Administration

[Woodypie]

I was just thinking, given the failure of Hardy's negotiations, why would a consortium of folk that successfully manage their money pay Hardy anything when they could get it for nowt in a few weeks time? We have half a team who are meeting on Monday to train at non-existent training facilities. A manager that can't manage. Maybe a savvy investor might decide that next season is already written off promotion-wise but they could live with the points deduction and take their time to rebuild the club and avoid relegation this season. And save themselves from paying a shed load of cash to a foolish, egotistical failure.

[Elite_Pie]

I was just thinking, given the failure of Hardy's negotiations, why would a consortium of folk that successfully manage their money pay Hardy anything when they could get it for nowt in a few weeks time?

This is just a guess, but hopefully because if they agree a deal with Hardy the club will be theirs. If they wait for administration any number of vultures will be circling, so they might not become the preferred bidder.

[countygump]

Praps we're not the only ones?

[cher1]

Exactly Elite. Waiting for admin would be a big gamble as the administrator would decide who to sell the club to taking into account the creditors' best interests.

It may be a positive sign that we aren't already in admin. If you think it through, that would have been the most straightforward option for Hardy, to walk away from the club and the debts. Presumably that makes it more likely there are still be some prospective purchasers around, who are considering paying him something for the club. Otherwise we would already be in admin and he would have been able to wash his hands of us.

[seriouspie]

This is just a guess, but hopefully because if they agree a deal with Hardy the club will be theirs. If they wait for administration any number of vultures will be circling, so they might not become the preferred bidder.

Sounds a reasonable appraisal to me

[Woodypie]

Presumably they have the funds to convince an administrator that they are the best option? Personally, I would take that risk rather than waste 20 million getting rid of Hardy and his debts.

[OP67]

Because if we go into administration then we take a 12 point deduction and would most certainly hinder any chance of an immediate return to the football league. Any buyer waiting for us to go into administration clearly has no ambitions for Notts County or has no money and will use us as a play thing just like Hardy has.

[Bohinen]

This is just a guess, but hopefully because if they agree a deal with Hardy the club will be theirs. If they wait for administration any number of vultures will be circling, so they might not become the preferred bidder.

If the main criterion for the preferred bidder is getting the best deal for the creditors, presumably anyone pepared to pay the debts in full would get the club. As I understand it, the main debts are relatively small sums to HMRC and Wycombe, which have to be paid in full anyway, and the fixed term loan of about 1.4m to Paragon interiors. There is no loan to pay back to Paragon Leisure (owned by Hardy) as far as I am aware, they simply hold shares in the club which would be valueless once we go into admin. The money for those shares (is he asking 6m?) is what the prospective buyer would save.

[slack_pie]

Because if we go into administration then we take a 12 point deduction and would most certainly hinder any chance of an immediate return to the football league. Any buyer waiting for us to go into administration clearly has no ambitions for Notts County or has no money and will use us as a play thing just like Hardy has.

I'd go a step further and say that a points deduction would likely see us relegated again. So unless the prospective owners want us in the National League North for nefarious reasons, admin would potentially set the club back more than one season.

[jackal2]

Although the lack of publicly available information has everybody speculating the worst, there are little signals that suggest progress behind the scenes, such as the reprieve for Paragon Leisure when it was expected to go into liquidation, and the staff apparently still getting paid. Also, the fact that HRC willingly agreed to the most recent adjournment of the case suggests they've been given some reason to think that's still in their interests. It doesn't mean all is well by any means, but not all signals are bad.