Major new investment in club

[Bluemike]

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-new ... s-partners

Hmmmmm I've read this twice and on the face of it I should be overjoyed, for some reason there's a cautious BUT there.

[Cabanas Blue]

I am thinking the same Mike but it seems that this was the plan from the start so let's hope they know what they are doing and we continue on our road to get back to where we belong. COYB.

[marko69]

My thinking is that they did not think they'd need another investment company so soon. To say that they had this idea while in L1 is BS in my opinion. I reckon they've thought, "Sh*t, the EPL is a real possibility, , we need more dough!"

Could be great for the club though......, just as long as they all leave the "football people" to do their jobs...., just like Gamechanger already does.

[Shed on tour]

Must admit I am wary about American private equity firms in football. I would imagine they will be looking for a far quicker return on their investment than GC. Feels like this is one of those investments that could go either way, hopefully for us not tits up.

[number 9]

Another 100 million invested in the club! Brilliant news!

[Blue Wilf]

Think where we were 4 years ago - going nowhere (except down) with boring football and nothing to look forward to. Then think of the transformation, with investment (for better or for worse) and smile... we are going forwards with the most unified group of players and fans for years and I don't know of any other teams fans who don't look at us with some envy (even if they won't admit as much). Lets enjoy the ride cos its light years from where we were... COYB's!!

[Charnwood]

Gamechanger acquired ITFC for around £40m in 2021. If I’m reading this correctly they’ve sold a 40% stake for £105m which would value the club at £262.5m. Am I reading this properly ? If so it’s not been a bad return on capital for Gamechanger at more than 500% profit.

[Bluemike]

They've sold a 40% stake in the club for UP TO £105 Million, that could end up being any figure surely?

It seems to me Gamechanger and or the pension fund wanted a return on their investment? I'm still not convinced it's a good thing, we have a lot of cooks suddenly stirring the broth and that in itself can cause problems.

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but does it even mean there is anymore money being invested ? I see it as nothing more than a massive inflated valuation of the club and not endless pots of cash which reading all the online euphoria seems to imply. Sorry but I'm a bit sceptical at this early stage, hopefully someone with more savvy in all this than me can explain it in layman's terms.

[shabba]

Side note but this is interesting in regards to the finances

https://www.twtd.co.uk/ipswich-town-new ... -cztELjBY4

This is a bit confusing:

The accounts show the club to be in a strong position in terms of Profit and Sustainability, the Championship’s Financial Fair Play system, but wholly in a League One environment when spending will inevitably have been lower than is the case in a Championship season. The Championship assesses clubs over a three-year period with a loss of no more than £39 million permitted over that time if an owner covers these losses by injecting equity rather than loans.

So we are allowed to lose £39m over 3 seasons (if outside the prem), but have already lost £18m in 1 year? So if we stay in the champ for the next 2 years we can't lose more than £10.5m a season?

[Bluemike]

I think it was stated some weeks ago that we could expect losses due to the level of investment from the owners over the last year, its the next Two years that could prove to be tricky, promotion would erase any worries.

[shabba]

I think it was stated some weeks ago that we could expect losses due to the level of investment from the owners over the last year, its the next Two years that could prove to be tricky, promotion would erase any worries.

Yes - unless you sell players for big money then every club is running at a loss, I just meant we seem to be quite far over the 'per season average' for what we can lose, but there must be other factors.

It says it all that a team like Leicester can still lose 90m in a season when in the Prem, despite being generally a 'selling club'.

[Bluemike]

Well I definitely feel better are far more confident having listened to the extended interview with Mark Ashton, Ed Schwartz and Co, I think its a majorly positive day in the future of ITFC. I was relieved to hear that the original owners haven't taken any money out of the club, in fact they have also invested more, to think there were other potential investors wanting to come on board that we have had to decline is quite something.

The vision and project just seems to get stronger and stronger and the opportunity is massive, Ashton speaks so well and he too has re-committed himself to the club long term. A year in the making but yesterday could just be one of those pivotal days in the history of ITFC, with talk of new training facilities, Category One Academy, a new stand, redevelopment of land around Portman Road and of course strengthening on the pitch, who knows where this journey could end. One thing was abundantly clear, we are so far ahead in terms of timeframe for where they wanted and expected us to be, it's caught them on the hop a bit. Quite incredible.

[marko69]

Well I definitely feel better are far more confident having listened to the extended interview with Mark Ashton, Ed Schwartz and Co, I think its a majorly positive day in the future of ITFC. I was relieved to hear that the original owners haven't taken any money out of the club, in fact they have also invested more, to think there were other potential investors wanting to come on board that we have had to decline is quite something.

The vision and project just seems to get stronger and stronger and the opportunity is massive, Ashton speaks so well and he too has re-committed himself to the club long term. A year in the making but yesterday could just be one of those pivotal days in the history of ITFC, with talk of new training facilities, Category One Academy, a new stand, redevelopment of land around Portman Road and of course strengthening on the pitch, who knows where this journey could end. One thing was abundantly clear, we are so far ahead in terms of timeframe for where they wanted and expected us to be, it's caught them on the hop a bit. Quite incredible.

Yep, completely agree with that part in bold……. and i know I’m an annoying bum licker at times, but if the team were mid to lower and struggling, this wouldnt have happened……. So its all about KMcK in my humble opinion.

Let’s use a food analogy.
I buy the ingredients.
But need a chef to make it good.

Mark Ashton helps attaining ingredients.
But KMcK makes it good.

(Off the chart bum licking!)