Ron Gordon's Plan For Hibernian Football Club

[KWJ]

It's interesting to read the dividing comments here on whether to go with players or foundations.

I think he was led into the question a little bit by Luke Shanley regarding the league title, it didn't seem like something he'd have come out and said but it's a bit of a bummer to all if he say's we can never win the league.

I think further investment on the infrastructure and behind the scenes stuff is key to show that he is here for the long haul and not going to attempt a Dundee, Livi, Gretna, Hearts or Rangers. We have to remain within our budget. If that budget can be spent wisely to bring in the best youngsters we can afford and then sell them on in a similar way to what Celtic have been doing then our budget can only grow, especially if it leads to more consistent success on the pitch with regular shots at Europe.

I disagree with the poster earlier who said about the 99% of players choice is on the wage. As someone else said, if a player believes he is more likely to thrive at Hibs than at Celtic or Rangers by playing games and then earning a far bigger deal on his next contract then that gives us a big sell if we're still offering more than the rest of the Premiership. It brings into play the likes of Jack Hastie, Alan Campbell, Stuart Findlay etc and possibly extending to someone like Greg Taylor while leaving Celtic to fight for your David Turnbull and Scott McKenna's.

[jacomo]

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It's interesting to read the dividing comments here on whether to go with players or foundations.

I think he was led into the question a little bit by Luke Shanley regarding the league title, it didn't seem like something he'd have come out and said but it's a bit of a bummer to all if he say's we can never win the league.

I think further investment on the infrastructure and behind the scenes stuff is key to show that he is here for the long haul and not going to attempt a Dundee, Livi, Gretna, Hearts or Rangers. We have to remain within our budget. If that budget can be spent wisely to bring in the best youngsters we can afford and then sell them on in a similar way to what Celtic have been doing then our budget can only grow, especially if it leads to more consistent success on the pitch with regular shots at Europe.

I disagree with the poster earlier who said about the 99% of players choice is on the wage. As someone else said, if a player believes he is more likely to thrive at Hibs than at Celtic or Rangers by playing games and then earning a far bigger deal on his next contract then that gives us a big sell if we're still offering more than the rest of the Premiership. It brings into play the likes of Jack Hastie, Alan Campbell, Stuart Findlay etc and possibly extending to someone like Greg Taylor while leaving Celtic to fight for your David Turnbull and Scott McKenna's.

More importantly, if you can grow the revenues of the club then you increase the player budget in a sustainable way.

One thing seems clear - Ron Gordon seems very happy with the current strategy. I think the plan will be to continue as we are, but hopefully accelerate our progress.

Last season ended up as a little step back from the season before, but not disastrously so.

I would love a ‘marquee player’ as a statement of intent though!

[jeffers]

Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

[neil7908]

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I’m not entirely sure we are comparing like with like when looking at Aberdeen’s finances, but the new stadium will be expensive and a huge distraction for them.

Hibs are being typically coy about the numbers, but I think a bit of up front capital investment in Easter Road could improve the match day experience and drive up revenue. This would help us close the gap.

I am intrigued by the new guy’s media background and if he sees pre-season tours to USA, for example, as part of the plan?

It is not too hard for Hibs to become the third force in Scottish football - and then, with a bit of luck, who knows where we can go?

We be fascinating to see it play out.

Your might well be right. I'm impressed by the guy and optimistic this will be big for the club. I'm also largely responding to the OPs points which I appreciate are not from RG himself.

I just think if we are moving from hoping for 3rd or 4th each year to demanding it that needs injection in the playing squad above and beyond what we have now. A lot of focus is on youth, infrastructure etc which is great but we need to realise only a decent increase to our playing budget will get us close to near guaranteed success.

[Clarence]

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It's interesting to read the dividing comments here on whether to go with players or foundations.

I think he was led into the question a little bit by Luke Shanley regarding the league title, it didn't seem like something he'd have come out and said but it's a bit of a bummer to all if he say's we can never win the league.

It was of course a leading question, as is the want of a journalist, however I think he dealt with it appropriately. As you say, using appropriate US parlance, it would have been a bit of bummer for him to say -“ Win the league????! Haha with this lot???? Good one kid.”

[Hibtastic]

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Killie will probably drop away but Aberdeen had a turnover of £15.4m last accounts. Ours was £9.6m.

That's why they've had sustained success. We're already at the level where our targets are 3rd or 4th. But if that is the minimum level every year we need the budget to do that. And I'm not sure that's quite captured in the OP.

Who wants to live in Aberdeen though? Certainly not me. Hibs can and will be more attractive to players simply because of the wonderful City of Edinburgh. We can add to that by providing better facilities, perhaps paying a little bit more in wages etc.

[GloryGlory]

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Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

It's generally a notice that someone has security over assets of the company - a fixed charge is secured over a particular asset, like a building, floating is a security over any assets, up to the value of the charge. So if I had a company and owed someone £100 and they had a floating charge, they could claim it back against anything my company owned - stock, cash, office equipment, etc.

[IWasThere2016]

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Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

Not aware of any change to the group structure post takeover - but common practice for Parent Co. to have security on assets for lending/borrowing purposes of its subsidiary.

Club are debt free - doesn't mean it will stay that way eg new helipad is essential .. but it is nowt to worry about for now.

[ancient hibee]

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It's generally a notice that someone has security over assets of the company - a fixed charge is secured over a particular asset, like a building, floating is a security over any assets, up to the value of the charge. So if I had a company and owed someone £100 and they had a floating charge, they could claim it back against anything my company owned - stock, cash, office equipment, etc.

It only comes into play of course if the borrower refuses to repay the debt.I would have thought it more likely that a floating charge would be being discharged at Companies House just now as previous debts are repaid.

[GloryGlory]

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It only comes into play of course if the borrower refuses to repay the debt.I would have thought it more likely that a floating charge would be being discharged at Companies House just now as previous debts are repaid.

Yep.

[heretoday]

Debt free? They still owe me for the years of pain.

[green day]

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Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

This guy has just tweeted that it means Gordon has lent the club money in exchange for a charge over the assets.

No clue what it means??


https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/st...990418944?s=19

[04Sauzee]

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Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

Not sure if this helps?

[660]

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Not sure if this helps?

I think it just gives the holding company the ability to lend money to the club, it doesn’t necessarily mean he has done so.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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Agree with a lot of points raised in this post but it's a little early to speculate but make no mistake, I'm delighted money is coming from the west rather than the east as I think both in culture, lifestyle and economy are far more in line with our way of living than say middle east/Asian money.

Also, my train of thought at the moment leads me to other possibilities like a new multi purpose built arena, visiting US football teams/baseball etc, perhaps a bit far fetched but not unrealistic as really Scottish football is dying and this may be a game changer.

We as fans are thinking big, but I suspect Ron is thinking bigger, just my take on it at the moment.

That's taking pessimism to the extremes a bit don't you think. For all its faults over the last few years crowds have shown a steady growth and in our case a spectacular one. Hearts have just completed 10 million quids worth of ground improvements for 15 million quid and Aberdeen are on the cusp of building a brand new stadium with Dundee at least talking about doing the same.

What the future holds is open to question and I don't think its outwith the bounds of possibility that whatever happens to Scottish football the big city clubs like Glasgow East and West, Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen and a possible combined club on Tayside will go on to play in some form of British or European league set up depending on how far the European giants are willing to take the idea of a permanent European league.

Whatever the case Hibs should be prepared for anything that happens and improvements to the training centre and stadium would be desirable aims if we are to be contenders for any new football system that comes along.

[craigiehibs]

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I think it just gives the holding company the ability to lend money to the club, it doesn’t necessarily mean he has done so.

it means that the floating charge holder has a lien over the co assets. if i was buying hibs via a co vehicle then there is no way i wouldnt take a floating charge (debenture) to ptotect my investment

[CapitalGreen]

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This guy has just tweeted that it means Gordon has lent the club money in exchange for a charge over the assets.

No clue what it means??


https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/st...990418944?s=19

The floating charge notice only indicates the ability to lend secured against the assets, it does not indicate any money has actually been lent.

[MyJo]

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Can anyone with a better understanding of it than me (wouldn't be hard) explain what the Floating Charge document just registered at Companies House is all about ?

My guess is that the properties owned by HFC holdings (training centre, ticket office etc) have been transferred to the club to protect them as club assets rather than being sold directly to Bydand. The new owner has then taken out a floating security with the club in respect of any future lending they provide.

For example Bydand don’t own HTC so they will likely lend us the money to build a new indoor training facility and this floating charge is their security against that investment into a property they don’t fully own.

[Caversham Green]

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This guy has just tweeted that it means Gordon has lent the club money in exchange for a charge over the assets.

No clue what it means??


https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/st...990418944?s=19

The guy's wrong on three counts

1. No money has been lent - the club is debt-free.
2. It is not a mortgage - rather the opposite.
3. That's not the name of the holding company.

[WhileTheChief..]

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Not sure if this helps?

A quick glance at Kickback and you would learn that we are all doomed.

He's borrowing the money as he doesn't have any himself and lumping the club with millions of debt.

Only a matter of time. Tick-tock.

[craigiehibs]

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The guy's wrong on three counts

1. No money has been lent - the club is debt-free.
2. It is not a mortgage - rather the opposite.
3. That's not the name of the holding company.

as i said if i was buying a subsiduary co ( ie hibs) there is no way i wouldnt take a charge over it. nothing to di with debt per se

[Smidge]

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I think it just gives the holding company the ability to lend money to the club, it doesn’t necessarily mean he has done so.

The full document refers to liabilities incurred under the terms of a "Facility Agreement", which is then defined as a term loan agreement between Hibs and Bydand.

That doesn't mean there is any current debt, but it does look like there is a facility in place for the club to draw on from the parent company. This is possibly the mechanism under which the "seven-figure investment" is being made into the club, as I don't that will be done by way of subscribing for additional share capital, given it would dilute the other shareholders' equity. It could also be to allow for working capital from time-to-time.

It could be said that this is swapping the debt to the previous parent company with debt to a new parent company, but without seeing the "Facility Agreement" we cannot know that. In particular, a full understanding of how this will operate and what repayments (IF ANY) will be due.

[WhileTheChief..]

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My guess is that the properties owned by HFC holdings (training centre, ticket office etc) have been transferred to the club to protect them as club assets rather than being sold directly to Bydand. The new owner has then taken out a floating security with the club in respect of any future lending they provide.

For example Bydand don’t own HTC so they will likely lend us the money to build a new indoor training facility and this floating charge is their security against that investment into a property they don’t fully own.

How don't Bydand own HTC?? If they don't, who does??!!

I thought he (Bydand) bought the lot - club, stadium and HTC (including the extra land at EM) then transferred ownership of it and the ticket office to the club from HFC Holdings.

[Hibs4185]

In my line of work, I give floating charges to banks all the time. Generally they lend me money and take security against all my assets rather than one specifically.

My biggest concern would be that Ron Gordon’s investment is by way of loans rather than a cash injection which means he can recall those debts depending on the terms. My uncle was a yam shareholder and proudly told me that they had agreed at the AGM to increase their debt to £40 million from £20 million so they could win the champions league. When I said Romanov was effectively spending their money and
Not his, i got told it wasn’t like that.

When Chelsea rack up losses, Abramivich writes a cheque and clears them off so he uses his money each year and leaves Chelsea debt free.

I can’t see STF and RP allowing a structure that would leave us open to building up debts though. I am sure Ron Gordon would have had to provide proof of funds and a commitment to leave the club as he found it ie debt free.

It’s def one for the fans reps or someone to try and get answers to, so that we can all rest assured but I am confident there is nothing untoward about this floating charge.

[craigiehibs]

[QUOTE=WhileTheChief..;5831375]How don't Bydand own HTC?? If they don't, who does??!!

I thought he (Bydand) bought the lot - club, stadium and HTC (including the extra land at EM) then transferred ownership of it and the ticket office to the club from HFC Holdings.[/QUOTE

it really is nothing to worry about...its standard corporate practice where one corporate buys another

[Caversham Green]

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as i said if i was buying a subsiduary co ( ie hibs) there is no way i wouldnt take a charge over it. nothing to di with debt per se

Absolutely common practice in this sort of setup.

[04Sauzee]

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The guy's wrong on three counts

1. No money has been lent - the club is debt-free.
2. It is not a mortgage - rather the opposite.
3. That's not the name of the holding company.

Cheers Caversham, I have no idea how these things work. Glad you could clear it up.

[MyJo]

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How don't Bydand own HTC?? If they don't, who does??!!

I thought he (Bydand) bought the lot - club, stadium and HTC (including the extra land at EM) then transferred ownership of it and the ticket office to the club from HFC Holdings.

Hibernian football club own the stadium including surrounding land including ticket office and the entirety of the land that forms HTC. The ticket office, HTC and additional 14 acres of land at east mains were owned by HFC holdings but got transferred to the club.

Bydand have bought HFC holdings shares in Hibernian football club which is around 68% of the club.

The club own the stadium and training ground meaning Ron and Bydand don’t fully own any of the clubs properties or assets. Meaning the shareholders of the club, of which 32% are fans and HSL, decide what happens to them. If they wanted to sell the stadium for example then Ron on his own wouldn’t be able to do this. It would need to be in agreement with all the other shareholders

[Caversham Green]

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How don't Bydand own HTC?? If they don't, who does??!!

I thought he (Bydand) bought the lot - club, stadium and HTC (including the extra land at EM) then transferred ownership of it and the ticket office to the club from HFC Holdings.

Hibernian Football Club owns all the asset. Bydand owns about 60% of the club, HSL and general supporters own the rest.

[Smidge]

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Absolutely common practice in this sort of setup.

But the charge document refers to a "Facility Agreement", which is described as containing a term loan.

If not a debt, what other way is the seven-figure investment being introduced into the club?