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Bank debt gone; Apparently...
Topic Started: Feb 7 2014, 09:59 AM (5,453 Views)
Conan the Destroyer
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I prefer it when we're pish
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Jim Spence @bbcjimspence
Dundee United have wiped out their bank debt in a deal which means they are now under no pressure to sell their star players.

Jim Spence @bbcjimspence
United have wiped out a combined bank debt of over four million pounds in a deal which has seen a small group of wealthy fans.....

Jim Spence @bbcjimspence
sympathetic to the business plans of the club, inject their own funds into the club.

Jim Spence @bbcjimspence
United had a £3.4m term loan and a £1m overdraft with the bank, but Chairman Stephen Thompson and his directors......

Jim Spence @bbcjimspence
have successfully negotiated a settlement whereby the club now has no bank debt at all and with the support of sympathetic investors.....
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Setenza
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Knitting with only one needle
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That seems rather good, if unexpected.

Has anyone checked if the Gauld and Souttar that came back from their trip are the real versions and not clones?
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Naebody
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Twat
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Wait, what?

So United has swapped its bank debt for private debt?

Ultimate control of the club now lies with an unidentified cabal of "sympathetic fans"?

Without a lot more detail, I'm a tad cautious about seeing this as good news.
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Conan the Destroyer
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"Sympathetic" is a good word though, right?

Does this perhaps eliminate interest charges?
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Setenza
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I'm sure the people who stumped up the cash will want something out of it, doubt it's free, but it must have been more appealing to thompson.
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yasser
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Ivan Golac
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Setenza
Feb 7 2014, 10:42 AM
I'm sure the people who stumped up the cash will want something out of it, doubt it's free, but it must have been more appealing to thompson.
Hold on, could just possibly be a cabal (as you call them) of well to do United fans who might just want to help the club they love and grew up supporting out with little or no strings attached.

Steven Thomson doesn't strike me as the kind of chairman who would go for this unless it was good for DUFC.

Hopefully this is really good news for the club.
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Barca87
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Gordon Chisholm
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That's the question though Conan. Are these though private loans, are they interest-free loans, gifts, donations?

I think Thompson has by and large been excellent since he became chair, with sound decisions made at key junctures and a sensible approach to squad rebuilding and wages etc, so my first instinct would be that he would only embark on this course of action if it was prudent to do so, but it leaves a lot of important questions to answer...
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vvhatsthatonyourback
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wild eyed
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Hmmm, hard to say if this is good or not. Without knowing a lot more about the individuals and the terms of the loans, it's impossible to say.

Nice to hear they are sympathetic, though.
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Setenza
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yasser
Feb 7 2014, 10:46 AM
Setenza
Feb 7 2014, 10:42 AM
I'm sure the people who stumped up the cash will want something out of it, doubt it's free, but it must have been more appealing to thompson.
Hold on, could just possibly be a cabal (as you call them) of well to do United fans who might just want to help the club they love and grew up supporting out with little or no strings attached.

Steven Thomson doesn't strike me as the kind of chairman who would go for this unless it was good for DUFC.

Hopefully this is really good news for the club.
I've no idea what the cabal (as I didn't call them) will want, if anything, but being realistic, not many people do something for nothing. Time will tell, but I think better option.
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vvhatsthatonyourback
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wild eyed
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Total uninformed guesswork, but here goes.

Banks are effectively in the process of making Scottish football a cash business. They're not interested in any particular club being able to service their debt - they want all debts repayed ASAP, and as such are not particularly friendly to deal with if you're running a club with an historic debt you plan to pay down slowly. Promises of future revenue from the sale of one or two very talented youngsters will not impress the bank when the bank loan could be reduced immediately by a quick sale of said youngster for a lesser sum.

Individuals sitting on cash get basically f*ck all keeping it in the bank or low-risk investments, so perhaps taking over United's debt to the bank and receiving a similar (or slightly higher) rate of interest United were already paying the bank, but with no real urgency of ever getting the debt down, suits all parties.
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yasser
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Ivan Golac
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Setenza
Feb 7 2014, 10:52 AM
yasser
Feb 7 2014, 10:46 AM
Setenza
Feb 7 2014, 10:42 AM
I'm sure the people who stumped up the cash will want something out of it, doubt it's free, but it must have been more appealing to thompson.
Hold on, could just possibly be a cabal (as you call them) of well to do United fans who might just want to help the club they love and grew up supporting out with little or no strings attached.

Steven Thomson doesn't strike me as the kind of chairman who would go for this unless it was good for DUFC.

Hopefully this is really good news for the club.
I've no idea what the cabal (as I didn't call them) will want, if anything, but being realistic, not many people do something for nothing. Time will tell, but I think better option.
Sorry Set, I realise now it wasn't you who called the 'a cabal' my apologies
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Cobardon
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Uncle Smurf
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What a very odd football club message board this is. I'd wager any other United based board is cock-a-hoop over this news, and sees it as entirely positive, flicking various v's to any opposition fans and blowing a collective raspberry.

However, you're all quite right to be slightly wary...the other way leads to tragedies such as Ibrox, Dens and Tynecastle.

Good work all round, people.
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vvhatsthatonyourback
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wild eyed
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I'm imagining EastFud is combining Dee-baiting meltdown with hysterical jubilation and plans to sign the real Messi.

Can't help thinking of Rangers I & II in all of this. I'd like to smile, but I'm pretty sure they all thought having no bank debt meant all their problems were behind them.
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Naebody
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Twat
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vvhatsthatonyourback
Feb 7 2014, 11:01 AM
Total uninformed guesswork, but here goes.

Banks are effectively in the process of making Scottish football a cash business. They're not interested in any particular club being able to service their debt - they want all debts repayed ASAP, and as such are not particularly friendly to deal with if you're running a club with an historic debt you plan to pay down slowly. Promises of future revenue from the sale of one or two very talented youngsters will not impress the bank when the bank loan could be reduced immediately by a quick sale of said youngster for a lesser sum.

Individuals sitting on cash get basically f*ck all keeping it in the bank or low-risk investments, so perhaps taking over United's debt to the bank and receiving a similar (or slightly higher) rate of interest United were already paying the bank, but with no real urgency of ever getting the debt down, suits all parties.
Yup. Guess so.

If the bank demanded payback in full, United would have no choice but to find a new lender at any cost. But I really don't see why the bank would demand payback. A bank is a business that writes loans and takes the interest, If it's demanding full payback and taking nothing, that's a bloody stupid bank.

Therefore, it's not unreasonable to assume that United switched to private debt not because it had to, but because it was offered on better terms than its bank lending. From that, I'm very cautiously positive about this mysterious agreement. About 51/49% positive/negative.
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yasser
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Ivan Golac
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Notice that part of the deal is to dump BoS and deal with Santander...hmmm
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