Aston Villa fan could become new part-owner of West Brom in February as £50m update shared.
Adrian Goldberg claims that in February, West Brom’s new partial owner could be Alex Hearn, an Aston Villa supporter.
In an interview with The Liquidator podcast [10 December, 12:45], Goldberg described the dire financial circumstances facing the Baggies.
According to reports, Albion owes about £50 million, and in an additional development, a Villa supporter may be working behind the scenes at The Hawthorns.
Former BBC broadcaster Goldberg stated, “I just want to flag up something that I think is a real concern.
” The club is, in my estimation—I looked through the numbers last week, and no one refuted me—about £50 million in debt.
“We took out another £7.5m–£8m loan, bringing us to £36m; add a couple of million on top of that in interest for £38m. There’s a £20m loan from MSD with interest, which would put £7m or £8m on top.
The debt that was taken out by Jeremy Peace through West Bromwich Albion holdings, which is now Guochuan Lai’s company, has to be repaid to the football club at some point, so we’re going close to £50 million.
“Then you’ve got a further £5 million loan that went out, plus interest.”
“And there was another loan, which West Brom Holdings obtained and which is due back on February 8th.
Two things could happen if it isn’t paid back by then.
“One is that the loan is extended, and therefore the interest payable increases further, adding to the debt or, the company, Warmfront Holdings, will take a small share in West Brom Holdings.
“If that happens, our ownership structure, which is already very convoluted, becomes even more complicated.
The company would therefore presumably become involved in negotiations over the sale of the club.
“Warmfront are run by a guy called Alex Hearn, who is known to be a Villa fan – what are his interests in connection to West Bromwich Albion? It just underlines the urgency to get this deal done ASAP because it will become either more expensive or more complicated.”
Messy situation
West Brom really are entering crunch time with regards to the takeover situation if this February deadline is anything to go by.
The further loan taken out with MSD last month will help the club with day-to-day running costs, but it all has to be paid back eventually.
It essentially means that before anyone can even think of bolstering the team, they have a big obligation to pay off.
The true concern for Albion is that as time goes on, the club will continue to accrue debt since Lai, the club’s disinterested majority shareholder, remains in charge.
It is definitely not ideal to have a supporter of a rival team participating in such important choices, but in this case, beggars really cannot be choosers.
It’s all quite difficult, and it might get much more so in the next few weeks.
All West Brom supporters can do is fasten their seatbelts and wait for any further information.
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