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Gamechanger Lodge New Land Registry Priority Searches
Tuesday, 30th Mar 2021 11:17

Gamechanger 20 Ltd, the company set up by the US consortium which has been in negotiations to buy Town from current owner Marcus Evans, lodged new priority Land Registry searches relating to the purchase of the Blues’ training ground this morning.

The searches on the entirety of the Playford Road side of the training ground and part of the Bent Lane site across the road were initially put in place on February 23rd by a law firm, Gateley PLC, who made new similar searches earlier today.

A priority search is typically only carried out when a deal is either agreed or very close to being agreed.

The previous searches were due to expire on April 8th so their effective renewal rather than being allowed to lapse is at least an indication that the deal is not yet dead.

TWTD reported a fortnight ago that the £30 million takeover, which was initially expected to be completed earlier this month, had stalled and appears to be drifting. It’s understood that aspects of Evans’s valuation of the club have continued to be part of the ongoing discussion.

Among the directors of Gamechanger 20 Ltd are Mike O’Leary, the former West Brom chief executive and Oxford board member thought to be driving the deal, as well as Brett Johnson, Berke Bakay and Mark Detmar, co-owners of USL club Phoenix Rising, and Edward Schwartz, who is understood to be an Ohio-based portfolio manager.

As with the previous searches, only part of Bent Lane - which was transferred to London & Merchant Properties Limited (then known as Marcus Evans (Guernsey) Ltd) in 2011 largely for tax reasons - is included with TWTD having previously reported that Evans will keep hold of part of that land following the takeover, presumably an area which has long been ear-marked for development between existing housing.

No priority searches are required on Portman Road with the land on which the stadium stands on a lease from Ipswich Borough Council which runs until 2094.


Photo: TWTD



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uefacup81 added 11:21 - Mar 30
Oh, hello!
5

JackSted added 11:22 - Mar 30
Funny how all of this starts coming out as we get closer and closer to season ticket renewals
5

martin587 added 11:24 - Mar 30
🙏 IT must still be on going then.
5

Bergholt_Blue added 11:25 - Mar 30
I'm calling B.S
-3

PositivelyPortman added 11:26 - Mar 30
Where's our legal eagle friend with his superb appraisal of the situation?
0

BromleyBloo added 11:33 - Mar 30
Please God🙏!!!
5

spanishblue added 11:36 - Mar 30
Would suggest that 10-30 million suggests Is are dotted and Ts are crossed and double if not treble checked,like the rest hope it's somebody who wants team to be successful please, I wanna go back to Portman rd before I pass on probably only got 10 years max so hurry up
10

tractorboybig added 11:37 - Mar 30
season ticket renewal due....Mr evans playing games????
5

timkatieadamitfc added 11:39 - Mar 30
I do wish they'd stop getting our hopes up
3

Timefliesbyintheblue added 12:03 - Mar 30
What ever is said about Mr Evans it is my belief that he will only sell when certain guarantees are made towards the future security and ownership of ITFC. This is nothing to do with team performance or what league we are in but we do not want to emulate the type of new ownership which has put other clubs in peril. Once those assurances are made (of course value and legal 'bits' are also important) then i think a deal might be done.
If those assurances are not made it will be a dead duck.
6

smithy0981 added 12:06 - Mar 30
Not going to believe this again. Made that mistake last time. Never happening
3

FramlinghamBlue added 12:09 - Mar 30
@timefliesbyintheblue that's an extremely detailed belief in Marcus Evans. A man we have only heard from a handful of times. What makes you have that view? What assurances would you expect to be in place!?
10

Barty added 12:09 - Mar 30
Not getting my hopes up but I really hope the takeover happens otherwise Evans will take us into oblivion
11

Muncher added 12:16 - Mar 30
Positiviely Portman - updates here:
The takeover by Gamechanger 20 Ltd - The training ground land by Muncher 2 Mar 2021 23:56
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:

https://prettys.co.uk/news/takeover-ipswich-town-football-club-could-be-progress-says-suffolk-solicitor

https://twitter.com/Prettys_Law/status/1368904355848552448

11

DoseOfReality added 12:22 - Mar 30
Anything, literally anything .. fold up and a new start if it comes to it .. anything is better than Evans
5

BlueandTruesince82 added 12:30 - Mar 30
I don't wish to tell anyone what to do, I live too far away to be a season ticket holder myself so it's not my place but personally I would love to see as many people as possible refuse to renew until the club is sold
9

bluesteal74 added 12:37 - Mar 30
Please 🙏 please PLEASE
2

Suffolkboy added 12:39 - Mar 30
Life goes on as usual : anything and everything gives cause for interest ,but the reliable news is that from our Solicitor friend ,who provides concrete information and professionally informed comment !
There seems no reason to disbelieve what Marcus Evans has said ,nor to worry about side issues until more becomes clear with detail and dates added .
Just a bit more patience ,good humour and tolerance ,AND some scintilla of belief whilst we do the essentials and support everything ITFC !
COYB
-5

rdibble added 12:48 - Mar 30
Bring it on please ME out
10

Bazza8564 added 12:52 - Mar 30
No surprise ME hates news leaking, lets just sit quietly and let it happen this time.
6

CheffyCooky added 12:59 - Mar 30
Please let this be true, any takeover must be better than the current situation, there is absolutely no future for the club with ME owning ITFC
7

ringwoodblue added 13:03 - Mar 30
As their name suggests, this could be a gamechanger for our beloved club. Fingers crossed it happens as the end of the Evans era can't come soon enough.
8

stiggytrunk1955 added 13:04 - Mar 30
longer evans waits less money he will get sell now evans and go to hell
3

leroy2488 added 13:23 - Mar 30
It appears it was all on, then we hit some good form and some wins, this presumably concerned Evans as we got into play off positions that he could be missing out on more money if we went up.
Now, playing poorly as normal, it could all be in again?
1

leroy2488 added 13:24 - Mar 30
On again*
Especially knowing we need a new team.
3


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