what is a SPAC? our owners are a SPAC...

Special Purpose Acqisition Company. Our owners are a SPAC.

The link below explains what they are. Listen to the audio which is early in the article. It is easier to listen to than than read and this article would put a glass eye to sleep.

https://hbr.org/2021/07/spacs-what-you-need-to-know

What I took from this article...

There are three groups in the venture... Sponsors, Target and Investors.

We are owned by the Target along with the other assets in Belgium, Denmark etc. The Target is the company which is owned by Conway, Chien etc.

The Sponsors are Conway, Chien etc. They buy assets which they believe that they can improve and then sell on to Investors and make a good profit.

The Investors are high wealth companies or individuals who are looking to place there wealth in assets which give good returns.

The Investors accept the Sponsors sale pitch that the Target is a good investment.

SPAC's are an alternative to floating your company on the stockmarket.

Looking back, my conjecture is that Patrick couldn't find a buyer for BFC and was running out of time. He accepted the deal from the SPAC sponsors Conway and Chien.

The SPAC sponsors are now at the stage in the cycle where they pitch to the Investors.

 

So Conman and the rest are either going to.....

1) Look to sell us this year, which makes sense as they didn't hang on to Nice for long and we were the next club they bought I think.

2) Try and bring a genuinely rich investor on board so we can improve the playing squad, stadium etc without them having to spend much of their own cash to do it.

 

Having a Spac man at the club as always ended badly

 

Surely some confusion here.

A SPAC is a publicly listed company (our owners aren't are they?) that merge with an existing private company to take them public without the need for an IPO (Initial Public Offering - when a private company goes public on the stockmarket). The SPAC goes public with the sole intention to merge with an existing private company, attracts investors (very speculative before a deal has been announced), finds a suitable company, announces a deal, attracts more funds through less speculative investors and finally merges, changing its name to the private company.

 

yesterday I thought I was beginning to understand. but no

 

Ah, I think I see where this is coming from now. It looks like Paul Conway is to be the CEO of a new SPAC called "Counter Press Acquisition Group" to be listed on the Nasdaq, see below SEC registration statement:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1873964/000173112221002165/e3367_s-1.htm

I don't think it is associated with us at all. Of course they could acquire us and Barnsley Football Club would be go public on Wall Street, hehe.



Paul Conway, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors, is the Co-Founder of Pacific Media Group (“PMG”), a leading financier and distributor of content, such as Ad Astra, which it recently produced. Other films financed includes The Martian, The Greatest Showman, War of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men Apocalypse and Alien:Covenant. Pacific Media Group owns a leading animated content library in China including rights for the popular series Wild Kratts, Gigantosaurus and Garfield.

PMG is also a leading investor in European football. In June 2016, Mr. Conway was one of the leaders of a group that acquired OGC Nice. At OGC Nice, under the Conway group’s leadership, significant player trading profits were generated and reinvested in the squad, making it more competitive within France and internationally, including the club’s first appearance in the UEFA Champions League. As a result of the significant improvements to OGC Nice, PMG was able to exit the club in August 2019.

In December 2017, Mr. Conway was one of the leaders of the group that acquired Barnsley Football Club and brought the same strategy of commitment to youth, data analytics and commercialization to England. In the first full year of ownership, the club was automatically promoted to the English Championship. In the 2020-21 English Championship season, Barnsley secured a place in the playoff for promotion to the English Premier League with the youngest squad in the league. Mr. Conway currently serves as Co-Chairman of Barnsley Football Club.

In November 2019, he entered into a strategic partnership with Swiss club FC Thun and Mr. Conway joined the Board of Directors. In May 2020, along with Partners Path Capital, his group acquired a major stake in K.V. Oostende in Belgium. Mr. Conway also serves on the boards of AS Nancy Lorraine, Esbjerg fb, and FC Den Bosch. Mr. Conway is a frequently interviewed by major media outlets, including The Times of London, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Daily Telegraph, The Athletic, The Daily Mail, France Football, BBC, Sky Sports, Bloomberg and Reuters.

Mr. Conway previously was a Managing Director in the Media Investment Banking Group with Oppenheimer and Co.

Mr. Conway received his M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School, and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami.

 

If I was them I would be trying to sell the group of clubs as one, it would be more appealing people thinking they are buying an up and coming Red Bull group, especially to Americans as Red Bull group (and Man City) will be known to them.

 

The bloke who has taken over Southampton seems to have a very similar business plan

 

Is “Alien: Covenant” a documentary about the problems in purchasing the ground?

 

Oh, it seems this has all been covered a few days ago.

http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/conmans-new-venture.310750

 

Not the latter imo.

 

I thought that's where they're heading, a club in every country.