Rumours of another bid

Vital Pompey member moley2 spotted the following article in the Daily Telegraph`s City Diary this morning and brought it to our attention

British financier, Brett De Bank, was set on putting the pomp back in Pompey. But his bid for Portsmouth FC was blocked by major creditor Balram Chainrai.

The former Goldman Sachs-banker-turned-venture capitalist has spent the past few weeks in talks with the Hong Kong-based businessman at Park Lane`s InterContinental. Not forgetting the odd meeting held by Chainrai in the casino.

But De Bank, a Portsmouth University graduate and regular at Fratton Park, has walked away from doing a deal with administrators after Chainrai, or Balu as he likes to be called, demanded payment of £16m for the stadium (valued at £5m to £6m) and multi-million pound bonuses.

With liquidation looming, Balu then made a bid to buy the collapsed club out of administration. He`s offered a company voluntary arrangement of 2p in the pound to unsecured creditors, whereas De Bank had proposed more than 7p.
My man in the Pompey shirt said: "Balu refused to take a haircut on his investment. He plans to sell players, buy cheaper ones and run the business on its bare necessities."

Let`s give old Balu the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he`ll invest in the long-term future of the club?

Maybe not.

As his business partner, Levi Kushnir, said: "We would like to be out not later than three years" - just after the last Premier League parachute payment to Portsmouth.

moley2 adds 'I was of the understanding that Trevor Birch was the man who would ultimately make the decision, or has this got something to do with the fact Chainrai is owed the largest amount as a secured creditor?

To me it seems there are much better alternatives to Chainrai's bid but none will get a look in as long as he is still owed money. Levi Kushnir sums it up at the end by basically saying we'll all parachute payments then be on our way! I want to see a brighter future, but after reading this article I'm not sure this will happen for a long time.`

Back to me - It is a very strange article as it would appear to have no source or any quotes - typical broadsheet diary I suppose - but nevertheless very interesting!!

PKF have denied the 2p in the pound for creditors as they say they are still awaiting full details from Portpin. As I asked yesterday - Is it right that he (Chainrai) can vote on his own proposal?

Thanks moley2 and I wish I had time to publish earlier as this now seems to have leaked on to the News via Bob Beech and others. Helps to read these 'alternative` sports press pages such as the South China Morning Post or AccountingWeb to pick up these emerging stories.

If you get anymore interesting snippets in the early morning media let us know please.

News in brief

Olympic bound - Alain Perrin (remember him? - man who unearthed a certain Didier Drogba) has been appointed Qatar manager………keeping it French John Utaka scored twice to seal the French Championat for Montpellier on Sunday……John Aloisi has been appointed boss of Melbourne Heart.

More current team stuff ………Erik is back from Brum and hoping to wrap up a deal back to his native Norway…….Pompey now have no keeper with Ashdown released and Henderson sold - got any gloves?....Kelvin Etuhu seems to be generating more interest from around the leagues but Appy wants to offer him a two year deal….Marko Futacs, the Mighty Magyar, has also been offered a deal on reduced terms (of course).

PUP

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