a few paragraphs from today's Guardian about some interesting goings-on, down the road in Surrey
Jordan announced that he had bought the ground via an intermediary and that Noades, whom he has consistently treated as a kind of estranged uncle, would not know he was involved.
It is surprising, then, that a confidential document is circulating in the City, asking investors to lend Jordan's holding company Aspirations Holdings £15m to buy Selhurst Park. The brochure, which the Guardian has seen, is produced by the accountants Deloitte and offers investors £1m and rising rent from Crystal Palace Football Club, "an attractive yield" for £15m of finance "to support the acquisition of Selhurst Park" by Jersey-registered Aspiration. Most worryingly for Palace fans, the document boasts about the money that could be made if the ground were demolished and houses built on the land. "The funding is underpinned by the significant value of the site as a housing redevelopment opportunity," the "investment highlights" say, with an "estimated value of up to £32.8m". Headed "Selhurst Park: An Outstanding Funding Opportunity", it states that the £15m will be used by Jordan's company to pay the "previous owner" for the ground and will then give Crystal Palace a 25-year lease to play on it, charging the initial rent of £1m a year.
Considering that Jordan said he bought the ground three months ago, the position becomes yet more curious because the ground's current owner, according to the Land Registry, has no apparent connection to Jordan. Noades' company, Altonwood, did sell Selhurst Park on November 3 2006 for £12m to a company called Selhurst Park One. It immediately transferred the ground to another company, Selhurst Park Limited, which owns it now. That company's directors include Paul Kemsley, of Mayfair-based Rock Investments, who is a director of Tottenham Hotspur.
The trail of London property developers thickens because the previous directors of those two Selhurst Park companies, who resigned just before the deal was done, were David Pearlman and Michael Goldberger. They are senior directors of Structadene, a property investment company owned by Pearlman, which has some form for buying football grounds as investments. In 2005 AFC Bournemouth, in dire straits at the time, sold their stadium to Structadene for £3.5m and now lease it back. The revelation that Jordan is seeking £15m apparently to buy the ground, the involvement of well-known property developers and a price of £32.8m for turning Selhurst Park into a housing estate has, not surprisingly, alarmed some Palace fans.
"We're concerned that the emphasis appears to be on how much Selhurst Park is worth as a residential development," said Alan Palmer, chair of the Crystal Palace Supporters Trust. "There is very little about developing the stadium. And while the club will pay rent to finance the ownership of the ground, it will still not actually own it." Jordan said the worries were unfounded. While he was "disturbed" that the document had been leaked, it did not mean that Kemsley's company owned Selhurst Park or that there were plans to move Palace off and build houses. This was, he said, just the way he had chosen to do things. "The reality is that I own the ground, as I stated. I had to move very quickly to buy it and the funding was expensive. Now I'm restructuring the finance to get better terms. There are no plans to move the club - there's nowhere to go - but the valuation of £32.8m is simply so investors can be secure in the site's value. I have put millions into Crystal Palace, I guarantee the overdraft, I'm personally on the hook for the funding. To make the club successful, now we own the ground, we will have to develop it."
right, I pinched this from elsewhere. can anyone explain this to me in English????
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So 1) He plans to reimburse the VCs 2) He plans to flog it and build houses on the site.
There was quite an interesting article of CP's rivals site that got taken off after 1 day!! Hmmmm curious goings on at Smellhurst
I heard a rumour some time ago that CP were looking for alternative sites, including the prospect of ground sharing with Smallwall
do not even joke about that!!!
cheers Dan for the real time explaination
All that i read out of it was that when Jordan / Palace said they owned their ground again, they don't actually, and are infact now paying more rent than they were under Noades' company Altonwood.
I'm sorry but "this is the way I have chosen to do things" just doesn't cut it. One of those statements is wrong - and it doesn't take much to work out which it is.
You don't go lying to investors in the City about where their money is going and what for.
I'll laugh my tits off he he flogs it from under them after all the stick we've taken from the Nigels an the rubbish the Orange One has come out with about Minty in the national press
Palace have explored the possibilty of moving to Crystal Palace Athletics stadium but that now seems to be a non starter.
Hey we could always come to the Valley...you owe us some hospitality!! :-)
Sales of the phone call from Simon asking Richard if CPFC could share would raise enough money in the club shop to finance us for years.
However agree it seems something and nothing. They have an asset tying up a lot of dosh so a lease back releases that as sepnding money. Down side if you have to pay the rent and if you default the new owners may want to build on the centre circle.
Also of interest if Selhurst is worth £32m how is upton park worth £100m?
Let's face it, the transport system south of the water is shocking. Many a time I've left my mate at closing time and he's got home (to Walthamstow), ordered and picked up a ruby, bells me up and wants to know where I went on to when I tell him that I'm still at Charing Cross/London Bridge waiting for a train home - oh, and that train is being diverted down another line due to engineering works so I have to get a special bus service from Lewisham (there's nothing "special" about it I can tell you) and should be home before it gets light - just!
Laughs his nuts off every time he does. Don't you George???
Palace seem to have been offered a 25 year lease (with a landlord only break clause) at 1m pa linked to rpi. Selhurst has been bought for 12m with 100% mortgage and now Jordan is trying to raise 15m because of the development potential of the site.
The interesting part of this is the directors and companies linked to the purchase. They are also all Directors of Rock Investments Limited, who I have dealt with in the past over social housing developments, where they've got land with what's called a section 106, built some lovely executive homes and thrown a few low cost housing units in to satisfy the planners. Their advertising blurb is..............
"Rock's business is recognising opportunities in both the property sector and financial markets. The Rock Group is currently involved in a significant number of commercial and residential development schemes, working closely with housing associations, local authorities and commercial partners. The Group is fast becoming a major force in the UK property industry and will look to extend and expand its range of activities both on its own account and in appropriate partnerships.
Rock Securities is run by a team of market professionals, utilising their many years of experience and specialist skills to make high returns with managed risks. The company has a portfolio of investments in both London and the global markets, working with the active assistance of their international network of analysts. This enables them to diversify amongst both traditional sectors and provides development capital for expanding companies."
My own view is that Jordan has persuaded them to buy the ground, he gets it off them at a premium within a set period of time when he's raised the finance - he gets the ground and Rock make a tidy 3m profit. It looks like Jordan is struggling to get the finance together though, hence his begging literature for investors. If he can't manage to raise the funding, then Rock have a lovely little land bank which they can raise finance on or kick out their tenants with six months notice to develop the site and make squillions.
If it was me and knowing Jordan's history though I'd be worried. He quite obviously doesn't own the ground despite his proclomation and even though he may have an option to purchase it, without the funding it could be worth nothing. People like Rock investments didn't get where they are now without being hard nosed businessmen and risk takers - they're not invovled in this deal out of the kindness of their hearts, particularly as one of their Directors is also a Director at Spurs.
The one thing that did cross my mind was that now all this has hit the headlines, it would be amusing if Noades decided to invest in this enterprise, with a guaranteed rental income of at least 1m a year, even a share of the 15m would bring in a tidy yield without any further involvement. (It's a full repairing lease). Who knows what that land will be worth in 25 years?