Lewis
buys club from Ninth Floor for £1
Evening post - 12/07/01
SWANSEA City managing director Mike Lewis has
bought the club from Ninth Floor Plc for £1.
The sale is an interim move until the club finds
permanent new owners but the long-term ownership
remains in doubt.
A statement from the club says that of today
Lewis will become temporary chairman of the club
and loans to Ninth Floor of £801,098 will be
repaid.
It confirmed that the managing director had
acquired Ninth Floor's 99.15 per cent
shareholding in the club but said the sale was an
interim step and was part of a programme of
formally introducing new investors to the club.
The club announced that a press conference will
be held in the early part of next week for the
directors to explain, in detail, their plans for
the club and outline details of current
negotiations with potential new investors and how
the club plans to attract further investors.
An extraordinary general meeting has already been
called for August 1 to affect the legal steps
necessary to facilitate the passing of the club
into new ownership, the statement said.
Mike Lewis said: "At this stage my role is
purely as custodian. I have no interest in
retaining my new shareholding, other than to
formally allow it to be apportioned to new
investors.
"This has been necessary to conclude ongoing
negotiations and I expect to give details of
these by the early part of next week.
"These plans also include provision for a
Supporters Trust initiative."
Ninth Floor also issued a statement saying that
it originally acquired its shareholding in the
club in August 1997 for the payment of £100 for
shares and £500,000 for certain loans.
These amounts have been fully written off in
Ninth Floor's accounts in previous years.
In addition, Ninth Floor has injected a further
£200,000 into the club by acquiring the freehold
on the club shop and car park.
Both the shop and car park will be leased back to
the club for a maximum of five years.
However, the club may, at its discretion, buy
back those properties within the next five years
at the market value, or £200,000, whichever is
the greater, the statement went on.
In the sale it has been agreed that in the event
that Mike Lewis sells his shareholding within the
next two years, the Ninth Floor Plc will be
entitled to 20 per cent of any profit from the
sale.
"This is an interim step for the club,"
said Ninth Floor Plc's joint chairman and joint
chief executive Neil McClure.
"We no longer wished to see any more
uncertainty over the future of Swansea City and
as Mike Lewis's offer has been the only firm
offer from the number of people we have been in
discussion with about the sale of the club, we
felt it was only appropriate to assist him with
the club's purchase.
"We have put in place enough money and a
structure which will allow Mike Lewis the
flexibility to raise new money for the club,
within the next three months and ensure Swansea
City has a secure footing at the same time.
"We will be keeping our loans in place until
the club can afford to effectively buyout and pay
back the Ninth Floor Plc the £801,098.
"And by injecting £200,000 of new money we
have also ensured the club has the funds to keep
going.
"During our time in ownership of Swansea
City we have doubled the club's turnover,
improved facilities at the ground, and restored
the club to the commercial forefront of the
community from the time when nobody wanted to do
business with it.
"In addition, the club has won its first
championship in 50 years.
"We are now very excited about new business
opportunities at Ninth Floor and, by selling the
club, Ninth Floor now has a clear strategy for
moving forwards and further developing our
investment portfolio in technology-led solutions
and infrastructure management companies including
newly acquired Applied Infrastructure Management
Services Ltd and Farsight Technologies," he
added.Back
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