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I’ve been doing a bit of digging at HM Land Registry today and what I have seen backs up what Phil has previously mentioned and leads me to believe the takeover is well underway and likely just waiting EFL approval.
The Playford Road site (2 parcels of land) is the subject of a priority search in respect of an intended purchase by Gamechanger 20 Ltd which was lodged on 23 February by law firm Gateley PLC out of their Birmingham office (first instruction by that client).The Bent Lane site is subject to a similar priority search in respect of part of the site only, meaning the Evans group company is retaining part of it.
A priority search is carried out by solicitors to preserve their place in the queue of potential applications for dealing, it confers a priority period of about 45 days. It is a matter of public record and available to view by professionals who have the requisite portal account. It is typically only done in the immediate anticipation of completing a transaction, it can be done slightly ahead of this, but usually is done on the day of exchange of contracts. I’m a commercial property solicitor so carry out these searches on a regular basis. My best guess (based on the timing of the search) is Evans likely entered into a conditional contract last Tuesday for the sale of the land (and club). You would not carry out such a search unless a deal including the detail had either been agreed or was extremely close. The reason such searches are not carried out lightly is because it prevents the proprietor from entering into other transactions while the priority is lodged. If a deal is not happening you should cancel the search, but all 3 remain in place.
There is no corresponding priority search in respect of the stadium lease and I would not expect there to be as the lease is owned by the club as tenant and I would expect Gamechanger 20 Ltd is acquiring the existing share capital owned by Evans.
I am happy to share screenshots if anyone would like to see, but the searches are in relation to the Playford Road site (title number SK219236 & SK203140) and the bent lane site (SK200320) they appear under the “application enquiry” tab.
EDIT:
I have now have a placed a brief article on my firm's website here discussing it:
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 14:48 - Mar 30 by Muncher
The key will be the tax period of the selling companies, which will be both Marcus Evans Worldwide Holdings (IOM) Ltd who own the shares in the club and London & Merchant Properties Limited who own the training ground and who are incorporated in guernsey.
Are those dates readily available?
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The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 15:52 - Mar 30 with 3571 views
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 15:54 - Mar 30 by Muncher
I just had to pay to find out, but the IOM Company's accounting year ends on 30 September.
Above and beyond, muncher, above and beyond. Just hope that it doesn't turn out to be a company in which the main shareholder is a partnership with guaranteed anonymity...
I am not an expert on Guernsey company law, but on 17 February 2020 the company which owns the training ground filed a return to change the nature of its business
from: 10.7.1 - Trusts and other similar structures (that are not companies)
to: 10.5.2 - Passive equity holding company (excluding intellectual property, real estate and transport) carrying on no significant trading activity or management or shareholder control of another entity
A bit weird that a property owning company is listed in the category of businesses which do not own property. I presume they've just made a mistake.
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The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:27 - Mar 30 with 3268 views
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:25 - Mar 30 by Muncher
I am not an expert on Guernsey company law, but on 17 February 2020 the company which owns the training ground filed a return to change the nature of its business
from: 10.7.1 - Trusts and other similar structures (that are not companies)
to: 10.5.2 - Passive equity holding company (excluding intellectual property, real estate and transport) carrying on no significant trading activity or management or shareholder control of another entity
A bit weird that a property owning company is listed in the category of businesses which do not own property. I presume they've just made a mistake.
When did it change from being Marcus Evans (Guernsey) Ltd?
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The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:34 - Mar 30 with 3172 views
Phil do you think the season ticket pricing announcement (and presumably at some point sales) could be relevant? You would think a new ownership would lead to an uplift.
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:34 - Mar 30 by Charlie_pl_baxter
Phil do you think the season ticket pricing announcement (and presumably at some point sales) could be relevant? You would think a new ownership would lead to an uplift.
No, because I don't think the deal is close to being done. ME is carrying on business as normal, even up to the level of appointing new managers, so I think season ticket announcements etc will be made as they would anyway.
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The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:42 - Mar 30 with 3087 views
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:38 - Mar 30 by PhilTWTD
No, because I don't think the deal is close to being done. ME is carrying on business as normal, even up to the level of appointing new managers, so I think season ticket announcements etc will be made as they would anyway.
Also just to add, with Lambert now gone the paranoia around lack of ST sales might be relaxed somewhat given he was the main barrier to renewals, how much Evans is a barrier is the next question...
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:42 - Mar 30 by hype313
Also just to add, with Lambert now gone the paranoia around lack of ST sales might be relaxed somewhat given he was the main barrier to renewals, how much Evans is a barrier is the next question...
Yes, I think that was definitely something they were thinking about, a new manager bounce from a season ticket perspective. Think they probably ought to have announced before now, to be honest, but there were other issues relating to compensation payments as laid out in one of ME's statements.
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The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:54 - Mar 30 with 2989 views
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:42 - Mar 30 by hype313
Also just to add, with Lambert now gone the paranoia around lack of ST sales might be relaxed somewhat given he was the main barrier to renewals, how much Evans is a barrier is the next question...
That Cook hasn't managed a 'bounce' of any sort and results/performances have been carrying on as they were under Lambert, the ire has seemed to turn back onto Evans again for managing to get the club in this position in the first place.
Now we've had the excitement of a takeover washed away with a firehose and Evans has put out another tin-eared 'I've got the best interests of the club at heart and am determined to succeed' statement ST sales will be an even harder sell. If he thinks fans will come flooding back without some serious compensation or concrete assurances the club will look to start putting things right then he's in for a shock.
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:42 - Mar 30 by hype313
Also just to add, with Lambert now gone the paranoia around lack of ST sales might be relaxed somewhat given he was the main barrier to renewals, how much Evans is a barrier is the next question...
No, a lot of people just try and find excuse after excuse.
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 16:38 - Mar 30 by PhilTWTD
No, because I don't think the deal is close to being done. ME is carrying on business as normal, even up to the level of appointing new managers, so I think season ticket announcements etc will be made as they would anyway.
Sounds like they were just getting in early with renewing searches to keep the deal alive. My speculation is that everything has been approved by the EFL etc and it has all come back to the price and/or Evans willingness to sell the club. This way the buyers can stay in a position to rapidly complete should anything move in this area. Muncher does that sound plausible?
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land on 17:09 - Mar 30 by Charlie_pl_baxter
Sounds like they were just getting in early with renewing searches to keep the deal alive. My speculation is that everything has been approved by the EFL etc and it has all come back to the price and/or Evans willingness to sell the club. This way the buyers can stay in a position to rapidly complete should anything move in this area. Muncher does that sound plausible?
I think that's where it's at as I see it too, although not sure whether the EFL have rubberstamped, even if the matter has been with them for a number of weeks now. I don't think much more should be read into the new searches beyond where we were with the previous ones, other than confirmation that the deal isn't dead.
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