Knights knock back $10m Tinkler offer

[kmav23]

His made half a billion dollars in a few years... and will make more in the next few years

His not buying the club to make money ,,,he will spend millions of his own money into the team... and attract major sponsors...

newcastle is lucky to have him....

many NBA / NFL / soccer teams are owned by wealthy people...

 

[darkness]

PARANOIA Anyone!!


The real reason he wants to buy the club is purely so he can make a business card up that say's.

I Am CEO BITCHES.

 

[Karmawave]

I've been reading through this today, but felt a little compelled to post in this thread because I think a few people might be a bit confused from what the offer actually is:

I may be way off here myself, as I am relying on stuff I read only - but the way I interpret the 90 day members buyback thing - was that it is only relevant if he were to sell his stake in the team in the future ( likely after the 10 year license expires ). That it is a protection or a guarantee to members that if he were ever to resell the team, that from the time it was put up for sale, members would have 90 days to buy the club before outsider offers were entertained from private buyers.

That if Tinkler buys the team as of today, members do not get 90 days to buy the club right now - but instead are protected 10 years or more down the line if or when Tinkler decides to sell the team by ensuring first bidding rights go to members.

That is the way I interpret the scenario anyway.

Or maybe that is as obvious as dogs balls and I am completely misinterpreting what people in here are saying instead :lol:

As for whose side I'm on - I'll sit it out for now but watch with interest.

 

[Big Tim]

So Tinkler "pays" 10mil to buy the team, he then uses that money to put back into the team...... so what was the sale figure of the business????????

I understand he wants to make it "not for profit" but at the moment the Club can make a profit.

I agree with Mac. If 10mil is the figure, 10mil has to go into someone's pocket. Future investment would need to be made on top of this "buying" figure.

 

[Alex28]

In relation to the offer:

$10 Million - Tinkler Group (or related entity) will invest up to $10 Million to buy and operate the Newcastle Knights LIcence over the next 10 years.

Member Buy-Out - members will have first right for up to 90 days to buy the Knights from the Tinkler Group in the event that the Knights are offered for sale. The purchase price will be no more than the total consolidated losses, if any, of Tinkler Group from the time of purchase date to the sale offer date.

So...no commitment to spend the full $10 Million, nothing suggesting they'll spend more than the $10 Million. No commitment to see the full 10 years out.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Karmawave]

I have to say, as a Novocastrian, that in my opinion Novocastrians and especially Knights fans can be incredibly insular and obstinate when it comes to these kind of things. Sadly we make even Americans look like they are globally aware doyens beyond their borders.

My issues are that if the Knights have all these alternative measures they believe would be more suitable, then why don't they go public with them? They've surely had long enough now because all of this was being discussed months ago.

Why aren't they doing a case study of the Green Bay Packers for example, and how a community can run a profitable organisation as one and present models to the public to disseminate. Their refusal to go public and on record in regards to how they are working towards being self sufficient into the future only fuels the fire.

At the moment the Knights image is at an all time low in my opinion, and they need some seriously good PR to get them back on track. They are becoming unappealing to the public, and detached from our psyche that used to view them in a positive way.

If Jodie McKay and a guy worth $600M are being shown sympathy by the masses over the Knights, then surely they know something is amiss.

The Knights need to be more transparent to the public - the members they apparently care so much about - put some alternative self sufficient business models into the public to view for debate - and put up or shut up. The Knights need to give Knights fans something as a counter argument other than just sticking their heads in the sand and saying ' no , not good enough , there's better ways '...

Surely we are all past trying to cling onto the belief that the Knights can continue into the future the way it is being run now?

If our business model as it exists isn't viable to succeed long term ( it isn't ) - either go private with Tinkler and update members transparently - and if Tinklers offer isn't suitable, the Knights need to present the public with case studies and business models that they believe will be the way to go to all members and offer up a suitable alternative that proves privatisation ( to Tinkler or otherwise ) is not the way to go.

Otherwise we talk in circles, go nowhere, and insulate ourselves even more from the modern sporting world.

 

[Alex28]

I can't really disagree with what you have said Karma (unfortunately).

 

[B-dos]

yep, karma has pretty much summed it up to a tee

 

[Adsy]

Is it the sum offered ($10 million) or the actually nuts n' bolts of the proposal that Tew had the problem with?

 

[Pika]

10 million a year over 10 years.

We lose C&A under private ownership, that is 1.2 million a year in lost sponsorship right there.

I think the board and the members have a fair point in requesting the day to day be covered in the plan.

 

[Serc]

Why aren't they doing a case study of the Green Bay Packers for example, and how a community can run a profitable organisation as one and present models to the public to disseminate. Their refusal to go public and on record in regards to how they are working towards being self sufficient into the future only fuels the fire.

The Knights need to be more transparent to the public - the members they apparently care so much about - put some alternative self sufficient business models into the public to view for debate - and put up or shut up. The Knights need to give Knights fans something as a counter argument other than just sticking their heads in the sand and saying ' no , not good enough , there's better ways '...

Did you go to the last AGM? I *think* from what I remembered reading about it was that they outlined the model that they are working towards, which involved retaining as much of the benefits of community ownership and private ownership as possible.

Again someone like macca would remember exactly what was said but I'm sure they've put this sort of thing out there in the past.

 

[Jobdog]

10 million a year over 10 years.

We lose C&A under private ownership, that is 1.2 million a year in lost sponsorship right there.

I think the board and the members have a fair point in requesting the day to day be covered in the plan.

Wasn't it 10mill over the course of the 10 years, so theoretically 1mill a year, not 10mill a year?

 

[Pika]

Correct.

Did I say 10 million a year?

Sorry for the confusion.....

 

[Jobdog]

Yeah, you did, but all is good. If that was the case, I'm sure the club would have given it a little more thought

 

[Alex28]

Wasn't it 10mill over the course of the 10 years, so theoretically 1mill a year, not 10mill a year?

It is actually up to $10 Million over 10 years, so if the club needs more than that (given we are potentially losing $12 Million in sponsorship to accommodate this), he has no commitment to do so. If he wants to run it as a bare bones operation he has no obligation to put the whole $10 Million at all.

 

[roopy]

We can only sell it once.
You don't get a second chance if you get it wrong.

 

[Joker's Wild]

1.2 million down the crapper per year if we take the offer is a pretty big stumbling block to be sure. C & A has been great to the club over the last 5 or so years, coming on board in '05 when noone else would touch us. I think the board has a pretty big obligation not to piss them off and is well within their rights to protect that relationship

 

[perverse]

I have to say, as a Novocastrian, that in my opinion Novocastrians and especially Knights fans can be incredibly insular and obstinate when it comes to these kind of things. Sadly we make even Americans look like they are globally aware doyens beyond their borders.

My issues are that if the Knights have all these alternative measures they believe would be more suitable, then why don't they go public with them? They've surely had long enough now because all of this was being discussed months ago.

Why aren't they doing a case study of the Green Bay Packers for example, and how a community can run a profitable organisation as one and present models to the public to disseminate. Their refusal to go public and on record in regards to how they are working towards being self sufficient into the future only fuels the fire.

At the moment the Knights image is at an all time low in my opinion, and they need some seriously good PR to get them back on track. They are becoming unappealing to the public, and detached from our psyche that used to view them in a positive way.

If Jodie McKay and a guy worth $600M are being shown sympathy by the masses over the Knights, then surely they know something is amiss.

The Knights need to be more transparent to the public - the members they apparently care so much about - put some alternative self sufficient business models into the public to view for debate - and put up or shut up. The Knights need to give Knights fans something as a counter argument other than just sticking their heads in the sand and saying ' no , not good enough , there's better ways '...

Surely we are all past trying to cling onto the belief that the Knights can continue into the future the way it is being run now?

If our business model as it exists isn't viable to succeed long term ( it isn't ) - either go private with Tinkler and update members transparently - and if Tinklers offer isn't suitable, the Knights need to present the public with case studies and business models that they believe will be the way to go to all members and offer up a suitable alternative that proves privatisation ( to Tinkler or otherwise ) is not the way to go.

Otherwise we talk in circles, go nowhere, and insulate ourselves even more from the modern sporting world.

totally, 100% completely agreed. discussing this sort of stuff at the odd AGM isn't good enough, for mine. why arn't the Knights engaging the larger population of the region on these issues?

i think Tinklers offer is a complete joke, but i don't understand all the cloak and dagger that seems to go on with a supposed community owned and run club. i also agree with the concept of a disconnect between the Knights and Newcastle in general, and have posted about it many times before as i'm sure people will remember - particularly where Gen Y and younger are concerned. if there are other models being kicked around, let us hear and talk about them! we want to know!

 

[Whats Doing]

Karma is right and the transparency of the knights board is a joke. We need the board to put the operating model they wish to proceed with out there for public debate. I am not saying that Tinklers proposal is a goer but this issue has been going around circles for a few years without any idea what path the board wants to go down.

One could be cynical for this lack of public detail

 

[Alex28]

http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/?s=article-display&id=31864

SPECULATION REGARDING PURCHASE OFFER FOR NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS
10/11/2010 9:08:38 PM

The Newcastle Knights today responded to media speculation concerning an offer for the club by businessman Nathan Tinkler.

Contrary to media speculation there is currently no formal offer to acquire the club. While we have been in productive discussions concerning a proposal to acquire the club, and there is much common ground, these discussions were brought to a close by Mr Tinkler and his offer withdrawn.

The offer previously under consideration was for a maximum investment “of up to $10 million” over a ten year period.

Commenting, Knights Chairman Rob Tew said: “We are prepared to consider any reasonable offer which would deliver a better outcome for our many important stakeholders and would welcome the opportunity to reopen discussions with Mr Tinkler.

“As a community club, any offer for the club would need to be carefully considered and properly debated by our more than 8,000 members in an appropriate forum. Such a process would take time.

“In particular we would have to consider the impacts of any proposal on our existing sponsors and the financial wellbeing of the club as a whole.

“We believe Mr Tinkler’s interest in acquiring the Knights is active demonstration of the inherent value of the Club and its turnaround financial performance during the past two years.

“Last year, the Knights was one of only three clubs in the NRL to post a profit – and we consistently grew our sponsorship revenues and membership numbers during that period.”

Make of that what you will...