Buyers

[Asthmatic Wolf]

There are a few ITKs here, it’s easy to identify them as they get a lot of stick for trying to pass on information.

Does anybody, ITK or other, have any inkling or crumb of hope that can be clung onto in respect of a sale? We must be very attractive with the current budgets in place. And if not does anybody know of any prospective buyers actively sniffing around Prem clubs at the moment?

Somebody? Anybody..?

 

[Perton Wolf]

A few American investors were interested but FOSUN are not willing to sell a majority stake at this time, and such groups want control so aren't interested in a minority stake.

 

[Wolf316]

I think they’ve lost their appetite and will be sold within the next two years

 

[SmiffyWolf]

**** me give me some good news

Get rid of Fosun now

One poster earlier summed it up well . What happened at other clubs in the west midlands is now happening at our club .

Fosun **** off please

Opening day of the season I bet the Man U manager shakes Derry's hand thinking he is the manager

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

6th year in the premier league.

 

[TF2Wolf]

A few American investors were interested but FOSUN are not willing to sell a majority stake at this time, and such groups want control so aren't interested in a minority stake.

So they don’t want to invest and they don’t want to sell. Looks like we’re shafted then.

Guess the only thing left for this season is to try and enjoy the craic set the expectation that we will get relegated anything else is a bonus and then hope that Fosun sell up.

Gone from feeling quite positive after Saturdays performance to looking like a pretty bleak outlook

 

[TheConcourse]

6th year in the premier league.

Tell me you aren’t backing these people?!

 

[tonto]

Let’s have a whip round

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

6th year in the premier league.

Yeah it’s looking really good at the minute

 

[old wittonian]

I think they’ve lost their appetite and will be sold within the next two years

I'm 80. I'll do the best I can to see them go.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Let’s be honest, despite what Hobbs said in January and what Shi (or his admin) said in the recent letter, the project, as far as investment is concerned, is over. Fosun haven’t invested any net new money since we got promoted, and they’re not going to either. They backed us spending 150m+ over the past three windows, but the majority of that has been recovered in sales over those same three windows. The balance is funded out of the small operating profit the club makes if you strip out transfers in and out.

Shi is incompetent when it comes to selecting coaches and overseeing transfers. He relied too heavily on the judgement of Mendes, and Mendes took him and us to the cleaners. He sacked and released a host of senior staff, and the more he did, the worse things got. If that little twerp never returns from China, I won’t be crying.

Now Guo needs to cash in his “non core asset” and **** off. Thanks for lifting us out of the Championship Fosun, now kindly **** off before we end up back where we started and your initial investment return evaporates.

 

[Starsky]

Pick us up cheap when we're in admin.

 

[TelfordWolf]

A few American investors were interested but FOSUN are not willing to sell a majority stake at this time, and such groups want control so aren't interested in a minority stake.

There’s something about “American investors” that makes me really uneasy.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

There’s something about “American investors” that makes me really uneasy.

What that “Chinese investors” makes you feel better? Wolves aside, until recently, just how many of those clubs have enjoyed that experience?

 

[Monk]

For me it depends on what the Chinese Government tell FOSUN what they can do and how much they can spend,

Given China is entering a recession do they want to grind us down or make us a flagship for Chinese enterprise. Leave you to decide I know where my thinking is going.

If they do sell we don't want a repeat of the Bhatti era - due diligence by the Premier League or god forbid the EFL must be taken.

 

[sillytuna]

There are a few ITKs here, it’s easy to identify them as they get a lot of stick for trying to pass on information.

Does anybody, ITK or other, have any inkling or crumb of hope that can be clung onto in respect of a sale? We must be very attractive with the current budgets in place. And if not does anybody know of any prospective buyers actively sniffing around Prem clubs at the moment?

Somebody? Anybody..?

Sadly I've heard absolutely nothing for a year or so. Prior to that I'd heard were were 'quietly' shopped around shall we say but no firm interest at a price that was of interest.

 

[Cornwall Wolf]

There is no interest in buying Wolves .. full stop

 

[VancouverWolf]

New owners would be 50/50.



New owners would be better or worse than Fosun……….I don’t like the odds.

 

[Wolf316]

There is no interest in buying Wolves .. full stop

Surely that’s not a good thing?

 

[sc91]

Tell me you aren’t backing these people?!

To be fair, he would argue the moon was made of cheese.

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

There is no interest in buying Wolves .. full stop

Thanks Cornwall, maybe naive on my part but that strikes me as odd given the voracious appetite for bidders with other PL clubs.

Do you know what it is that makes us unattractive or is there just a firm ‘not for sale’ above our door?

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

Sadly I've heard absolutely nothing for a year or so. Prior to that I'd heard were were 'quietly' shopped around shall we say but no firm interest at a price that was of interest.

Appreciate the update.

 

[Kingswood Wolf]

6th year in the premier league.

Fixed it for you:

6th (and final) year in the premier league.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Sadly I've heard absolutely nothing for a year or so. Prior to that I'd heard were were 'quietly' shopped around shall we say but no firm interest at a price that was of interest.

I imagine that the issue here is that they are quietly sounding out interest, and they appear to prefer a partner / minority investor, rather than a straight sale. Given the amount of investor money which has flown into the PL in recent years, I would be very surprised if there aren’t investors around who would happily pay 300m+ to buy outright an established PL club without significant debts and with a decent squad. Sure the stadium could be expanded/redeveloped, and sure the squad needs more depth, but neither needs massive immediate spend, and compared to many other clubs, we’d look like prime investment candidates.

 

[Cornwall Wolf]

Thanks Cornwall, maybe naive on my part but that strikes me as odd given the voracious appetite for bidders with other PL clubs.

Do you know what it is that makes us unattractive or is there just a firm ‘not for sale’ above our door?

Fosun do not want to sell and nobody will pay enough to change their mind ..

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

I imagine that the issue here is that they are quietly sounding out interest, and they appear to prefer a partner / minority investor, rather than a straight sale. Given the amount of investor money which has flown into the PL in recent years, I would be very surprised if there aren’t investors around who would happily pay 300m+ to buy outright an established PL club without significant debts and with a decent squad. Sure the stadium could be expanded/redeveloped, and sure the squad needs more depth, but neither needs massive immediate spend, and compared to many other clubs, we’d look like prime investment candidates.

Even a quiet sounding it would create a few ripples, although I recall an article on the Athletic saying that word in the industry is that we are available.

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

Fosun do not want to sell and nobody will pay enough to change their mind ..

It’s like burning down your house instead of selling it.

Maybe they’ve got a hefty relegation insurance policy.

Hope you’re well mate.

 

[Perton Wolf]

There is no interest in buying Wolves .. full stop

Simply not true but it's accurate to say there won't be any concrete interest until FOSUN are willing to sell a majority stake, which they currently are not.

 

[sc91]

Fosun do not want to sell and nobody will pay enough to change their mind ..

So we are stuck with them? Joy.

 

[Cornwall Wolf]

Simply not true but it's accurate to say there won't be any concrete interest until FOSUN are willing to sell a majority stake, which they currently are not.

You are calling me a liar .. then please provide names of people who have made an offer to buy the club .. no one has .. Fosun has looked at minor investment but never has anyone made an offer to buy the club lock stock and barrel

 

[Cornwall Wolf]

So we are stuck with them? Joy.

Afraid so .. would love new owners .. believe Fosun have taken us as far as we can

 

[Loefah]

Yeah it’s looking really good at the minute

There was pant wetting of biblical proportions on here for two months at the end of last year and it was fine in the end. The season hasn't even started yet.

 

[sc91]

Afraid so .. would love new owners .. believe Fosun have taken us as far as we can

Long removed from that world, there was minor interest post-covid that I knew of/work within but great shame that Fosun are pricing out the sale.

 

[ombyman]

could try 'webuyanyclub.com'

or National Club Buyers

 

[WWFC4EVA]

could try 'webuyanyclub.com'

or National Club Buyers

Thanks for that, just had some solid bids for my pitching wedge and 9 iron!!!

 

[Asthmatic Wolf]

There was pant wetting of biblical proportions on here for two months at the end of last year and it was fine in the end. The season hasn't even started yet.

Do you mean when we had Bruno Lage and were bottom of the league and people were worried we’d go down? Yeah it was fine as we got JL, you know the guy who just left? And we have replaced him with Gary O Neil.

Also do you always conflate an exploration of options with ‘pant wetting’? Because it’s odd.

 

[Woburn Wolf]

There is no interest in buying Wolves .. full stop

You are often well informed Cornwall what makes you say that?

 

[TriumphWolf]

i'm certainly not an ITK, but to me it seems really simple - as an investment company Fosun are only likely to consider investment-offers which will either significantly enhance the value of their asset (with them retaining overall ownership) or an outright sale for a sum which generates a major return on their overall investment.

From what i can see neither of those are likely to happen in the short-term therefore Fosun will remain our owners. I can live with that, we are (to my mind) in a better place than when they purchased us and i can remember us being in far worse pickles in the 80's.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Simply not true but it's accurate to say there won't be any concrete interest until FOSUN are willing to sell a majority stake, which they currently are not.

You are calling me a liar .. then please provide names of people who have made an offer to buy the club .. no one has .. Fosun has looked at minor investment but never has anyone made an offer to buy the club lock stock and barrel

Your posts can both be correct, and frankly that wouldn’t surprise me at all.

As I’ve suggested before, I think their strategy for Wolves broadly involves investing a modest amount to get up promoted and then stay up. The investment they made on that was more than justified by the increase in the clubs asset value. Since then, we’ve largely self funded our stay in the PL, with Fosun acting as a backstop, allowing us to accumulate a modest amount of debt within PL FFP limits. We spent way more than we can self fund last summer and in January, but that’s being recouped this summer. Summed across the current and last two windows, I think our net spend is now roughly back to our self sustaining level. So from Fosun’s point of view, it’s back to business as usual, and the club just needs to stay up to maintain the asset value they created right back at the start.

I think they realised early on, and perhaps the pandemic reinforced it, that while they recognise the stadium needs expanding to drive revenue growth and to grow the club’s total value, that it’s not something they want to invest in and the club can’t afford it alone. So that’s the driver for seeking a partner to focus on the stadium and surrounding land. A potential structure would see a new investment vehicle owning and developing the stadium and land, with it having minority ownership of the club, and the club a minority stake in it and acting as anchor tenant, to keep owner interests mutually aligned. There are lots of ways of skinning this cat, so that’s just an example.

Wolverhampton city centre is not exactly prime real estate, and the pandemic and brexit (because of the impact on foreign students and the Uni next door) have made Molineux even less attractive. So while there are likely US investors who would happily buy the entire club for a price Fosun would accept, and who may then invest in the stadium and surrounds, they are not interested in the stadium and land without the club. Hence we find ourselves with a decaying stadium, stagnation in the team, and no end in sight until Fosun decide it’s time to cash in their asset and initial investment return.

 

[Bradstonian]

No one knows what's going on with Fosun. They have always been very quiet going about their business.