must've run out of pins surely?
Portsmouth pin survival hopes on fifth owner of the season• Hong Kong company will pay off debts within a year
• Club seek permission to sell players outside transfer window
Buzz up!
Digg it
Jamie Jackson
The Guardian, Friday 19 February 2010
Article history
Portsmouth still face the prospect of being wound up. Photograph: Daniel Hambury/Empics Sport
Portsmouth could have a fifth owner this season after the Guardian learned that Endeavor Plan, a Hong Kong-based investment company, has viewed documents relating to the club's financial position and has informed Pompey's chief executive, Peter Storrie, of its interest in buying out the current owner, Balram Chainrai. It has suggested that 30 days' due diligence may be required before being able to complete.
Endeavor Plan, said to have interestsin New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United States, received the documentation from Storrie, who has been conducting negotiations to seek a new buyer or fresh investment alone. He spoke to Endeavor's owner, the New Zealand businessman Victor Cattermole, earlier this week and Cattermole confirmed his interest in writing.
It is understood that Endeavor has said that, should any buy-out be successful, the company is confident of clearing all debts to Portsmouth's creditors within a year. It is also thought that Endeavor's interest in buying was included in the statement of affairs lodged with the high court on Wednesday, before Her Majesty's Revenue and Custom's winding-up petition, which will be heard on 1 March. The hearing is for £12.1m in VAT, PAYE and National Insurance, though the club are disputing a sum of £7.1m in VAT.
Portsmouth had been given a seven-day adjournment to compile the statement of affairs, which was drawn up by the accountants Vantis. The club hope Endeavor's inclusion in the document will help convince the court that they are solvent and can continue as a going concern, rather than having to enter administration or being wound up.
The club's chances of avoiding these two eventualities could further be strengthened if they can advance negotiations with Cattermole before the 1 March hearing and provide material evidence of this for the court. There is said to be a second potential buyer, whose interest may also have been included in the SOA.
Cattermole's claim that Portsmouth could be free of their financial problems within a year may depend on him being able to reach agreements with the club's creditors. Sacha Gaydamak, the former owner who sold to Sulaiman al-Fahim last August, is owed around £30.5m, while Chainrai is due at least £17m.
In a separate development yesterday Portsmouth's desperation to avoid administration was further illustrated when they asked the Premier League to consider allowing them to sell players as soon as possible, outside the normal biannual transfer windows. A club spokesman said: "I can confirm we have put in a request to the Premier League to sell players outside the transfer window. It is something we are exploring."
While the governing body is considering the request, it will first have to ask the Football Association and Fifa for permission to allow it. It is thought Fifa may not be minded to grant permission due to the number of clubs around the world that also have financial problems. The world governing body would be concerned that it may set a precedent .
Fahim, meanwhile, has been advised by his legal team to resign as a director and Portsmouth's non-executive *chairman to avoid any potential case against him, should the club have legal difficulties.
A source close to the businessman also told the Guardian that the 32-year-old has began an action against a journalist for the National, a United Arab Emirates newspaper which two days ago published the claim that an arrest warrant had been issued for Fahim regarding a £1.4m debt.
The source claimed: "Sulaiman's lawyers are asking him to resign as a director and chairman due to the lack of financial information he has received. They also feel the club is being run while insolvent.
"They want him to resign to avoid any potential legal case against him as a director, especially as Sulaiman has not attended one board meeting since he sold 90% of his shares to Ali al-Faraj [in October]."
With regard to the legal proceedings against the journalist the source added: "Sulaiman has today begun the action."
Portsmouth declined to comment on Cattermole's interest or Fahim's potential resignation. There is, though, a view on the south coast that as owner for 43 days Fahim may bear some responsibility for the club's current situation.
_________________ "It felt like a really pointless version of ketamine: no psychedelic effects, no pleasant slide into rubbery nonsense, just a sudden drop off the cliff of wrongness." "i'm gonna wreck you so bad we're going to have to change church"
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