Hsl

[1875STEVE]

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Yep - same here

I will be as well.

Depending on how HSL looks and the purpose going forward Im considering doubling it.

[Daniel 1875]

An update email went out to contributors this morning, main points:

• Two consultation meetings to be set up with fans/members between now and week commencing 5th August, dates/times tbc
• Meeting to be scheduled with HSA to discuss moving forward
• Third kit and Members Board still going ahead

Also an article by Alan Pattullo at the Evening News here which provides an update.

[offshorehibby]

HIBERNIAN SUPPORTERS 1875 – A FAN FOR ALL REASONS

In our earlier communication to you, we were keen to get factual information to you as soon as possible. On reflection, we were not able to convey an emotion which we know is shared by many of you – disappointment. Yes, like you, we were disappointed that we were unable to achieve our desired stake prior to the acquisition, however, like every other Hibs supporter disappointment is soon replaced by optimism and enthusiasm.

The purpose of Hibernian Supporters was to help the Club by acquiring as many shares in the Club as possible. We would suspect our Members continue to support this objective and want to move forward positively. Before moving forward however it is sometimes helpful to glance back to help you with your bearings.

In late December 2014 the Club announced the results of a Strategic Review that the Board had undertaken over the preceding months. The Board sought to give supporters the opportunity to acquire shares in the Club and from what we recall authorised the issue of an additional 62,500,000 shares. A consequence of this was that if supporters had bought all of these shares the existing principal shareholder would have it's stake reduced to 49%. Of course around 1% was already in the hands of ordinary supporters. Individual supporters were given the opportunity to buy shares as well as Hibernian Supporters Ltd which was formed around the same time. So from these simple facts it was clear that Hibernian Supporters had no prospect of acquiring more than 50% and in all likelihood a figure well below that was more realistic. Hibernian Supporters was particularly helpful to fans who could not afford a lump sum. The shares were offered to everyone at 4p per share.

The Board of Hibernian Supporters saw this as a very good opportunity to help our Club as well as giving supporters with an interest in fan ownership the opportunity to participate. We stepped forward in response to the offer made by the Club. We think it is fair to say that from there on we set our goal as achieving a meaningful stake and defined this as 25.1% The Club made this an even more attractive idea by committing to directing all of the funds received from us to the football budget.

Can we say to all our fellow Members of Hibernian Supporters well done, congratulations and thank you. You did not and have not failed. You knew an offer when you saw one, it’s just a shame that others didn’t see it. You were not put off by all the detractors along the way and you have supported your Club with generosity and passion. Oh, and by the way, what have you achieved to date?

Four years ago we owned zero shares in the Club and now we own approximately 15.4 %
You donated over £800,000 to the cause at a time when our Club needed money.
That money allowed the Club to bring players to the team that would simply not have happened without it.
And finally, those players that we helped to bring in delivered us the Scottish Cup on the 21st May 2016 and our promotion back to the SPFL.
Going forward, we are pleased to confirm that your Board have now had the opportunity to meet and consider the issues raised as a result of the acquisition and whilst we have a few points to tidy up, Hibernian Supporters have a key role to play in our Clubs future.
The first issue for consideration is - what do our Members want going forward? We are simply your Directors and this Company is owned by you. We are in the process of organising two Consultation Meetings to be held at the Stadium. We are hoping the first one will be next week and will of course confirm dates as soon as we have these. We would expect the second Consultation with our Members in the week beginning 5th August, again we will confirm the exact dates as soon as we have these confirmed.

We have also accepted a very kind invitation from the HSA to join them at Sunnyside to help inform their Members, many of whom are also Members of Hibernian Supporters. Again we await the exact date but this will be confirmed shortly.

As I said earlier, while some feel disappointed, it is important to make clear our starting point. Our principal objective remains the same. While we cannot buy any more shares from the Club there are still approximately 17.4 % shares in the hands of small shareholders and Nominee shareholders. We have already received share donations from small shareholders. While it remains arithmetically possible to achieve the 25.1% stake we believe that you would feel that your Board would be letting you down were we to suggest abandoning this aim as soon as we stumble across the first hurdle.

In simple terms its business as usual.

Hibernian Supporters is the second largest shareholder in the Club. It will continue to be relevant and after our Consultation process we feel sure that you will feel it is the best platform for all Hibs fans to help the Club.

Our infrastructure is established, robust and flexible and able to take care of everyone’s needs. If you can’t or don’t want to provide additional financial assistance to our Club that is fully understandable.

If you previously did not want to engage with Hibernian Supporters for personal reasons perhaps things have changed for you.

If you don’t have any interest whatsoever in any ownership matters we can help, and it is still worthwhile visiting our web site. Go to the donate page but rather than click for Membership click on the “donate” button. You will not become a Member of Hibernian Supporters and you will not receive a Membership Certificate. Your money will simply be passed on to the Club. This will appeal to all of those supporters who were searching for this alternative.

For our Members and prospective Members who wish to continue on this journey we can even deal with differing views. For those that want their funds going to the playing budget – that will happen. For those that want their funds going to infrastructure projects – that will happen. One thing you can feel certain of is that we will listen carefully to our Members over the coming weeks, since, at the end of the day you are the owners of this Company.

Things will continue as planned. Our Members Board continues, our third strip continues, initiatives continue.

Whatever your reasons for supporting your Club, Hibernian Supporters is your platform.


James Adie
Chairman

[jacomo]

I have no doubt that James means well, but that’s a rambling and not entirely clear message.

HSL seems to have been abandoned by LD, which is disappointing seeing as she was the one pushing fan ownership in the first place.

[Baldy Foghorn]

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I have no doubt that James means well, but that’s a rambling and not entirely clear message.

HSL seems to have been abandoned by LD, which is disappointing seeing as she was the one pushing fan ownership in the first place.

LD is still on HS Board. (AFAIK)

[3pm]

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LD is still on HS Board. (AFAIK)

She was at the AGM in May.

[Baldy Foghorn]

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She was at the AGM in May.

Cheers R

[linlithgowhibbie]

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I have no doubt that James means well, but that’s a rambling and not entirely clear message.

HSL seems to have been abandoned by LD, which is disappointing seeing as she was the one pushing fan ownership in the first place.

Seems clear to me. Not rambling and a clear, concise message that i understood.
Well done Jim

[OfficialHSL]

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I have no doubt that James means well, but that’s a rambling and not entirely clear message.

HSL seems to have been abandoned by LD, which is disappointing seeing as she was the one pushing fan ownership in the first place.

Jacomo

I acknowledge that my message was rather longer than I would have preferred but I am sorry that you feel it was "rambling". Striking the right balance between conveying as much information as possible while trying to be brief isn't always easy.

Please let us know what further clarity you require ?

Please also bear in mind that we are seeking to take on board our Members views on many issues which of course is required to provide further clarity.


Jim

[offshorehibby]

A clear enough statment to me. 2 or 3 consultation meetings with it's members over the coming weeks to get a direction on where HSL should be heading in the future.

If it's aim is to continue supporting Hibs financialy i will be continuing with my monthly contributions.

[lord bunberry]

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I have no doubt that James means well, but that’s a rambling and not entirely clear message.

HSL seems to have been abandoned by LD, which is disappointing seeing as she was the one pushing fan ownership in the first place.

Agreed it’s making a statement for the sake of it. It tells us nothing really.

[OfficialHSL]

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Agreed it’s making a statement for the sake of it. It tells us nothing really.

Lord Burnberry

What would you like to know ?


Hibernian Supporters

[Since452]

Not really interested in shares anyway. Just want to continue contributing to the player budget. Planning to double my monthly DD. Ron can deal with the infrastructure. Didn't sign up for that.

[Bostonhibby]

No problem understanding the message as it's the one I expected.

The sale has closed the door to HSL's aspiration to at least get that meaningful seat on the board, and it's the same for members like me who had that as their main objective.

As an observation, Ron might want to offer to sell enough to HSL to enable that to happen but it's unlikely.

There's now a straightforward choice for those that do contribute but have seen ownership/HSL as a problem but want to make contributions in the future. Existing members and new future donations can go down the player budget or infrastructure budget route.

I'd personally want to know a bit more about the infrastructure plans before going down that route so am holding fire meantime.





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[Baldy Foghorn]

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Seems clear to me. Not rambling and a clear, concise message that i understood.
Well done Jim

I thought it was a decent communication too

[Argylehibby]

Jim,

If I understand this what you are saying is that you will still collect the monthly subs but instead of those funds going to the club in exchange for new shares it will go to existing shareholders to buy their shares from them. Is that correct?

[Steve-O]

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Lord Burnberry

What would you like to know ?


Hibernian Supporters

Where are the donations now going is the obvious question?

*this may be covered, I haven’t read earlier posts yet. Answer may be you don’t know yet!

[Baldy Foghorn]

Should have added, I'd rather monies go to the player budget than the infrastructure.

[lord bunberry]

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Lord Burnberry

What would you like to know ?


Hibernian Supporters

Nothing really at this point. We know you’re going to be having meetings to decide the way forward. The statement didn’t really tell us much.
Let’s be honest there’s only a few things that people are waiting to hear, the main one being what’s our money is going to used for.

[Lancs Harp]

I welcomed the statement I found the summary of what had happened pretty useful, well easier than following this thread for instance as to whats gone on.

So its a thanks from me at least.

Often a thankless task I would imagine, a classic case of not being able to satisfy everybody, which is entirely understandable.

[The 90+2]

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Where are the donations now going is the obvious question?

*this may be covered, I haven’t read earlier posts yet. Answer may be you don’t know yet!

This, plus what do HSL get in return for handing money to the club and who makes the decision in the club what the funds get spent on?

[Currie Hibee]

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A clear enough statment to me. 2 or 3 consultation meetings with it's members over the coming weeks to get a direction on where HSL should be heading in the future.

If it's aim is to continue supporting Hibs financialy i will be continuing with my monthly contributions.

Seems clear to me. You can still donate to HSL who in turn will pass the funds on to the club. The only chance being no shares in return. No one was donating their money for a financial return and as such I don’t see that a huge amount has changed.

[BSEJVT]

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HIBERNIAN SUPPORTERS 1875 – A FAN FOR ALL REASONS

In our earlier communication to you, we were keen to get factual information to you as soon as possible. On reflection, we were not able to convey an emotion which we know is shared by many of you – disappointment. Yes, like you, we were disappointed that we were unable to achieve our desired stake prior to the acquisition, however, like every other Hibs supporter disappointment is soon replaced by optimism and enthusiasm.

The purpose of Hibernian Supporters was to help the Club by acquiring as many shares in the Club as possible. We would suspect our Members continue to support this objective and want to move forward positively. Before moving forward however it is sometimes helpful to glance back to help you with your bearings.

In late December 2014 the Club announced the results of a Strategic Review that the Board had undertaken over the preceding months. The Board sought to give supporters the opportunity to acquire shares in the Club and from what we recall authorised the issue of an additional 62,500,000 shares. A consequence of this was that if supporters had bought all of these shares the existing principal shareholder would have it's stake reduced to 49%. Of course around 1% was already in the hands of ordinary supporters. Individual supporters were given the opportunity to buy shares as well as Hibernian Supporters Ltd which was formed around the same time. So from these simple facts it was clear that Hibernian Supporters had no prospect of acquiring more than 50% and in all likelihood a figure well below that was more realistic. Hibernian Supporters was particularly helpful to fans who could not afford a lump sum. The shares were offered to everyone at 4p per share.

The Board of Hibernian Supporters saw this as a very good opportunity to help our Club as well as giving supporters with an interest in fan ownership the opportunity to participate. We stepped forward in response to the offer made by the Club. We think it is fair to say that from there on we set our goal as achieving a meaningful stake and defined this as 25.1% The Club made this an even more attractive idea by committing to directing all of the funds received from us to the football budget.

Can we say to all our fellow Members of Hibernian Supporters well done, congratulations and thank you. You did not and have not failed. You knew an offer when you saw one, it’s just a shame that others didn’t see it. You were not put off by all the detractors along the way and you have supported your Club with generosity and passion. Oh, and by the way, what have you achieved to date?

Four years ago we owned zero shares in the Club and now we own approximately 15.4 %
You donated over £800,000 to the cause at a time when our Club needed money.
That money allowed the Club to bring players to the team that would simply not have happened without it.
And finally, those players that we helped to bring in delivered us the Scottish Cup on the 21st May 2016 and our promotion back to the SPFL.
Going forward, we are pleased to confirm that your Board have now had the opportunity to meet and consider the issues raised as a result of the acquisition and whilst we have a few points to tidy up, Hibernian Supporters have a key role to play in our Clubs future.
The first issue for consideration is - what do our Members want going forward? We are simply your Directors and this Company is owned by you. We are in the process of organising two Consultation Meetings to be held at the Stadium. We are hoping the first one will be next week and will of course confirm dates as soon as we have these. We would expect the second Consultation with our Members in the week beginning 5th August, again we will confirm the exact dates as soon as we have these confirmed.

We have also accepted a very kind invitation from the HSA to join them at Sunnyside to help inform their Members, many of whom are also Members of Hibernian Supporters. Again we await the exact date but this will be confirmed shortly.

As I said earlier, while some feel disappointed, it is important to make clear our starting point. Our principal objective remains the same. While we cannot buy any more shares from the Club there are still approximately 17.4 % shares in the hands of small shareholders and Nominee shareholders. We have already received share donations from small shareholders. While it remains arithmetically possible to achieve the 25.1% stake we believe that you would feel that your Board would be letting you down were we to suggest abandoning this aim as soon as we stumble across the first hurdle.

In simple terms its business as usual.

Hibernian Supporters is the second largest shareholder in the Club. It will continue to be relevant and after our Consultation process we feel sure that you will feel it is the best platform for all Hibs fans to help the Club.

Our infrastructure is established, robust and flexible and able to take care of everyone’s needs. If you can’t or don’t want to provide additional financial assistance to our Club that is fully understandable.

If you previously did not want to engage with Hibernian Supporters for personal reasons perhaps things have changed for you.

If you don’t have any interest whatsoever in any ownership matters we can help, and it is still worthwhile visiting our web site. Go to the donate page but rather than click for Membership click on the “donate” button. You will not become a Member of Hibernian Supporters and you will not receive a Membership Certificate. Your money will simply be passed on to the Club. This will appeal to all of those supporters who were searching for this alternative.

For our Members and prospective Members who wish to continue on this journey we can even deal with differing views. For those that want their funds going to the playing budget – that will happen. For those that want their funds going to infrastructure projects – that will happen. One thing you can feel certain of is that we will listen carefully to our Members over the coming weeks, since, at the end of the day you are the owners of this Company.

Things will continue as planned. Our Members Board continues, our third strip continues, initiatives continue.

Whatever your reasons for supporting your Club, Hibernian Supporters is your platform.


James Adie
Chairman

I think it's completely unfair the rubbishing this information has been given by some supporters.

Apart from stating the blindingly obvious fact that any increase in HSL's shareholding other than outright donations would require those shares to be bought from nominees or existing shareholders, it sets out exactly where HSL are thinking of going, going forward.

I think what it does do is highlight the danger I am going to allude to further of failing in its real purpose by trying to be all things to everyone and failing to be anything to anybody.

As a long-time advocate of HSL I have post-takeover made my feelings clear in what HSL should be doing going forward IMO

If HSL were to content themselves with raising funds to eventually drive their stake to the magical 25.1% and wield influence through their 15.4% present shareholding they would have my full backing and financial support.

I think the danger here is their attempting to garner a bigger hold of fans other donations to the club and I think that can only be to their detriment as they neither have the time, administrative capability, staff backing or skill set to do this.

IMO HSL needs to focus on their reason for existence and make it clear to all contributors that the only significant difference going forward is that their donations won't go to the team but will go to buy shareholdings from individuals/nominees to protect the clubs long term future.

Some contributors will accept this, others won't.

IMO anything other than this should be the preserve of the club through a scheme similar to Aberdeen's which gives something back to the fans.

HSL is not required for this and personally there is not a cats chance in hell of my contributing specifically for infrastructure projects which wee Ron can ram right up his arse.

I have seen enough crap Hibs teams hamstrung by infrastructure spending to last a lifetime and such projects predominantly benefit the majority owner by driving up the Net Book value of the business.

HSL need to do the job they were constructed to do, not the one they fancy inventing for themselves.

I get that some will argue that they were there to put funds into the team and that is what they propose to do but that came with the caveat that the clubs future was protected, raising funds without that quid pro quo is the clubs job.

[WhileTheChief..]

Fair play to those of you who want to keep donating but i can't get my head around working class folks donating their cash to a multi millionaire owner or to pay extra wages to highly paid footballers!

I know it's our club and we want to help but this is just ridiculous.

They should be saying a massive thank you but we no longer need your money, Ron's got it covered, cheers!!

[offshorehibby]

I own a small amout of shares from the original Duff/Gray days 350/400. If i could keep a minamal amount of shares that would still entitle me to get to the AGM, i would be happy giftting X amount of shares to HSL.

[BSEJVT]

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Fair play to those of you who want to keep donating but i can't get my head around working class folks donating their cash to a multi millionaire owner or to pay extra wages to highly paid footballers!

I know it's our club and we want to help but this is just ridiculous.

They should be saying a massive thank you but we no longer need your money, Ron's got it covered, cheers!!

We have corresponded on this topic before and I respected your position although I didn't agree with it.

If HSL sticks to the task I have said I believe they should which is the acquisition of shares from other holders to help safeguard the clubs future, then none of your obviously deeply held concerns apply.

Would you be prepared to donate monies to a member ran organisation to do so knowing that all they were doing was purchasing shares on the open market to safeguard the clubs future and that neither multi-millionaire owners or highly paid footballers were advantaged by your donation?

You would effectively be helping to preserve the club for future generations whilst leaving it to stand entirely on its own two feet at present.

[Brooster]

HSL issue a clear and concise update yet folk jump right down their throats. Cut them some slack and let them deal with this period of transition.....which they seem to be doing pretty well from what I can see.

[BSEJVT]

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I own a small amout of shares from the original Duff/Gray days 350/400. If i could keep a minamal amount of shares that would still entitle me to get to the AGM, i would be happy giftting X amount of shares to HSL.

I can see why you would do that but personally, I wouldn't

As there are no further shares available for purchase to create even minimal "badge" shareholdings I would suggest either keeping them to pass on down through the generations, probably by dividing them up to grandchildren as I am or enabling fellow supporters to have their "badge"

By "badge" I mean sticking a share certificate on their wall as a "badge" of honour

[craigiehibs]

i have contributed to hsl sine the start. 225 initial and since then 48.75 a month. i am more than happy to consider ongoing support. but what worries me is how do the rank and file get to really understand the pkan going fwd? i am one of many and a member of hsa and travelling to every away game as well as home. but im not one of the hsa elite, just a punter. how do i know those invited to any meetings will speak for me? you cant possibly invite 2k plus people to 2 meetings? so how will my voice and that of others be heard and taken on board?

[JohnMcM]

Can someone help me please, I'm a member and have a question.

What does this "shares certificate" thing look like?