Cardiff make new offer to Langston

Cardiff City make new debt offer to Langston

Cardiff City have made a new improved offer to pay of the millions of pounds of debt owed to shadowy Swiss-based company, Langston.

The Bluebirds’ Malaysian investor Vincent Tan is ready to pay Langston £9m up front, plus three payments of £2m during seasons when the club are playing Premier League football.

City chief executive Alan Whiteley said the written offer was sent to Sam Hammam, Langston’s representative, three weeks ago – with club officials now waiting for a reply.

Hammam is keen for Tan, who has already invested £40m-plus in the football club and is preparing to take that sum past the £100m mark, to turn his substantial loans into shares and make the club effectively debt free.


Mr Whitley said: “That was the latest condition, but that is irrelevant to Sam Hammam. It’s not for him to dictate.

“Vincent Tan owns the football club and whether the money is debt or equity in reality makes very little difference.

“Cosmetically, I would rather see it in equity because it makes the balance sheet stronger and it is our stated aim to improve the balance sheet.

“As and when the Langston issue is cleared up the next thing to look at is how we then start strengthening the balance sheet by completing some of those conversions.

“If Sam Hammam wants the club to be debt free why doesn’t he turn the loan notes into equity? We could look at that if he wants to.

“It makes sense for everybody to get this sorted out as soon as possible.”

Multi-millionaire Tan, who owns the rights to McDonald’s and Starbucks in Malaysia, plus a string of betting companies in his business empire, invested in Cardiff City at a time when the club was facing major financial difficulties.

“Vincent Tan rescued this club two and a bit years ago at a time when it was two weeks away from being wound up by the Inland Revenue,” Mr Whitley said.

“There was nobody else on the scene willing to invest and we had to find between £2m and £3m just to pay off the revenue and historical creditors who were banging the door down and getting more irate because they weren’t being paid.

“These were people who had done work on the stadium, including fitting out the stadium.

“The £6m our Malaysian investors put in at that stage literally went to pay off debts.

“Funding over the next two years enabled us to address some of the working capital problems and get the club back on a level footing, including assembling a better squad capable of challenging for promotion.

“The only conclusion which can be reached is that the club is getting more professional year by year and we are constantly striving to improve the experience for supporters.

“Regardless of the controversy over rebranding, anybody looking at this objectively would say the club is far more professional now than at any stage in its history. A large part of that is because there is money to do things a lot of people wanted to do but didn’t have the backing to get on with them.”

On the latest £15m offer, Mr Whiteley said: “We have put the offer in writing to ensure there is no misunderstanding or miscommunication. It was made three or so weeks ago.

“We have left it firmly with Langston for them to come back to us.

“We have put a variety of offers in place and for a variety of reasons they have been rejected. We have not yet had an answer on his latest offer.”

At one stage City and Langston, with former chairman Peter Ridsdale acting as a go-between, verbally agreed on a £7m plus £2m on promotion to settle the debt, but that was never finalised.

Hammam, through a third party in close friend Annis Abraham, has confirmed he would accept £10m from Cardiff City to clear the Langston loan notes as long as it was paid quickly. But he did not make that to the club.

Among the offers from Cardiff City were a straight £8m payable within 30 days, £10m in total with £3m paid up front and the rest at the end of this season or £13m with £8m up front and an addition £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premier League.

The Bluebirds are still willing to talk about an honorary life presidency title for Hammam, but Mr Whiteley said: “The longer this drags on the more difficult negotiations become and the more and more difficult that presidency offer becomes to hold on to.

“Sam Hammam says it’s important to have some sort of legacy with the football club and we have always said if that’s the bridge to close the gap then fine.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -31631679/

Interesting article

Let's get this settled once and for all

Yes lets hope so...it is dragging on and nobody is benefiting from this stalemate...

Seems like the club are making an effort. It's pretty much what Sam wanted, amazed he hasn't snapped the clubs hands off.

Seems like the club are making an effort. It's pretty much what Sam wanted, amazed he hasn't snapped the clubs hands off.

Probaly thinking about adding something else on now

Isn't that a worse offer than the last one?

Isn't that a worse offer than the last one?

Sam wanted 10m upfront and 5m promotion bonus.

So 9m upfront and 6m in the first year of promotion isn't far off.

Dont know what to say to this.. another Walesonline report on it

I don't know, but there seems to be a few offers according to that...all different but this one is worth £15 million with 9 up front and 6 on the hope of Premiership football....the other offers were lower FIFTEEN MILLION

£7m plus £2m on promotion to settle the debt, but that was never finalised. NINE MILLION

Hammam, through a third party in close friend Annis Abraham, has confirmed he would accept £10m from Cardiff City to clear the Langston loan notes as long as it was paid quickly. But he did not make that to the club. TEN MILLION

Among the offers from Cardiff City were a straight £8m payable within 30 days, EIGHT MILLION

£10m in total with £3m paid up front and the rest at the end of this season TEN MILLION

£13m with £8m up front and an addition £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premier League.13 MILLION

Corky are you still in touch with Sam?

I haven't talked to him in quite a while mate, but I am sure he still contacts a few people..I have missed a call off him about a month ago though...but we generally talk about family stuff rather than football things.

Isn't that a worse offer than the last one?

Sam wanted 10m upfront and 5m promotion bonus.

So 9m upfront and 6m in the first year of promotion isn't far off.

Here will no doubt be the stumbling block in this deal..........

The Bluebirds’ Malaysian investor Vincent Tan is ready to pay Langston £9m up front, plus three payments of £2m during seasons when the club are playing Premier League football.

"during the seasons"

They have offerd Sam 1 Million MORE in promotion bonus.......BUT....

Over how many seasons are the hoping to streach out the promotion bonus?

Its not really about ££'s its about who dictates terms and gets there power trip and the last say it seems........Bloody rich guys

...To be conclude over another year of negotiations no doubt!!

I haven't talked to him in quite a while mate, but I am sure he still contacts a few people..I have missed a call off him about a month ago though...but we generally talk about family stuff rather than football things.

Fair enough
Just wondered how he felt about that offer, guess he can't be that keen if he hasn't replied in three weeks.

Thats a fair point Whiteley makes, Hammam should just transfer his debt to equity.

Cardiff City make new debt offer to Langston

Cardiff City have made a new improved offer to pay of the millions of pounds of debt owed to shadowy Swiss-based company, Langston.

The Bluebirds’ Malaysian investor Vincent Tan is ready to pay Langston £9m up front, plus three payments of £2m during seasons when the club are playing Premier League football.

City chief executive Alan Whiteley said the written offer was sent to Sam Hammam, Langston’s representative, three weeks ago – with club officials now waiting for a reply.

Hammam is keen for Tan, who has already invested £40m-plus in the football club and is preparing to take that sum past the £100m mark, to turn his substantial loans into shares and make the club effectively debt free.


Mr Whitley said: “That was the latest condition, but that is irrelevant to Sam Hammam. It’s not for him to dictate.

“Vincent Tan owns the football club and whether the money is debt or equity in reality makes very little difference.

“Cosmetically, I would rather see it in equity because it makes the balance sheet stronger and it is our stated aim to improve the balance sheet.

“As and when the Langston issue is cleared up the next thing to look at is how we then start strengthening the balance sheet by completing some of those conversions.

“If Sam Hammam wants the club to be debt free why doesn’t he turn the loan notes into equity? We could look at that if he wants to.

“It makes sense for everybody to get this sorted out as soon as possible.”

Multi-millionaire Tan, who owns the rights to McDonald’s and Starbucks in Malaysia, plus a string of betting companies in his business empire, invested in Cardiff City at a time when the club was facing major financial difficulties.

“Vincent Tan rescued this club two and a bit years ago at a time when it was two weeks away from being wound up by the Inland Revenue,” Mr Whitley said.

“There was nobody else on the scene willing to invest and we had to find between £2m and £3m just to pay off the revenue and historical creditors who were banging the door down and getting more irate because they weren’t being paid.

“These were people who had done work on the stadium, including fitting out the stadium.

“The £6m our Malaysian investors put in at that stage literally went to pay off debts.

“Funding over the next two years enabled us to address some of the working capital problems and get the club back on a level footing, including assembling a better squad capable of challenging for promotion.

“The only conclusion which can be reached is that the club is getting more professional year by year and we are constantly striving to improve the experience for supporters.

“Regardless of the controversy over rebranding, anybody looking at this objectively would say the club is far more professional now than at any stage in its history. A large part of that is because there is money to do things a lot of people wanted to do but didn’t have the backing to get on with them.”

On the latest £15m offer, Mr Whiteley said: “We have put the offer in writing to ensure there is no misunderstanding or miscommunication. It was made three or so weeks ago.

“We have left it firmly with Langston for them to come back to us.

“We have put a variety of offers in place and for a variety of reasons they have been rejected. We have not yet had an answer on his latest offer.”

At one stage City and Langston, with former chairman Peter Ridsdale acting as a go-between, verbally agreed on a £7m plus £2m on promotion to settle the debt, but that was never finalised.

Hammam, through a third party in close friend Annis Abraham, has confirmed he would accept £10m from Cardiff City to clear the Langston loan notes as long as it was paid quickly. But he did not make that to the club.

Among the offers from Cardiff City were a straight £8m payable within 30 days, £10m in total with £3m paid up front and the rest at the end of this season or £13m with £8m up front and an addition £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premier League.

The Bluebirds are still willing to talk about an honorary life presidency title for Hammam, but Mr Whiteley said: “The longer this drags on the more difficult negotiations become and the more and more difficult that presidency offer becomes to hold on to.

“Sam Hammam says it’s important to have some sort of legacy with the football club and we have always said if that’s the bridge to close the gap then fine.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -31631679/

No wonder its been quiet from Sam for a couple of weeks. So he HAS had another offer

NINE UP FRONT. PLUS 2MIL FOR EVERY SEASON WE ARE IN THE PREMIERSHIP.

Well considering his INITIAL bleating in the media was about wanting only TEN and he'd
go live on the beach, this is pretty damn close. Take it for fucks sake and leave us alone.

As for him stipulating for Tan to turn his debt to equity

Transparent as f**k. The gullible amongst us will say Sam is still thinking of his family
here at Cardiff City.

So a good point by Whitley... Change YOUR debt to equity Sam.

Cardiff City make new debt offer to Langston

Cardiff City have made a new improved offer to pay of the millions of pounds of debt owed to shadowy Swiss-based company, Langston.

The Bluebirds’ Malaysian investor Vincent Tan is ready to pay Langston £9m up front, plus three payments of £2m during seasons when the club are playing Premier League football.

City chief executive Alan Whiteley said the written offer was sent to Sam Hammam, Langston’s representative, three weeks ago – with club officials now waiting for a reply.

Hammam is keen for Tan, who has already invested £40m-plus in the football club and is preparing to take that sum past the £100m mark, to turn his substantial loans into shares and make the club effectively debt free.

Mr Whitley said: “That was the latest condition, but that is irrelevant to Sam Hammam. It’s not for him to dictate.

“Vincent Tan owns the football club and whether the money is debt or equity in reality makes very little difference.

“Cosmetically, I would rather see it in equity because it makes the balance sheet stronger and it is our stated aim to improve the balance sheet.

“As and when the Langston issue is cleared up the next thing to look at is how we then start strengthening the balance sheet by completing some of those conversions.

“If Sam Hammam wants the club to be debt free why doesn’t he turn the loan notes into equity? We could look at that if he wants to.

“It makes sense for everybody to get this sorted out as soon as possible.”

Multi-millionaire Tan, who owns the rights to McDonald’s and Starbucks in Malaysia, plus a string of betting companies in his business empire, invested in Cardiff City at a time when the club was facing major financial difficulties.

“Vincent Tan rescued this club two and a bit years ago at a time when it was two weeks away from being wound up by the Inland Revenue,” Mr Whitley said.

“There was nobody else on the scene willing to invest and we had to find between £2m and £3m just to pay off the revenue and historical creditors who were banging the door down and getting more irate because they weren’t being paid.

“These were people who had done work on the stadium, including fitting out the stadium.

“The £6m our Malaysian investors put in at that stage literally went to pay off debts.

“Funding over the next two years enabled us to address some of the working capital problems and get the club back on a level footing, including assembling a better squad capable of challenging for promotion.

“The only conclusion which can be reached is that the club is getting more professional year by year and we are constantly striving to improve the experience for supporters.

“Regardless of the controversy over rebranding, anybody looking at this objectively would say the club is far more professional now than at any stage in its history. A large part of that is because there is money to do things a lot of people wanted to do but didn’t have the backing to get on with them.”

On the latest £15m offer, Mr Whiteley said: “We have put the offer in writing to ensure there is no misunderstanding or miscommunication. It was made three or so weeks ago.

“We have left it firmly with Langston for them to come back to us.

“We have put a variety of offers in place and for a variety of reasons they have been rejected. We have not yet had an answer on his latest offer.”

At one stage City and Langston, with former chairman Peter Ridsdale acting as a go-between, verbally agreed on a £7m plus £2m on promotion to settle the debt, but that was never finalised.

Hammam, through a third party in close friend Annis Abraham, has confirmed he would accept £10m from Cardiff City to clear the Langston loan notes as long as it was paid quickly. But he did not make that to the club.

Among the offers from Cardiff City were a straight £8m payable within 30 days, £10m in total with £3m paid up front and the rest at the end of this season or £13m with £8m up front and an addition £5m if Cardiff City are promoted to the Premier League.

The Bluebirds are still willing to talk about an honorary life presidency title for Hammam, but Mr Whiteley said: “The longer this drags on the more difficult negotiations become and the more and more difficult that presidency offer becomes to hold on to.

“Sam Hammam says it’s important to have some sort of legacy with the football club and we have always said if that’s the bridge to close the gap then fine.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -31631679/

No wonder its been quiet from Sam for a couple of weeks. So he HAS had another offer

NINE UP FRONT. PLUS 2MIL FOR EVERY SEASON WE ARE IN THE PREMIERSHIP.

Well considering his INITIAL bleating in the media was about wanting only TEN and he'd
go live on the beach, this is pretty damn close. Take it for fucks sake and leave us alone.

As for him stipulating for Tan to turn his debt to equity

Transparent as f**k. The gullible amongst us will say Sam is still thinking of his family
here at Cardiff City.

So a good point by Whitley... Change YOUR debt to equity Sam.

You know what taffy your rite if this statement is A CORRECT FACT as we all know what walesonline are like, i will take it with a pinch of salt as i know the club tell and say things to certain people to keep the fans onside but like you said either take that offer which is what he wanted more or less or like the club have basically said for the 1st time ive seen it if he loves the club that much change it in to equity then, so sam must decide now as they are calling his bluff and he has two options not just one. This way we will all see if what we are told are true about sam loving our club or he takes the money and runs, but it says in the statement its been three weeks since then so how comes hes not replyed , so we will see if hes thinking about the club he loves one way or the other if whats said in the statement is true of course.

So how would Sam benefit or get his money back that he is owed by changing HIS debt to equity.....

No offence but is Whitely taking the piss?

Anyway I hope they get this settled soon so we can see the back of langston and Sam Hammam asap!

So how would Sam benefit or get his money back that he is owed by changing HIS debt to equity.....

No offence but is Whitely taking the piss?

Anyway I hope they get this settled soon so we can see the back of langston and Sam Hammam asap!

What do you mean merlin how is he getting his money back hes got two options so they are calling his bluff.
1. Take the money on offer.
2. If you love the club as we are told change it to equity.

So fans will find out one way or the other what hes all about only IF THIS STORY IS TRUE.
What i do find odd though is can you imagine sam saying ok we will change debt to equity then would all this investment still go ahead, training ground, ccs expansion ect ect because VT would still own under half the club and we would have had the reband for what more loans and nothing else if you get me, surely the whole idea of them doing this was to own the club get debt free and get to the prem for there return money wise all this was promised so i find it an odd statement. Thats why i can not take this statement as 100% tbh. It could be a shot as sam with blagg for the fans to read who knows.

Shareholders meeting today 11am it does make you wonder why the club release these things just before a meeting

Be very intersecting to hear from Annis on this matter, hopefully he will login soon.

I would like to think that this is a very reasonable offer.

I would like to think that this is a very reasonable offer.

Me too very fair, take it Sam you are getting older, enjoy the money while you are young and fit enough, and spend your retirement on the best beaches in the world, and everyone is happy

Seems like the club are making an effort. It's pretty much what Sam wanted, amazed he hasn't snapped the clubs hands off.

Agreed the club has made every effort. Yet for the last 3 weeks I've seen countless posts on here slagging VT off for not paying SH and Langston yet all the time there had been an improved offer in. I hope those posters feel very silly.

How people can say that this investment doesn't exist is beyond me. Take a look at our squad and have a look at the fact that we've made three offers to SH and it's him that's playing hardball. Time to get off the Malaysians back now

So how would Sam benefit or get his money back that he is owed by changing HIS debt to equity.....

No offence but is Whitely taking the piss?

Anyway I hope they get this settled soon so we can see the back of langston and Sam Hammam asap!

Of course Sam would not benefit from changing his debt to equity

It was said with a note of sarcasm, as was Whitleys

He meant... mind your own business Sam.

Seems like the club are making an effort. It's pretty much what Sam wanted, amazed he hasn't snapped the clubs hands off.

Agreed the club has made every effort. Yet for the last 3 weeks I've seen countless posts on here slagging VT off for not paying SH and Langston yet all the time there had been an improved offer in. I hope those posters feel very silly.

How people can say that this investment doesn't exist is beyond me. Take a look at our squad and have a look at the fact that we've made three offers to SH and it's him that's playing hardball. Time to get off the Malaysians back now

Dont think that will happen (though most of us believe it should) what else would they have to moan about ?

This certainly makes a mockery of some of the drivel posted on here recently.

So how would Sam benefit or get his money back that he is owed by changing HIS debt to equity.....

No offence but is Whitely taking the piss?

Anyway I hope they get this settled soon so we can see the back of langston and Sam Hammam asap!

What do you mean merlin how is he getting his money back hes got two options so they are calling his bluff.
1. Take the money on offer.
2. If you love the club as we are told change it to equity.

So fans will find out one way or the other what hes all about only IF THIS STORY IS TRUE.
What i do find odd though is can you imagine sam saying ok we will change debt to equity then would all this investment still go ahead, training ground, ccs expansion ect ect because VT would still own under half the club and we would have had the reband for what more loans and nothing else if you get me, surely the whole idea of them doing this was to own the club get debt free and get to the prem for there return money wise all this was promised so i find it an odd statement. Thats why i can not take this statement as 100% tbh. It could be a shot as sam with blagg for the fans to read who knows.

Fair comment. Although I'm betting any conversations or meetings the Club has had with
Sam have been minuted and recorded. The truth will out. It usually does in the end

Hammam is keen for Tan, who has already invested £40m-plus in the football club and is preparing to take that sum past the £100m mark, to turn his substantial loans into shares and make the club effectively debt free.

Mr Whitley said: “That was the latest condition, but that is irrelevant to Sam Hammam. It’s not for him to dictate.


Ridiculous. Grandstanding by Sam and trying to make it look as if he's all for the Club hoping
the fans will say "fair play, Sam is one of us, give him what he wants!"

Fair offer Sam, take it. Adios

Hammam is keen for Tan, who has already invested £40m-plus in the football club and is preparing to take that sum past the £100m mark, to turn his substantial loans into shares and make the club effectively debt free.

Mr Whitley said: “That was the latest condition, but that is irrelevant to Sam Hammam. It’s not for him to dictate.


Ridiculous. Grandstanding by Sam and trying to make it look as if he's all for the Club hoping
the fans will say "fair play, Sam is one of us, give him what he wants!"

Fair offer Sam, take it. Adios

But sam is only "a third party" on behalf of langston's isn't he ?