Newcastle Knights sponsor The Wests Group pledges to keep club afloat
Date
March 17, 2014 - 10:51PM
Long-serving Knights sponsor and supporter The Wests Group has pledged to help keep Newcastles football flagship afloat if owner Nathan Tinkler and his Hunter Sports Group management company do not renew a $10.3 million bank guarantee by the end of the month.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Monday that HSG secretly negotiated in January a two-month interim surety that would be replaced, before March 31, by one including the balance of the 12-month guarantee until January 31 next year.
The Knights Members Club have imposed a deadline of next Tuesday for HSG to ratify the new guarantee for the full term or they would use their power of attorney to secure the $10.3m.
That would leave HSG six days to comply or the members club could begin proceedings to buy back the Knights for $1, as stated in the original privatisation agreement of August 5, 2011.
Wests Group chief executive Philip Gardner hoped the Knights, who use Wests Mayfield as their administrative and training headquarters, continued to operate under Tinklers ownership, but he stressed Wests would not let the club perish.
The best outcome for everybody is that Nathan secures the bank guarantee and he keeps the Knights adequately funded and Wayne Bennett gets a side that wins competitions for us, Gardner told the Herald on Monday.
If not, Wests would certainly talk to the interested parties about how we go forward to ensure that the town still has a team, and a competitive team at that.
The reality is Wests Mayfield is now the home of the Knights.
I think there would be life after Nathan Tinkler, but we dont want that to be. Wed rather see Nathan be successful, make a lot of money in coal mines, and put money back into the town.
One thing we do know is well never find another Nathan Tinkler.
Under the circumstances of something happening, Wests would obviously be part of any solution if that was what the Knights Members Club wanted, but we hope that Nathan continues, and that he meets the deadline and keeps the whole thing running.
Another long-time sponsor, nib Health Funds chief executive Mark Fitzgibbon, said he had no reason to believe Tinkler would not meet the deadline.
We have no direct knowledge of any problem but equally, we would expect the members club to fulfil whatever obligations it has under the agreement, Fitzgibbon said.
I only know what Ive read in the paper. We have a good relationship with the club and were not aware of any specific issues.
An NRL spokesperson said the Knights board was keeping the league informed about developments regarding the bank guarantee.
We will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Knights to achieve a positive outcome for the club, players, fans and members, the spokesperson said.
According to a statement on the Knights website on Monday, the bank guarantee is due for renewal on March 31, 2014, and will be in place by the due date. This is an annual agreement, as part of the audit, between the Hunter Sports Group and the Members Club.
Members club chairman Nicholas Dan said their annual agreement with HSG stipulated a renewal date of January 31, not March 31, and the March 31 deadline was only stipulated in the temporary agreement negotiated in January.
HSG chief executive Troy Palmer did not respond to a text message from the Herald asking whether he wanted to elaborate on the Knights website statement.
Knights chief executive Matt Gidley reiterated what he said in the Herald on Monday, saying in a text message the guarantee deadline is 31st [of March] and my understanding is that will be met.
Dan said he had not spoken to Knights or HSG management on Monday.
Gidley and Dan agreed in December 2012 to change the annual audit date from December 15 to January 21, and to extend the bank guarantee underpinning the ownership agreement from December 31 to January 31.
As part of that agreement, the members club board would have from January 21 to 31 to scrutinise the auditors statement and raise any concerns with HSG as early as possible in the week beginning January 21.
Newcastle Herald
