Clarification from Paul Barber on Dick Knight Selling his shares

[Buzzer]

One good reason I imagine for him not first approaching the board is the one you give -'emotional blackmail'

If he wants the shares to end up in the hands of fans rather than with existing shareholders then I can't think of a better way of doing this.

So you agree he's manipulating fan sentiment to get his way. I expected better of him, maybe that's why I'm cross.


Edit - he was a board member, his fight is with existing board members, I don't think it's too silly to describe it as a boardroom battle.

 

[Bold Seagull]

So you agree he's manipulating fan sentiment to get his way. I expected better of him, maybe that's why I'm cross.

You're always cross!

 

[Creaky]

So you agree he's manipulating fan sentiment to get his way. I expected better of him, maybe that's why I'm cross.


Edit - he was a board member, his fight is with existing board members, I don't think it's too silly to describe it as a boardroom battle.

No I don't think he is manipulating the fans - what I think he is trying to do is to manipulate the other shareholders so that the shares end up with the people he wants them to.

As for this being a battle, it's difficult to see one - who is he fighting with and for what aim - so DK is trying to sell his book and sell his shares to the fans - this surely can only be described as a battle if the shareholders and board members try and stop him and why should they?

 

[symyjym]

DK is doing the only thing he logically can do. He doesn't want to take the shares to his grave, so what little he has he is putting on the table.

Doesn't matter if you think it's good, bad, you either buy or you don't. The main thing is that he is offering them to the fans, if they don't want them he can sell them to TB, at least we have a choice. I suspect there would be more rage if he bypassed the fan share option so I don't know what all the fuss is about.

 

[Stat Brother]

No I don't think he is manipulating the fans - what I think he is trying to do is to manipulate the other shareholders so that the shares end up with the people he wants them to.

He's overblown a situation the sell his book, increase his publicity, and court favour with the ONLY people prepared to pay £1 per share.

It's difficult to to look beyond the manipulation

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I'm glad the club is keeping a dignified silence on this.

If DK wants to sell his shares it will have to be done properly, and I can't see the club being too bothered at the end of the day over such a small percentage.

 

[BensGrandad]

What I dont understand is the fact that DK always said he wanted the fans to have a share of BHA, and good for him, he appears to be trying to do that now, but why, when he sold some of his 49.5% share presumably to TB, didnt he sell slightly less so that he then held 3.or 4 % and TB would still have had overall control. He could then have given or sold some of his share to fans then and made TB aware of his intentions. I dont think it would have stopped TB taking over and he DK would have stuck by his ideals. Perhaps it was not possible!

 

[symyjym]

What I dont understand is the fact that DK always said he wanted the fans to have a share of BHA, and good for him, he appears to be trying to do that now, but why, when he sold some of his 49.5% share presumably to TB, didnt he sell slightly less so that he then held 3.or 4 % and TB would still have had overall control. He could then have given or sold some of his share to fans then and made TB aware of his intentions. I dont think it would have stopped TB taking over and he DK would have stuck by his ideals. Perhaps it was not possible!

The agreement was based on Bloom building the stadium which was what fans couldn't do.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

I wonder why he didnt sell them for 1p each instead of a £1.....the fans that wanted to purchase them could then own a share of their club.
Might have stopped a lot of the ill feeling that his sale has caused.

 

[Ernest]

Actually, it was a pop at one of the organisers. I'm not saying who, suffice to say I rarely hear his name ever being mentioned these days.

?.

Mike Ward

 

[Creaky]

I wonder why he didnt sell them for 1p each instead of a £1.....the fans that wanted to purchase them could then own a share of their club.
Might have stopped a lot of the ill feeling that his sale has caused.

One reason would be that if he did that then his whole holding would be worth just £10,000 - if the shares have to be offered first to existing shareholders then it is far more likely that one of them would come come up with that amount as against £1,000,000 - the upshot of that would have been that the shares would never be available to the fans.

 

[HAILSHAM SEAGULL]

One reason would be that if he did that then his whole holding would be worth just £10,000 - if the shares have to be offered first to existing shareholders then it is far more likely that one of them would come come up with that amount as against £1,000,000 - the upshot of that would have been that the shares would never be available to the fans.

So its not about sharing the shares around to the fans then after all.

 

[BensGrandad]

What I dont understand is the fact that DK always said he wanted the fans to have a share of BHA, and good for him, he appears to be trying to do that now, but why, when he sold some of his 49.5% share presumably to TB, didnt he sell slightly less so that he then held 3.or 4 % and TB would still have had overall control. He could then have given or sold some of his share to fans then and made TB aware of his intentions. I dont think it would have stopped TB taking over and he DK would have stuck by his ideals. Perhaps it was not possible!

The agreement was based on Bloom building the stadium which was what fans couldn't do.

Would TB having 88 or 89% of the club shares rather than 90% have stopped him building The Amex? DK would then have stuck by his original words.

 

[Buzzer]

You're always cross!

Only when the things I care about go tits up. I did try smug indifference for a while but it just wasn't me. Captain oh my captain.

 

[Creaky]

So its not about sharing the shares around to the fans then after all.

No - it's exactly that!

If DK priced the shares too low they would be more likely to be bought in bulk by existing shareholders - by offering them at 'face value' they are more likely to be available for fans to buy.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

So its not about sharing the shares around to the fans then after all.

If DK just wanted to make a load of money, why didn't he sell out to Stephen Purdew or David Gold? I'm sure either of them would have paid him more than a few hundred fans, or even TB?

 

[drew]

To be honest, it's all getting a bit pathetic. DK knows only too well that he can't sell the shares to the fans without the other shareholders say so. He has engineered a situation to gain as much publicity for his book as he can. I would be interested to learn from anyone who has read the book whether there are in fact any damning statements about TB, other members of the board or even PB? He may well have been critical of some of the decisions but does he actually slag anyone off? If not, what could be the only reason for not letting the club see an advanced copy other than to generate publicity. The share thing is just a side show that seems to have hoodwinked some of those blindingly romantic fans that don't live in the real world!!

As others have said, if DK was so keen to champion fans with shares, he could quite easily have discussed with the board to sell a small percentage at the time TB took over or even earlier without affecting the overall voting position of the board. Also, bearing in mind the revelations originally revealed by Paul Samrah concerning the articles of association, it's disappointing that DK now publicly seeks to bypass them!!!

DK, enjoy your retirement and enjoy watching the Albion rather than getting yourself embroiled in un-necessary shenanigans with the current board. Don't risk threatening your existing legendary status and splitting fans. We have just come through one episode where some fans still refuse to get off a certain bus and it would be a shame if your standing is clouded by controversy. Most legends are not, as history shows, flawless.

 

[Stat Brother]

If DK just wanted to make a load of money, why didn't he sell out to Stephen Purdew or David Gold? I'm sure either of them would have paid him more than a few hundred fans, or even TB?

Who in their right mind would want to spend a million pounds for 1% of a loss making business.

 

[drew]

Would TB having 88 or 89% of the club shares rather than 90% have stopped him building The Amex? DK would then have stuck by his original words.

If DK was genuine about this he could have sold part of his retained allocation to some fans at the time.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Who in their right mind would want to spend a million pounds for 1% of a loss making business.

You didn't follow the Twitter floatation last week, then?