Post by Macmoish on Sept 1, 2010 22:23:30 GMT
Portsmouth concerned by 21-year-old student's takeover bid
A 21-year-old student and former reality TV 'star' claims to be closing in on a deal to buy Portsmouth.
Telegraph y Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter
Published: 9:34PM BST 01 Sep 2010
Bold bid: Tom Lever, a 21-year-old student, claims to have offered Portsmouth's de facto owner Balram Chainrai £16.2m to take control at Fratton Park Photo: PA
Tom Lever, who appeared on the MTV reality show Living on the Edge which tracked the wealthy teenagers of Cheshire, says he is in negotiations with Portsmouth's administrator over the purchase of the club.
Lever, who claims his major business interest is a "lifestyle services" company called Paint, told Telegraph Sport on Wednesday night that he has offered the club's de facto owner Balram Chainrai £16.2 million to take control at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth takeover faces fresh doubts over Sulaiman Al Fahim's borrowing plansHowever, Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou has expressed doubts about Lever's ability to fund the deal, and on the face of it he is as unlikely an owner as any of the four men who have run the club in the past nine months.
He holds only one directorship in a shell company founded to handle the transaction, Portsmouth FC 2010 LLP. He is not listed as a director of Paint, which according to its website offers services including access to events "that were once the reserve of society's 'A' list".
The company promises to be able to arrange events such as a cooking lesson with "Perre Marco White" (sic) and introductions to stars including Pele and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Lever's lack of a visible business track record has certainly caused concern among Portsmouth supporters fearful of the club passing to another owner who does not have the resources to fund its recovery from administration.
Concerns have also been raised about the potential involvement of Lever's father David Lever, who was declared bankrupt earlier this year with debts of more than £3 million including £120,000 owed to the spread betting firm Spreadex.
A former Tory councillor in Knutsford, David Lever was ejected from the Conservative Party after his bankruptcy. Also among his creditors is the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, which by coincidence is handling the administration of Portsmouth.
On Wednesday night Lever insisted that his father has nothing to do with the deal: "My dad has nothing to do with the deal at all other than to provide me with support and to ensure that I do the right deal.
"He is simply looking out for my interests." Lever said he intended to launch a leveraged takeover of the club, borrowing money against the club's primary asset, Fratton Park.
He said he would not put any of his own money into the purchase, and declined to discuss his personal wealth or circumstances, but said he would provide a personal guarantee to his lenders, whom he declined to name.
"The financing deal will be in the best interest of the club. It will be a loan at a very competitive rate that the club can afford," Lever said.
"I am not going to talk about my personal wealth or what I might put in, but I have been able to put this financing together because of who I know and what I know."
The financing is being organised by Terry Pritchard, described in industry magazines as a "specialist lending guru", who founded the packaging company Chase UK.
Lever says he had asked Pritchard to join the board of the club if he was successful. He said he had also been advised in the deal by family friends who run the pawnbrokers Cash My Gold.
Lever said Andronikou and Chainrai had set him a deadline of Sept 9 to finalise the financing for the deal. On Wednesday night neither Chainrai nor Andronikou was available to comment on the deal.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/portsmouth/7976302/Portsmouth-concerned-by-21-year-old-students-takeover-bid.html
A 21-year-old student and former reality TV 'star' claims to be closing in on a deal to buy Portsmouth.
Telegraph y Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter
Published: 9:34PM BST 01 Sep 2010
Bold bid: Tom Lever, a 21-year-old student, claims to have offered Portsmouth's de facto owner Balram Chainrai £16.2m to take control at Fratton Park Photo: PA
Tom Lever, who appeared on the MTV reality show Living on the Edge which tracked the wealthy teenagers of Cheshire, says he is in negotiations with Portsmouth's administrator over the purchase of the club.
Lever, who claims his major business interest is a "lifestyle services" company called Paint, told Telegraph Sport on Wednesday night that he has offered the club's de facto owner Balram Chainrai £16.2 million to take control at Fratton Park.
Portsmouth takeover faces fresh doubts over Sulaiman Al Fahim's borrowing plansHowever, Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou has expressed doubts about Lever's ability to fund the deal, and on the face of it he is as unlikely an owner as any of the four men who have run the club in the past nine months.
He holds only one directorship in a shell company founded to handle the transaction, Portsmouth FC 2010 LLP. He is not listed as a director of Paint, which according to its website offers services including access to events "that were once the reserve of society's 'A' list".
The company promises to be able to arrange events such as a cooking lesson with "Perre Marco White" (sic) and introductions to stars including Pele and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Lever's lack of a visible business track record has certainly caused concern among Portsmouth supporters fearful of the club passing to another owner who does not have the resources to fund its recovery from administration.
Concerns have also been raised about the potential involvement of Lever's father David Lever, who was declared bankrupt earlier this year with debts of more than £3 million including £120,000 owed to the spread betting firm Spreadex.
A former Tory councillor in Knutsford, David Lever was ejected from the Conservative Party after his bankruptcy. Also among his creditors is the accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, which by coincidence is handling the administration of Portsmouth.
On Wednesday night Lever insisted that his father has nothing to do with the deal: "My dad has nothing to do with the deal at all other than to provide me with support and to ensure that I do the right deal.
"He is simply looking out for my interests." Lever said he intended to launch a leveraged takeover of the club, borrowing money against the club's primary asset, Fratton Park.
He said he would not put any of his own money into the purchase, and declined to discuss his personal wealth or circumstances, but said he would provide a personal guarantee to his lenders, whom he declined to name.
"The financing deal will be in the best interest of the club. It will be a loan at a very competitive rate that the club can afford," Lever said.
"I am not going to talk about my personal wealth or what I might put in, but I have been able to put this financing together because of who I know and what I know."
The financing is being organised by Terry Pritchard, described in industry magazines as a "specialist lending guru", who founded the packaging company Chase UK.
Lever says he had asked Pritchard to join the board of the club if he was successful. He said he had also been advised in the deal by family friends who run the pawnbrokers Cash My Gold.
Lever said Andronikou and Chainrai had set him a deadline of Sept 9 to finalise the financing for the deal. On Wednesday night neither Chainrai nor Andronikou was available to comment on the deal.
www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/portsmouth/7976302/Portsmouth-concerned-by-21-year-old-students-takeover-bid.html
