Israeli investor tried to buy Hibs

[Hibbyradge]

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A hibby asked him about it on twitter, says he thinks Petrie asked too much.....

https://twitter.com/RPMComo/status/894140401317273600

Someone with no real knowledge of what happened posts a tweet and another hibs.net FACT is born.

[Bostonhibby]

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Someone with no real knowledge of what happened posts a tweet and another hibs.net FACT is born.

Timing is everything, Hibs are travelling okay just now so lets throw something in the mix, really only having a wee dig at Rod but every little helps............................................. ..

Fact is that it's STF any deal would have to be done with and nothing at all leaked about an approach. Highly unusual.

[Hibbyradge]

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Hmm, Vlad almost disproved that.

His model was to use HMFC as a vehicle for marketing his bank throughout the UK and EU. With a few different results that first season, and qualification for the CL groups, he would have achieved that.

Was it?

I thought it was about milking the fans, laundering money and stealing everything that wasn't nailed down.

[jacomo]

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There is no 'investment potential' in buying a Scottish Club (with the posible exception of Celtc), unless that investment is purely emotional.

If I were a mega-rich entrepreneur and wanted to buy a club, it would be in England.

English clubs are mostly bought as trophy assets.

The list of people who have made serious money is very short.

[bingo70]

Foreign real estate developer with no effection for the club wanted to buy hibs, who happen to have a stadium in an area that'd be prime land for a real estate developer. I'd have my concerns as to what this boys motives were.

Fwiw I've always felt the relative success Hearts had under Romanov was tainted by the fact they couldn't afford it so we're effectively cheating, if we were to get some bonkers investment there's no doubt I'd enjoy it but it'd always be in the back of my mind we couldn't afford it.

IMO the equivalent would be taking out a credit card for a few thousand with no intention of paying it back, to an extent I'd enjoy spending it but somewhere in my head it'd be worrying me and I think I'd rather enjoy spending a lesser amount that I'd actually earned, even if I wouldn't get as much for the money.

[CropleyWasGod]

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Foreign real estate developer with no effection for the club wanted to buy hibs, who happen to have a stadium in an area that'd be prime land for a real estate developer. I'd have my concerns as to what this boys motives were.

Fwiw I've always felt the relative success Hearts had under Romanov was tainted by the fact they couldn't afford it so we're effectively cheating, if we were to get some bonkers investment there's no doubt I'd enjoy it but it'd always be in the back of my mind we couldn't afford it.

IMO the equivalent would be taking out a credit card for a few thousand with no intention of paying it back, to an extent I'd enjoy spending it but somewhere in my head it'd be worrying me and I think I'd rather enjoy spending a lesser amount that I'd actually earned, even if I wouldn't get as much for the money.

... which is why STF retains ownership of the ticket office.

[Ozyhibby]

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... which is why STF retains ownership of the ticket office.

Fans own more than 26% now anyway, so could stop any ground sale.


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[H18 SFR]

Am I being cynical thinking this is a west coast attempt to derail our season already?

[CropleyWasGod]

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Fans own more than 26% now anyway, so could stop any ground sale.


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Not sure that's the case.

We can stop the shares being sold to an asset stripper, but not the stadium. STF still has control of situations like that.

[Gregor]

If there's even remotely the tiniest truth to the myriad of clickbait in this article, that Petrie bounced the "investor" then I would say Sir Rod made the right call.

I'm calling bull****. And it's no better than any of the rest of the self-absorbed crap that comes out the "I'm very smart" blogging network.

[Johnny Clash]

i agree with the posters who are against massive buy outs by non football people who just see clubs as business opportunities. However, there's other ways investments can happen. The prospect of a bunch of minted hibs fans getting together and putting money into Hibs is obviously something that presumably everyone would welcome. We'd still preserve the soul of our club. Lottery winners, high profile celebrities etc who care about Hibs could invest or provide Hibs with interest free loans... put something back into the community.

[Bostonhibby]

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Am I being cynical thinking this is a west coast attempt to derail our season already?

Seemingly things are not going very well in planet yam at the moment Well its all brilliant if you read the Sunday Mail, but that's another planet again.

[hughio]

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If there's even remotely the tiniest truth to the myriad of clickbait in this article, that Petrie bounced the "investor" then I would say Sir Rod made the right call.

I'm calling bull****. And it's no better than any of the rest of the self-absorbed crap that comes out the "I'm very smart" blogging network.

[Hibbyradge]

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Am I being cynical thinking this is a west coast attempt to derail our season already?

You're being paranoid.

[Ozyhibby]

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You're being paranoid.

That's what people used to say about Celtic fans but it turns out Rangers and The SFA were a bunch of cheating B******* after all.


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[Wilson]

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I have to applaud all you purists saying you'd be in a huff if we won the league after a huge cash injection but I'm going to call bull. The only things you'd be moaning about would be the hangover the day after.

But this is all pointless. Scottish football is not attractive to big money investors, unless someone saw it as a cheap entry point into the Champions League given it would cost a relative pittance to win the SPL.

Previously, with Kennedy, we saw plenty willing to grab the money without asking who or why. I'm not sure long term success for hibs was that high on his agenda.

There are examples throughout the league's where clubs have owners with money but success hasn't followed. Only disharmony.

There are no guarantees.

I like the fan ownership model. I believe living within our means and financial fair play is the way forward in football. My best time supporting hibs is when we had an abundance of talented young players coming through - I'd like us to do this more successfully. Becoming a rich man's hobby goes against all of this.

If billionaires suddenly moved in on hearts, Aberdeen, and the likes then we may have to bite the bullet to compete.

In the current climate though we should happily keep the course we've plotted.

[NYHibby]

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Not sure that's the case.

We can stop the shares being sold to an asset stripper, but not the stadium. STF still has control of situations like that.

Is this because of something particular in the company's articles or whatever agreement there is with Hibernian Supporters Limited?

Because off the top of my head, I can't think how minority owners ("fans") could block who HFC Holdings is sold to. The fan directors couldn't block it.

[Andy74]

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i agree with the posters who are against massive buy outs by non football people who just see clubs as business opportunities. However, there's other ways investments can happen. The prospect of a bunch of minted hibs fans getting together and putting money into Hibs is obviously something that presumably everyone would welcome. We'd still preserve the soul of our club. Lottery winners, high profile celebrities etc who care about Hibs could invest or provide Hibs with interest free loans... put something back into the community.

Even then 'investment' has to be sustainable.

For clubs like hibs it is a concept that is best put to the side and instead we should be discussing, as Hibs are doing, how we sustainably increase our income.

The reality of investment, from outside sources is that they want to make some money back.

If we are talking about gifts from minted fans then that's lovely but again it would be a drop in the ocean against what aims people might think we would have to go along with it.

To battle it out with Celtic for example we would need over £20 million a year, every year, minimum.

[Hibbyradge]

The narrative is always anti Rod Petrie. It's as tiring as it's unfair.

Instead of writng "Rod asked too much" which conveniently plays to the Petrie is tight dialogue, why didn't he say "the investor didn't offer enough"? It's the same thing, isn't it?

Anyone could pick the phone up and offer to buy Hibs for peanuts and then complain that Rod asked for too much. It's nonsense. Mitchell is supposed to be on the side of Scottish clubs, but he's sticking the boot in with that tweet and he clearly doesn't know the facts.

In any case, as has been pointed out, Hibs aren't Rod Petrie's to sell. Tom Farmer would have something to say about any business like that.

[CropleyWasGod]

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Is this because of something particular in the company's articles or whatever agreement there is with Hibernian Supporters Limited?

Because off the top of my head, I can't think how minority owners ("fans") could block who HFC Holdings is sold to. The fan directors couldn't block it.

It's not about HFC Holdings. It's about the sale of the shares in Hibernian Football Club Limited

IIRC, the sale of the "club" (there's that word again. Cue a 20-pager ) would require a Special Resolution. A SR would require a 75% majority.

The sale of the stadium, however, wouldn't.

[NYHibby]

Speaking of rumours about foreign investors, there are a couple of people who think that a group of Americans tried to buy us in 2013.

At the AGM back then, a couple groups of people asked me why I was there as I stood out a little (nicely suited, young enough to be the son/grandson of a lot of the attendees, spoke with an American accent, etc). To screw with them, I told them that a group of Americans was in the process of buying the club, that I was there to observe the meeting, and that they needed to keep this a secret,

[Johnny Clash]

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Speaking of rumours about foreign investors, there are a couple of people who think that a group of Americans tried to buy us in 2013.

At the AGM back then, a couple groups of people asked me why I was there as I stood out a little (nicely suited, young enough to be the son/grandson of a lot of the attendees, spoke with an American accent, etc). To screw with them, I told them that a group of Americans was in the process of buying the club, that I was there to observe the meeting, and that they needed to keep this a secret,

Ha ha - very good

[NYHibby]

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It's not about HFC Holdings. It's about the sale of the shares in Hibernian Football Club Limited

IIRC, the sale of the "club" (there's that word again. Cue a 20-pager ) would require a special resolution. A SR would require a 75% majority.

The sale of the stadium, however, wouldn't.

My point was that we couldn't stop the sale of Holding's 65% and the control that goes with it.

As you said, with 65% the stadium could be sold. No need for any special resolutions (unless the company's articles have something in them)

[Johnny Clash]

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Even then 'investment' has to be sustainable.

For clubs like hibs it is a concept that is best put to the side and instead we should be discussing, as Hibs are doing, how we sustainably increase our income.

The reality of investment, from outside sources is that they want to make some money back.

If we are talking about gifts from minted fans then that's lovely but again it would be a drop in the ocean against what aims people might think we would have to go along with it.

To battle it out with Celtic for example we would need over £20 million a year, every year, minimum.

That's very true ... I was more thinking that if we could save the interest we currently pay on existing loans then that could pay the wages of a couple of good players. It was just just wishful thinking to make the point that you don't have to be a purist to be against the wholesale take over of your club. We're not against investment but not at any cost. The Cardiff city scenario for example where they had to change their home strip from blue to red to get the dosh!

I agree it's much better if we can sustain 15,000 ST year after year - and we can realistically do that if we win cups and compete in the league and then in Europe. We have to have these ambitions because the prospect of fighting just to make the top six isn't too appealing!

[SonOfDavidFrancey]

Mitchell's disdain for those who support a local team rather than watching Messi on TV tells you everything. It's a question of values and his perspective doesn't grasp the communal, local or socially cohesive power of football, .

[NAE NOOKIE]

If this was ever a serious bid for Hibs I would be amazed that the media didn't pick up on it at the time .. this sounds like one phone call that began and ended with RP / STF falling about laughing at a ridiculous valuation of the club.

Mitchell's diatribe is quite hard to follow because of his university dissertation style of writing, I ended up skimming over a lot of it because I was getting bored, but a couple of things did hold my interest long enough to comment.

He did have a point about our failure to improve Hampden and by association the other grounds in Scotland .. fans will be more willing to come if the facilities are better, he didn't say where the money was supposed to come from though, which is perhaps why he didn't last long in football administration.

Where I absolutely and fundamentally disagreed with him was on the mentality of Scottish football fans in reaction to the dominance of the old firm and latterly just Celtic, allied to our dismal International and European club football results. His assertion that fans are accepting of failure on these fronts is wrong .... yes we have come to expect poor results in these areas, but I would not say we tolerate them, the discussion around what we can do about it is never ending, we know its unacceptable and has to change ..... the failure of guys like Mitchell to come up with workable solutions is the problem, not the fans.

But worse is his dismissive attitude to how fans of clubs outside of the Old Firm have changed their culture and outlook on what can be considered a successful season, or even what it actually means to be a fan, in light of Celtic's financial dominance. The culture has become, or at least is becoming, that there is quite a bit of merit in simply supporting your club for the sake of it, that the road to happiness as a fan is seeing your club well supported and thriving to the best of its ability.

From my point of view its as important to me that other fans praise Hibs for the style of our play, the dedication of our supporters and the atmosphere we bring to games as it is how successful we are on the pitch and I think in the face of supporting a nut rather than the Glasgow sledgehammer that cracks it every season there is a lot of merit in that ....... Mitchell scoffs at that and suggests that it is an acceptance of failure ..... but what then is the alternative?

If we simply act like fans of the club he supports Scottish football will die on its arse within a few years. Its clear that his culture if failure to win leagues and trophies should be punished by non attendance ( which is what he is saying so far as I can see ) should be the attitude of fans of all clubs ...... If we go down that route 90% of Scotland's clubs would go bust ...... How can he possible understand the mentality required to be a faithful supporter of a non OF club when as a Celtic supporter he has never woken up on the first day of a season knowing his club has absolutely no chance of winning the league ... for him and folk like him winning just the League Cup in a season is cause for sacking the manager ... for us and clubs like us that manager becomes a hero.

As I said ...... He and his fellow Old Firm supporting pals would scoff at that because they have no concept of what its like to support a club that cant just go out and spend £500,000 to solve its goalkeeping problem or £2,000,000 to resolve a striking problem. We don't support a club that can sign the brightest and the best from other clubs in our league and stick them in the reserves or on the bench till they rot.
In that environment we either change the culture of what it means to be a fan and what makes you proud of your club or we just give up ..... that does not mean we accept our clubs failing to punch their weight and when it comes to a club like Hibs that we don't expect it to win a trophy every few seasons given its size in the Scottish game.

But if Mitchell thinks that all being a football fan is about is supporting clubs that consistently win things and anything else is just a comfort blanket then thank **** he isn't involved in running the game any more ..... I hope the folk running our game now don't have such a lack of understanding of what it really means, and in my opinion should mean, to be a football fan, unfortunately I'm inclined to doubt it.

Rant over.

[AndyM_1875]

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If this was ever a serious bid for Hibs I would be amazed that the media didn't pick up on it at the time .. this sounds like one phone call that began and ended with RP / STF falling about laughing at a ridiculous valuation of the club.

Mitchell's diatribe is quite hard to follow because of his university dissertation style of writing, I ended up skimming over a lot of it because I was getting bored, but a couple of things did hold my interest long enough to comment.

He did have a point about our failure to improve Hampden and by association the other grounds in Scotland .. fans will be more willing to come if the facilities are better, he didn't say where the money was supposed to come from though, which is perhaps why he didn't last long in football administration.

Where I absolutely and fundamentally disagreed with him was on the mentality of Scottish football fans in reaction to the dominance of the old firm and latterly just Celtic, allied to our dismal International and European club football results. His assertion that fans are accepting of failure on these fronts is wrong .... yes we have come to expect poor results in these areas, but I would not say we tolerate them, the discussion around what we can do about it is never ending, we know its unacceptable and has to change ..... the failure of guys like Mitchell to come up with workable solutions is the problem, not the fans.

But worse is his dismissive attitude to how fans of clubs outside of the Old Firm have changed their culture and outlook on what can be considered a successful season, or even what it actually means to be a fan, in light of Celtic's financial dominance. The culture has become, or at least is becoming, that there is quite a bit of merit in simply supporting your club for the sake of it, that the road to happiness as a fan is seeing your club well supported and thriving to the best of its ability.

From my point of view its as important to me that other fans praise Hibs for the style of our play, the dedication of our supporters and the atmosphere we bring to games as it is how successful we are on the pitch and I think in the face of supporting a nut rather than the Glasgow sledgehammer that cracks it every season there is a lot of merit in that ....... Mitchell scoffs at that and suggests that it is an acceptance of failure ..... but what then is the alternative?

If we simply act like fans of the club he supports Scottish football will die on its arse within a few years. Its clear that his culture if failure to win leagues and trophies should be punished by non attendance ( which is what he is saying so far as I can see ) should be the attitude of fans of all clubs ...... If we go down that route 90% of Scotland's clubs would go bust ...... How can he possible understand the mentality required to be a faithful supporter of a non OF club when as a Celtic supporter he has never woken up on the first day of a season knowing his club has absolutely no chance of winning the league ... for him and folk like him winning just the League Cup in a season is cause for sacking the manager ... for us and clubs like us that manager becomes a hero.

As I said ...... He and his fellow Old Firm supporting pals would scoff at that because they have no concept of what its like to support a club that cant just go out and spend £500,000 to solve its goalkeeping problem or £2,000,000 to resolve a striking problem. We don't support a club that can sign the brightest and the best from other clubs in our league and stick them in the reserves or on the bench till they rot.
In that environment we either change the culture of what it means to be a fan and what makes you proud of your club or we just give up ..... that does not mean we accept our clubs failing to punch their weight and when it comes to a club like Hibs that we don't expect it to win a trophy every few seasons given its size in the Scottish game.

But if Mitchell thinks that all being a football fan is about is supporting clubs that consistently win things and anything else is just a comfort blanket then thank **** he isn't involved in running the game any more ..... I hope the folk running our game now don't have such a lack of understanding of what it really means, and in my opinion should mean, to be a football fan, unfortunately I'm inclined to doubt it.

Rant over.

THIS.

[CropleyWasGod]

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My point was that we couldn't stop the sale of Holding's 65% and the control that goes with it.

As you said, with 65% the stadium could be sold. No need for any special resolutions (unless the company's articles have something in them)

There's a lot of stuff about transfers of shares which is beyond my pay-grade, and I don't pretend to understand it. It seems to be about restrictions on sales, approval of the Board etc.

There is, though, another clause which says that all business in general meetings (except for the normal business of AGM's) has to be treated as Special, ie requiring 75%. If the two sections are linked, then that suggests that transfers of substantial shareholdings have to be approved by SR as well.

[Future17]

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Reading this with a pinch of salt - surely someone would have picked up on this if it got to The Tash (and we wanted too much).

Edinburgh, in addition, is a world class city that is attractive for a host of reasons. Hibernian with that leverage has immense potential, something I saw first hand last year, as an Israeli investor asked me to assist his attempt to buy the club. He knew nought of the Famous Five, but he could see the sunshine over Leith. Hibs, freed of restrictions, would be like a Fiorentina. Neil Lennon is also a huge addition to the Scottish Premiership narrative this year.

What does that even mean? Is it something to aspire to?

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Is that like a tube? He'd be ideal for that role.

I think it's an abbreviation of "conned you into it".

[IngolstadtHarry]

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We would have had to suffer Mick Napier and his cronies demonstrating outside the West Stand

Yeah, people with a conscience and principles demonstrating outside the stand - now wouldn't that be just awful.
But at least the sight of our club moving up the league would help take the sting out of the fact that the extra dosh came from someone in the business of supporting the occupation, exploitation and murder of innocents a few thousand miles away.