Indonesians taking control.

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slappy
Grumpy old git
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Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:52 pm

Indonesians taking control.

Post by slappy »

In a co-ordinated news story on Friday by The Daily Telegraph, Oxford Mail and BBC Oxford, it was announced that Anindya Bakrie and Erick Thohir would be increasing their holdings in the entity that owns the majority of Oxford United to a 51% interest. Subject to FA Approval etc.

It's long been said that Tiger was never the man with the money, and it is apparent from issues of shares in Oxford Investments Singapore over the last few years, that it is mainly the other investors who have been putting funds in.

This of course leads to more speculation on the ground situation, with the current licence apparently running for another five years or so. Thohir has history of club ownership and ground development at DC United and Inter Milan, whilst Empire Asia were involved at Manchester City, and then along with Tiger at Reading, where the developable land around the Madejski was moved into a separate company where the football club only owns a 25% interest.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Indonesians taking control.

Post by Kernow Yellow »

What is not clear (apart from everything) is who is seeking to take control from whom. Is Thohir allowed back on the board now, or does his political position in Indonesia still prevent that? Or is it Bakrie that wants to increase his interest? And will the Empire Asia people still be involved, or is it them that the 'Indonesian(s)' want(s) to buy out? And who are Barry and Suzie, whose names crop up occasionally? That Tiger was just a well-connected middleman with no real funds behind him seems to have been acknowledged for a while.

I don't know whether it's the pandemic, but I just find the whole thing surreal and hard to get worked up about. I mean we're already pretty much a financial basket case of a club propped up by wealthy foreigners - probably no bad thing when you look at clubs without such backing, one down the A420 springing instantly to mind. I suppose we should be grateful enough for that, even if we trundle along in League One for a while longer. I don't suppose that's what these 'Indonesians' have in mind though.

Anyway, some fans seem so confident we're about to start building at Stratfield Brake that I've started planning pre-match Kidlington pub crawls.

COYY
slappy
Grumpy old git
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Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:52 pm

Re: Indonesians taking control.

Post by slappy »

Reading the original story again it is vague about exactly how the consortium will be made up, though it's fairly obviously people and characters who Tiger has known / brought on board over the last few years.

However the story has come from somewhere, rather than detective work or a message board "In The Know" leak. The club doesn't appear to be in an "up for sale" situation, more of a rebalancing of shareholdings to reflect current and presumably future investment.

In terms of where it will take us as a club, who knows? The Robinson quotation the other week about us being a top 30 club sounds ambitious and definitely needs more money to get promoted and stay in the Championship.

I suppose that as fans we are just along for the ride and don't really have any say in this change of ownership.
Dr Bob
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Re: Indonesians taking control.

Post by Dr Bob »

As a natural born cynic, I am always suspicious as to why issues around exactly who owns football clubs, with what shareholding, etc, are so often a matter of such incredibly tight confidentiality, up there with state secrets. But that seems to be the modus operandi nowadays.

As for Thohir's Ministerial role, was the issue one of being too busy (he was also in charge of the leader's election campaign which, I would imagine, was an incredibly intense period of activity), or not being allowed to hold the position at United as well as his Ministerial role? How does that argument play out with the Middle Eastern interests at Man City, PSG, and others? Are those owners not also members of the government?

I think the bottom line is that all we can do as fans is to hope that the prevailing and generally very positive philosophy around how the club is run is maintained.

As for Tiger, how often is the money man/men (and of course they are usually men) the public face? What matters more, for me, is that whoever is in that role has a clear task in linking the money men with the club and those involved in its day to day activities; someone who can and will be a public voice and face, but who is part of an ownership structure that enables clear, consistent messages to come out. There are too many examples of owners not even being able to do this. As a consequence, Tiger (IMHO) is to be respected for the role he has played and is playing, rather than being criticised for not having as much money as some first (and quite possibly erroneously) believed.
Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
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Re: Indonesians taking control.

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

I'm in the same boat as Dr Bob, of being a natural cynic and wanting to know who these people are and what the plan is. I'm a little more relaxed than I might be, simply because these people (or their fixers) have been close to the club for the last few years when we've been well-run under challenging circumstances, so they get more goodwill and leeway from me than might have been the case.

The bottom line though is that when the deal is done and they get the necessary green lights from the Football League, the new board need to set out a plan saying what the ambition is and how they intend to get us there. A stadium deal will almost certainly be part of their thinking, and I've no problem with people making a few quid out of it as long as ultimately Oxford United FC have a permanent home and aren't paying over the odds for it (or getting themselves up to their eyeballs in debt again). Easier said than done.
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