Dick Knight Share Dispute - Unnamed Director offer £0.01 per share

[B.W.]

A couple of other points from DK's post above:


DK says that the share valuation shouldn't take too long because of a 'strong valuation guide has just been created by supporters willing to pay £1 each for 100,000 of my shares.'

He's completely mistaken here if he thinks Mazars will take the £1 offer from the 270 into account at all. The share price valuation to existing shareholders has to be made before taking any outside offers into account. That's only fair. This principle is an extremely important one and (in DK's words) protects the club from predatory swoops from outside investors.


DK bemoans the fact that he would have to pay 25% of the cost of the valuation. I'm struggling to see why he thinks it unfair to pay for something he is selling and to be honest 25% is incredibly generous to DK. I can't think why it shouldn't be 50:50.


DK also complains of the confidentiality clause the club want him to sign and says "one can understand why they want to keep this private – but an impossible task given that they are aware I need to keep share applicants (over 270 now) informed of developments."

Once again this simply isn't true. He has no legal requirement to keep any of the 270 people informed of anything. He was acting completely ultra vires by even offering the shares for sale to the 270 people expressing an interest. His duty was to inform the board before offering them to the world and he didn't do that.

What a mess.

But he didn't do that. He asked for an expression of interest.

 

[TonyW]

Because he has the right to remain anonymous ? DK may have more than a million shares but in reality they're only worth what another individual is prepared to offer for them. DK has been out manoeuvred by someone brighter than him using the club's rules and regulations to snaffle up the shares.

Bollocks.

Some wanker in the club is trying to manipulate the rules to stick one on the guy that saved the club.

Our club.

The club that would be dead by now without Dick Knight.

Have some respect ffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[London Irish]

I've been away from NSC all day, but I'm slightly nervous about this thread and some of the insinuations with it, having only taken a quick glance.

There seems to be an assumption made that the mystery willing buyer is a club director. It may be, of course, but it would also be any of the non-directors who own shares in the Albion, largely as a result of helping the Albion out with cold, hard cash in the years of need.

I have no idea if the willing buyer is a director or not, but if it's not and people have made accusations towards the board of directors based on the assumption that one of them is the mystery willing buyer then they could end up in a bad place.

Really? Surely we are not back to the days when Albion directors issue writs to fans? They must have better things to do even if they spot misleading comments on a fans' messageboard.

Running a football club is a public, community role - anyone who does it must expect intense scrutiny and occasionally that does sadly involve some idiotic stuff being said, politicians and other public servants have to put up with it all the time. "Potless Dick" had to.

You'd hope the directors would communicate with fans, offer corrective comments rather than reach for the lawyers.

 

[stss30]

I think the club's attitude towards DK in this instance could probably be summed up as 'Right, you want to play silly buggers, we'll play silly buggers too'

Yeah, pretty much!

 

[drew]

you cannot marginalize saving our club, DK could have built a stadium but it would have been smaller more compact, less people involved ect.
Underhand blimey now theres a word to conjure with the man is an Albion legend please do not diss him

Perhaps I didn't word it correctly. I wasn't trying to marginalise DK, just that my perception is that he feels marginalized!

Just a little disingenuous, everything was in place and Bloom did the easy bit.

I think others have challenged your point but I would add DK was a very effective figurehead for the club however the success of the Falmer campaign owes a lot to Martin Perry. The continuity of the club during that campaign probably rests with TB and the funds he pumped in .

and you think he done that just because he was a fan
he is a businessman and generously ploughed money into the club,along with others, which if and when he sells he will get back if I had that sort of money I might have put it into the club unfortunately I don't
and if DK had not saved the club TB would have had nothing to invest in

I know he is a gambler but that is one hell of a roll of the dice. The value of the club, including the stadium, is considerably less than what he has put in. He will only have a chance of getting some of that back if we get promoted. It's all very well keep banging on about saving the club but if DK keeps causing trouble then it is his reputation that is going to get diluted down the years.

Yep people forget that it is a business investment in property, land deals and building a brand. It's not as though Bloom has set alight to £150m, it is a business venture with fixed assets.

What is the worth of brand 'BHA' then. I would suggest considerably less than what he has invested. Promotion would change that but it hasn't happened yet.

He was the only one with the charisma to connect with the fans and carry the club to the media. None of the other investors were prepared to physically get involved outside of meetings.

Whatever people may think of DK he is a born leader and he did a job that no one else could have taken on.

With regards to Bloom he was on the sidelines having family history with the club and waited for the right time to go all in. Great tactical timing on his part.

Your right, DK was a great leader but like most leaders, they have an arrogance (which without, they probably would be were they were) that means they very rarely know when the right time is to step aside. We know DK wanted to continue as Chairman into the Amex era hence my comment about marginalisation!

As for the assertion that DK was the only man on the planet who could have saved the Albion, well, I'll leave you to that odd comment. If he hadn't been there, history would have certainly taken a different path and we most probably would not be where we are now but I doubt very much that BHA would have disappeared of the face of the earth, even if we had to regroup in the conference.

The shares haven't been offered to "general members of the public". They have been offered to Brighton & Hove Albion fans.

If we get into a debate about duty of care, I'd like to ask whether the Club have a duty of care to fans who might end up disappointed if they buy a ticket to an away game at Derby County, when the team has already lost twice to Derby earlier in the season.

I think the answer to my question is NO. That makes me think that the answer to yours is the same.

As someone else said, they haven't been offered to BHA fans, only been fans of DK (well anyone who bought his book). I didn't buy a copy so have been excluded but think my 40 years of support puts me in the category of an Albion fan, possibly more so than some of those that bought the book. Also, who is to say that a non fan bought the book and with a little research submitted their application.

 

[stss30]

Dick didn't ask fans to buy at £1 a share....he asked for a 'statement of intent' if he put them up for sale. The way out of this is to offer the 270 one share apiece to frame on the wall.The rest go to the best offer from the Board. That way,fans would be happy,the club does not lose anything and Dick gets the value of his shares. Hate to see this happening to a club where I have spent thousands in money and time,spent time at marches,inquiries,political rallies. We finally get to a stadium we can call home and what do we get...bickering in the boardroom.
Grow up,sort it out,negotiate.

Why ask for a 'statement of intent' before having the necessary discussions with the board of directors? Attention seeking? Other than that I agree but I think it's fairly clear who started this argument.

 

[BensGrandad]

How many of the current directors where there with DK so have an allegiance to him and to say he saved the club is ignoring the fact that many wealthy supporters provided the funds for him to be the front man to do this.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Hate to see this happening to a club where I have spent thousands in money and time,spent time at marches,inquiries,political rallies. We finally get to a stadium we can call home and what do we get...bickering in the boardroom. Grow up,sort it out,negotiate.

All those thousands and thousands of people who fought tooth and nail for all those years only fought for the right for a football club to exist for the people of Brighton & Hove and Sussex and the wider world beyond. The fight didn't include the right to dictate how the club should conduct itself when the fight for existence was won. That's up to the club now. If they're smart, they'll continue to keep all these thousands and thousands of people onside. Because without the support of these people the club is nothing. These people ARE the club. Everyone else, whether they be players, managers, officials, directors, shareholders is just passing through. Club should never forget that.

 

[Captain Sensible]

This unnamed director sounds like the sort of fella that only gives a shite about cash and not the true value of football, fans! The club should encourage the director to withdraw what is an obviously malicious and personal attack on DK. Anyone that can't see that is an idiot.

 

[Wozza]

This unnamed director sounds like the sort of fella that only gives a shite about cash and not the true value of football, fans! The club should encourage the director to withdraw what is an obviously malicious and personal attack on DK. Anyone that can't see that is an idiot.

 

[BensGrandad]

This unnamed director sounds like the sort of fella that only gives a shite about cash and not the true value of football, fans! The club should encourage the director to withdraw what is an obviously malicious and personal attack on DK. Anyone that can't see that is an idiot.

What if the unknown person was TB or MP would you still have the same view?

 

[Biscuit]

This is all quite embarrassing isn't it. Both sides should be told to stand in the corner for the rest of the day.

 

[Jaguar_uk]

This is just another example of the problems with the club at the moment, the club have no need to fight with DK so why are they taking all the trouble to do so?
Like most others I'm a little mystified as to why an unnamed director would want to deny a club legend his wish, this must be to do with some minor vendetta or suchlike.
The are far more pressing matters at the moment and we don't need to be lining lawyers pockets with money that we badly need to invest in the squad.
MADNESS

 

[cjd]

This unnamed director sounds like the sort of fella that only gives a shite about cash and not the true value of football, fans! The club should encourage the director to withdraw what is an obviously malicious and personal attack on DK. Anyone that can't see that is an idiot.

 

[South Stand Rebel]

How much did you pay for these shares originally?

'your share dream'? only 262 people interested? Seems a bit of a no-goer to me...

Exactly why did fans have to buy the book to 'express an interest'?

 

[Beach Hut]

Oh dear this weeping sore has re-opened, remind me who started it all in the first place ?

It is like buses with this club bad news arrives in threes - Manager goes, Upson goes then the former chairman kicks off

 

[Ernest]

Oh dear this weeping sore has re-opened, remind me who started it all in the first place ?

It is like buses with this club bad news arrives in threes - Manager goes, Upson goes then the former chairman kicks off

Time for a MASSIVE protest ?

 

[ROSM]

Deleted post

 

[Lindfield by the Pond]

All those thousands and thousands of people who fought tooth and nail for all those years only fought for the right for a football club to exist for the people of Brighton & Hove and Sussex and the wider world beyond. The fight didn't include the right to dictate how the club should conduct itself when the fight for existence was won. That's up to the club now. If they're smart, they'll continue to keep all these thousands and thousands of people onside. Because without the support of these people the club is nothing. These people ARE the club. Everyone else, whether they be players, managers, officials, directors, shareholders is just passing through. Club should never forget that.

I completely agree with your statement. I too handed out / posted enough leaflets etc. What has changed though is that (if you use attendance as a measure of that), the people that ARE the club are now a 20% minority. The club are now trying to not forget the other 80% that have joined us in the last 3 years.

 

[Beach Hut]

Time for a MASSIVE protest ?

Yes, time to CRANK up the ARS