Wasps 22 Discussion Threads

[the vampire] 13/8/2022 11:32

Cov's Tues evening match has been postponed. Pitch deemed unplayable.

[pusb] 13/8/2022 11:24

Looks like Richardson sold his shares in WNTG (Wasps New Training Ground) on 13 May. What a coincidence.

[the rule boom] 13/8/2022 11:21

I’m not sure if this is a concern. Check out WNTG limited (Wasps New Training Ground)

Richardson sold his shares on 13 May, date the interest was due.

Also wasps community foundation ltd has been struck off this week.

This was taken from a ccfc forum…

[pusb] 12/8/2022 23:40

“Wasps owner Derek Richardson insists the club will not go in administration despite rumours about their financial health.
Claims have been made on social media that Wasps had filed for a Company Voluntary Arrangement to rearrange payments of a £35 million bond from 2015.
It was also reported that the deadline for another payment on the funds was due today, but Richardson denied this was the case.
“Contrary to some ill-informed speculation, we are not in administration and we are not going to be,” Richardson told The Times.
“We made a statement on the bond repayment on May 13, we’ve been very transparent with the market and the bond-holders. We’ve paid the interest on the bond and will continue to when it is due.”
The hitch is based around Wasps’ purchase of the Coventry Building Society Arena for which they acquired a 250-year lease shortly before launching the bond scheme. They raised the cash from investors who each put in a minimum of £2,000 to pay off loans from Coventry Council and Richardson.
The two-times Heineken Champions Cup winners have also requested £13 million from the West Midlands Combined Authority to help pay stadium costs.
The May 13 statement referred to by Richardson said: “The bonds’ final maturity date is set to occur on May 13 2022 and in connection with the proposed refinancing, the redemption of the bonds at their nominal amount will be delayed pending completion of the refinancing.”
A statement released last month added: “The issuer will formally launch a consent solicitation process in August, once the proposed terms have been finalised. In the meantime, the issuer will continue to seek to have the bonds reinstated on the London Stock Exchange. Bondholders will continue to receive interest for the period from May 13 2022 on a half yearly basis until the date of redemption.”
The club were on the brink of folding in 2011, before Richardson’s time as owner, when then-director of rugby Dai Young was forced to pay for expenses such as medical tape for players out of his own pocket.
The move to Coventry, from High Wycombe, in 2014 seemed to signal an upturn in the club’s fortunes but Young departed in 2020 and his successor Lee Blackett has been hamstrung in the transfer market.
Big names such as Malakai Fekitoa, Jimmy Gopperth and Thomas Young are among 11 players off the books since last season with only seven brought in as replacements.
Wasps start their Gallagher Premiership campaign away against Gloucester on September 11.“

[pusb] 12/8/2022 23:37

Times article

hxxps://archive.ph/2022.08.12-191411/hxxps://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/wasps-owner-derek-richardson-denies-club-on-verge-of-going-bust-md7pkhtwb

[bigfish1] 12/8/2022 22:08

'we’ve been very transparent with the market and the bond-holders'.... uh huh. Can anyone post the whole Times article? It's behind a paywall.

[grahamg8] 12/8/2022 21:17

Well he would say that wouldn't he?

[pusb] 12/8/2022 21:03

Derek Richardson speaks

hxxps://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/rugby/wasps-owner-derek-richardson-breaks-24747475

[pusb] 12/8/2022 20:33

Surprised nothing out yet. Ever had that feeling of being strung along?

[ccfc2] 12/8/2022 16:58

To be clear - no it hasn’t been announced. City fans just posting unsubstantiated figures.

[barondene] 12/8/2022 15:54

It has been announced WASPs have only sold 712 Season Tickets that's less than local rugby club

[harrythedogo] 12/8/2022 13:22

I’m with interactive investor as well, and will eagerly await their response.

[grahamg8] 11/8/2022 18:15

Someone with more time and knowledge than me might want to visit the Companies House site. Wasps Holdings have guaranteed repayment of our bond, and sure enough there is a charge registered in favour of US Bank Trustees dated 13/5/15 but there also three other outstanding charges 2 to Richardson and one to Canmango of which Richardson is Director. Perhaps most worrying is that there is a charge in favour of Richardson also dated 13/5/15 and both have a negative pledge. A negative pledge prevents a Company creating an additional charge that would have a higher priority to repayment. But what happens if you have two on the same day? Sculduggery of a high order I fear.

Arena Coventry 2006 also guarantee the bonds and there is another charge in favour of EDIT should read Compass Group.

Our security may be a lot less secure than we think, and for sure Richardson is not on our side but our competitor when it comes to claiming return of our money from the carcass that was Wasps.

[rhino col] 11/8/2022 17:49

To all the people contributing to this board well done. There will be many smaller bondholders without a great amount of legal knowledge like myself watching with intrest.

[cardsurfer] 11/8/2022 16:48

Also, had a secure message exchange with Interactive Investor re ability to vote on consent solicitation on their platform. Response :....

"I can confirm that once details have been provided regarding the consent solicitation a corporate action notice will be issued to your account. Once issued you will then be able to provide your response unfortunately, at present the only date that has been provided is August."

[cardsurfer] 11/8/2022 16:39

It was supposedly £52.4M in 2021. Can a buyer be found? What would the net proceeds be after all sale expenses and administration. Not sure how attractive selling the stadium would be if it takes 1-2yrs, sells for a low figure and the net value back to bondholders is significantly less than £35mm.

[cardsurfer] 11/8/2022 16:35

The key question here is what is the value of the stadium

[bigfish1] 11/8/2022 15:28

I wrote to the trustee about this yesterday but he's on holiday until Monday. Certainly I can't trigger it on my own, neither would it be right for me to be able to. We would need owners of 10% of the bonds to be able to arrange a meeting with the trustee and between 50 and 75% to 'force' the trustee to enforce the security, or 25% to request it. If a majority reject the extension I imagine the trustee will enforce the security and sell the arena. If Wasps delay too long I imagine the trustee will do the same. I will probably try and call the trustee on Monday and see where we are.

[barondene] 11/8/2022 15:16

@Bigfish1 - so why not trigger the charge and then negotiate through YOUR Receiver

How long will you wait for WASPs ?

[pusb] 11/8/2022 14:33

Cc2014 and another near £7million to pay the first three years interest.

[bigfish1] 11/8/2022 14:30

I think the most important thing is to make sure that the brokers are on the ball and that we all get to vote on any consent solicitation, and that it is legal. I have written at length to Interactive Investor this morning and spoken to them on the phone so I will report back. This is what the trustee suggested.