acquisition of Villa by bidding around £70million for the club.

The group, headed by deputy high court judge Nicholas Padfield, want to react to Lerner's £62.6million bid which was announced to the Stock Exchange yesterday.

The bid is expected to be formalised by the middle of next week and means Villa's long-running takeover saga is set for yet another twist.

Padfield's consortium have already held talks with investment bankers Rothschild in London last week when they were given the green light to make a move.

The Mail understands that AV06 have a combined wealth amongst their board members in excess of £10billion, including at least two billionaires and further backers from the United States, the Middle East and across Europe.

Lerner's company has received irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer in respect of 6,508,423 Aston Villa Shares, representing approximately 56.85 per cent of the existing issued share capital.

But the Mail understands that those "irrevocable undertakings" will be null and void if a bid of five per cent or above Lerner's offer is received for the total shares.

A spokesman for AV06 said they aim to "blow Lerner away".

He added: "Our aim is to strengthen the team and to utilise the club's many assets wherever possible.

"We have money for transfers, up to £30million in the August window if we can get the deal done quickly enough and we are confident we can.

"But we are more than prepared to step aside if Mr Lerner can match our £30million transfer budget inside the next 17 days."

Lerner is believed to have pledged £50million to O'Neill.

The AV06 spokesman added: "We are certainly not looking to spoil their deal just for the sake of it but we have concerns about their immediate intentions.

"We are solely interested in strengthening the team and two players now could make all the difference. As regards Lerner, so many questions remain unanswered."

AV06 are still highly sceptical of Lerner's motives, believing his group have held detailed discussions to merge Villa with either Blues or Albion which would enable him to build a casino.

That has already been denied by Lerner, whose intentions have always been highly regarded by chairman Doug Ellis and the Villa board.

Lerner remains in the driving seat until the bid is lodged. He told the American press today: "The basis for acquiring Aston Villa is that it is a storied club dating from the 1870s with periods of treasured memories and glory.

"Currently it faces the need for reinvestment in a variety of areas which many of its competitors have underway or have completed in recent years.

"The opportunity to be a part of strengthening Villa's business operations and facilities represents a broad set of challenges that I'm eager to take on."

AV06 state that Lerner's bid is not straight cash, as in their case, but a lease-back arrangement from his newly formed Reform Acquisitions Limited.

The AV06 source added: "Mr Lerner's bid was actually good for us. We have not been put on the back foot at all. We know that we will be making a counter-bid that he is unlikely to want to match."

Lerner's bid of £5.47 per share was accepted by the board and key shareholder Jack Petchey, whose Trefick Limited company own almost 21 per cent of the shares.

If he is eventually successful Ellis would become president for life while Lerner will assume the position of chairman.

Retired General Charles C Krulak, Robert Kain and Michael Martin are to be appointed as directors with long serving operations director Steve Stride remaining in office.

Krulak is a director of ConocoPhillips and Phelps Dodge, two US-based multi-national corporations.

He is the former Commandant of the US Marine Corps and was a former Deputy Director of the White House Military Office.

As a former Chief Executive Officer of MBNA Europe he has long ties with Lerner. Bob Kain is the president and co-chief executive officer of IMG, a premier sports management and marketing agency. Martin is president of Brooklyn NY Holdings, LLC ("BNYH"), the asset and investment management company of the Lerner family.

[GoBrownsGoVilla]

Why does this group feel the need to go to the press with every update? You haven't heard Lerner himself or even a spokesperson in the press at all until the statement yesterday. These other groups have been out there thumping their chests in the media, it just seems like an act of desperation. Why not just put the bid in if you're so confident and you can have your day in the press when it's accepted.

[PB]

Look

AV06 will be in possession of Lerner's bid document by now, so they will know the precise ins and outs of what they have to beat

They will not bid unless, like Lerner, they KNOW their bid will be accepted.

So lets say they come out and bid, and their bid is basically, for the sake of argument

"Everything he said only more so with bells on and we'll match Martin O'Neill's 6 year £2.5m pa contract with lerner, and if he's too tied in with lerner and wont accept that we'll bring in Lippi who we have a pre-contract agreement with"

This would be bad news because?

Now forget Padfield as an individual, he's just the media front, but lets say that AV06 can put forward a deal like that, and they wont bid unless they can, then it strikes me as frankly bizarre that people would be disappointed with it. Its like people have decided its Lerner or nobody, and we dont care what anybody else has to say "we're not listening".

All i will say is that I hope Doug IS listening, because what i want from this is the best possible deal for Aston Villa inthe short, medium and long term, whether its from Lerner or someone else is largely immaterial to me. I want the best for my club, if thats randy then great, if its someone else, then thats great too.

[BOF]

I have a question for those in the know.

There is now 21 days from when Lerner's bid was accepted.

Is there ANOTHER 21 days IF Padfield's bid is accepted ? Or do they all have to finalise within the original 21 days. In other words is September 4th D-Day or could we have multiple sets of 21 days depending on how many times the bar is raised ?

I'm sure that I read Ellis has set a ten day window. In this time Padfield has to make his bid(iirc).

Anyone recall reading that?

I wouldn't mind Ellis to be honest. There are SE rules for this type of thing. He may not be entitled to set a 10 day limit.

[ahamaad]

"We have money for transfers, up to £30million in the August window if we can get the deal done quickly enough and we are confident we can.

"But we are more than prepared to step aside if Mr Lerner can match our £30million transfer budget inside the next 17 days."

Fair play to them.

I think Mr. lerner can more than match the 30 million. Problem is you can't just buy players willy nilly, they have to want to come here. Also by mentioning transfer budgets like this, it means prices for players will get over-inflated.

[Juju]

Again, this unfounded slur about ground sharing.

It has no basis as far as I can see, in so much that the Lerner families actions at Cleveland Browns, of rebuilding and relocating, actually run directly contrary to the assertations of AV06.

It's this slurring, and promises of money, rather than keeping quiet and getting on with things, that has largely turned fans agaisnt AV06 and the lifelong Michael Neville fan.

If they think we can be bought with vague promises of huge funds and mystery billionaires,they clearly think we are far more stupid than we actually are.

I think we all respect the relatively organic growth views of Lerner. Every utterance of AV06, of Neville, tend to put me off them more and more. Hell, I'd almost prefer Ellis right now. At least his lies are little ones.

[villafan306]

Lerner camp laugh off merger rumours

Aug 15 2006

By Lisa Smith, Birmingham Mail

AMERICAN billionaire Randy Lerner today laughed off suggestions that he is taking over Aston Villa to merge them with Blues to create a super club and casino.

His right-hand man, David Bick, assured Villa fans the Cleveland Browns' owner was very much in tune with the English game and what supporters wanted.

He said today: "To suggest Mr Lerner wants to merge Villa and Blues as some rival bidders have suggested is laughable. It would destroy both clubs and it is a pathetic suggestion."

Bick said Lerner was very much a fan of the English game and watched football both during his time living in England and as a student at Cambridge University.

"Randy Lerner is much more anglicized than people think. He did the deal for Aston Villa over a pint of beer in a London pub and he has a genuine desire to take over this club.

"When he watches the Cleveland Browns, his NFL side, he does not sit in the directors' box - there isn't one. He does not agree with elitism and division but prefers to sit in the press box so he can be near to the supporters."

And it is Lerner's desire to keep fans informed and involved in the decision making process which has won supporters over with the 44-year-old before he has even set foot in Villa Park.

Almost a thousands fans chanted "USA, USA" as Martin O'Neill was unveiled at Villa Park last week leaving outgoing chairman Doug Ellis in no doubt about who fans wanted to take control.

Bick added: "Randy has said all along that he wants the views of fans taken into acount and that is why I have been meeting with supporters' groups on his behalf.

"He wants fans to have a say in how the club is run as he strives to make it a contender again both in Europe and for a top four spot."

Clicky

[GlasgowVilla]

It was 17 days until the end of the transfer window when AV06 wrote that release, that's all

[markavfc40]

Now forget Padfield as an individual, he's just the media front, but lets say that AV06 can put forward a deal like that, and they wont bid unless they can, then it strikes me as frankly bizarre that people would be disappointed with it. Its like people have decided its Lerner or nobody, and we dont care what anybody else has to say "we're not listening".

All i will say is that I hope Doug IS listening, because what i want from this is the best possible deal for Aston Villa inthe short, medium and long term, whether its from Lerner or someone else is largely immaterial to me. I want the best for my club, if thats randy then great, if its someone else, then thats great too.

Couldn't agree more PB. Some feel a loyalty towards Lerner and to even consider that there could be a better bid for the future of AVFC is almost like betraying Lerner. I just want whats best for AVFC and really couldn't give a monkeys who that is.