Roughly speaking there are two ways to fund a company - loans (bonds) and shares.
Shares are bought and sold based on their 'fair value' - which is dependent on the assets, liabilities, growth potential and 'good will' (which is a valuation of the intangible assets such as brand value for example).

Bonds are loans to the company which promises to pay back a rate of interest plus the value of the loan at the end of the term and long as long the company can pay the interest and the capital at the end...fine.
A new owner is obliged to honour the loan agreement because it is a liability that a new owner takes on when they purchase the company.
A way out would be to put a company into administration, settle with creditors and then buy what assets remain.

With shares, the shareholder carries the risk, with bonds its the company...which is why Man U fans got rather upity when the Glazers bought the club with debt that they then plonked on the club.

So negotiations during a buy out will be about determining asset value and what to do with existing debt....

How viable would shares be?

All perfectly correct , if we are talking a normal business , but we aren't , the club has no assets , only liabilities , and possible debts , but we have been told the club is debt free , either way in reality it isn't any of our business

I assume you you mean , ' valuable ' ?

That depends on two things , the person selling them , and the person buying them

viable, as in would they work?

well its certainly true that it is not a 'normal' business.
but i would beg to differ that it has 'no' assets,only liabilities.

The assets are however, mostly intangible - brand, a fan base of 2000, regular TV coverage, sponsorship base, potential to be in SL, attractive facilities to new players, good coach, links with local clubs, an "X" factor that makes quite sensible millionaires stick in cash for no possibility of a decent return ( i wish i had that one for my business).

And the liabilities are tangible and are hard to spot....not sure what they are: loans, over draft, tax...who knows.

I have 'donated' a substantial amount (for my circumstances) over to LISA in the past 10 years and I overspent my budget this weekend in Toulouse.

Is there now a possibility of a LISA refund ?

Depends in what sense you mean 'any of our business'.

Literally speaking - yes, we don't own the business.

On less tangible levels it is very much our business. We, as fans, are the stakeholders of the club who have all poured something in at some stage and without us the business (at this current moment in time) would be utterly value-less. In fact, our emotional attachment is the asset. We wouldn;t be carping on here til all hours if it wasn;t.

If unrealistic terms are being placed by the current board then any investor is likely to walk away leaving the club to continue with the current leadership in place and it's not too hard to forecast where that will end.

I wouldn't be so quick to be hard on the current board.
This will be messy, possibly legally tricky, lots of due diligence and lots of "T's" to cross and "i's" to dot.
Even for the sellers....they wouldn't want to be the ones that put the club into the hands of the wrong person for the club, as well as getting the best outcome for themselves.

Quote: leytherjay "Lives in a massive house up near Clitheroe.......very expensive property, worth around 10 million.'" memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=45472 Saying nowt....

Quote: leytherjay "Lives in a massive house up near Clitheroe.......very expensive property, worth around 10 million.'" memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=45472 Saying nowt....

I wont disagree with that , I was the one who stated " The club belongs to you , the supporters , we are just the ones looking after it for the foreseable future " when seated in the Mick martyn Bar back in 2002

However , legally it is all in the hands of the current board,shareholders and any interested parties , so having people draw conclusions based on rumour and gossip can only damage the club , I'm sure you'll agree , so better left alone for them to get on with it , rather than give more amunition to the " I'm never setting foot in there till ....................... " , brigade

Exactly my point Paul , everybody has a different opinion and is in different circumstances with this sort of situation , it is not a simple process

Agreed - note the 'If'.

I agree. This is a MB so is perhaps only one step up from tap room gossip so have limited compunction about what's said as it's utterly inconsequential.

No one on this page has stated that, can't be bothered with the previous 7. I did disagree with the 'don't hand over any money statement' though