Possible Hope for Pompey
Since yesterdays publication on the state of Portsmouth FC, there has been yet another change in ownership at the club, with Hong Kong businessman Balram Chainrai now taking control.
Chainrai had previously loaned money to former owner Ali Al Faraj, who secured the loan against his 90% stake in the club along with the stadium and the clubs future television revenue. Al Faraj has since failed to keep up the repayments meaning Chainrai has induced the clause in the contract which will sign the stadium, the 90% of shares and the television revenue over to his company Portpin.
This change is the fourth time that ownership of the club has changed in the last 6 months since the start of the new football season. Chainrai chose to take control of the club last night after continually pushing back payment deadlines to give the club time to raise the necessary capital. It is believed that he has no real interest in permanently owning the club, however he has vowed to stabilise their finances before looking for a buyer.
A statement from Portsmouth last night said, "Portpin have exercised a clause in their contractual agreement to take a controlling interest. They are taking control on a temporary basis to allow new owners to be found.
"Portpin's aim is to come in and stabilise the club, sort out the business with the winding-up order from HMRC and sell it on to new owners.
"New directors will be appointed to the board and Peter Storrie will remain as chief executive and will be running the club."
It is thought that Chainrai is going to attempt to appeal to HMRC to understand the clubs current finances and temporarily withdraw their winding up petition allowing them more time to come up with the monies that they owe.
Furthermore, club staff and payers have now been paid their wages for January, which may evoke a little bit of hope for the south coast club as they continue to fight both on and off pitch problems.
Posted at 11:50AM Feb 04, 2010 by Kris Wigfield in Insolvency | Comments[0]
