Investment

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Also on Linkedin (before he edits it again) 'Within days I was speaking to Scot Gardiner and within weeks I was presenting my vision for Entertainment, Leisure & Sports.'

[Leaky Blinder]

7 minutes ago, Fraz said:

In Australia.

Pretty much on brand for our level of business acumen. He'll fit right in. 

Given the confusion over the terms shareholder and owner it's probably a similar misinterpretation between down under and going under .. easy mistake 

[ICTPaisley]

2 hours ago, Jack Waddington said:

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb should focus on making the North and South stands less of a death trap before focusing on personal financial gains

 

But that would make too much sense for them so they won't do that...

Waste of time fixing empty stands. Our support is either in the main stand or on the bridge these days. 

[big cherly]

7 hours ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

1. The only Jersey involvement is that this guy has secured a short-term loan from a lender in Jersey. There is no mystery Jersey investor.

2. Nothing suggests that this will happen.

3. There is zero evidence of this. Doing that would be miles above his level of competence and beyond his financial means.

4. The Council would not support this plan in principle. It would need to go through the planning process and would take far longer than 8 weeks, not to mention legals for the lease. This guy has had no serious discussions with the Council, he is a fantasist who thinks it makes him sound important to say he has been in discussions with the Council. He couldn't even tag the correct Council in his Linkedin post.

5. No evidence of this.

6. Probably true.

As I said, take from it what you want. Couldn't care less!

Edited July 27 by big cherly

[Ten4]

Pretty much a `Flipping` Venture Capital novice thinking he can do a short term `flipper` on the club.

Risky Risktaker!

 

[Stephen Malkmus]

 

[Leaky Blinder]

39 minutes ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

 

This guy could well be doing keepy uppys pre kick off v Dumbarton .. which should complete the boards due diligence process .. 

[IBM]

54 minutes ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

 

My thoughts exactly but i will be happy if proved wrong he has found what most of us have found searching online, very worrying!

[Row S]

All I have read so far suggests this is one big scam.

So what is the USA connection or have I missed that somewhere?

[Yngwie]

25 minutes ago, Row S said:

So what is the USA connection or have I missed that somewhere?

None, that seems to have been misinformation from the rumour mill.

[Achfary]

5 hours ago, Stephen Malkmus said:

 

Thank you for very much for sharing this, I wouldn't have come across it otherwise.  

It puts the Inverness Courier and P&J reports, which go out of their way to try and spin it positively for Seventy7Ventures/the board, in an even worse light.

27/07/75 The P&J just copy and paste Ketan's LinkedIn verbatim, uncritically.  Interesting journalistically, given some claims, such as serving as a 'special advisor' to a UK Prime Minister [aka one of about 20 temporary civil servants/political appointees by a PM].

27/07/25 Inverness Courier at Dundee game Vox popped ICT fans:  "Some fans welcomed the news that the club's future has been secured, while others say questions still have to be answered on how Inverness Caledonian Thistle proceeds under new ownership" ( 'others' = all, every single one)

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/watch-caley-thistle-fans-give-their-views-on-club-s-takeove-356736/

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x93053e

Edited July 28 by Achfary

[RiG]

20 hours ago, DoofersDad said:

The Courier has it that Seventy7 Ventures are already the new owners with a majority shareholding.  I think that reflects the standard of local journalism these days rather the reality of the situations.  But fair play to the Courier, they have done a bit of digging and quote Makwana reflecting on his proposals at Hayes and Yeading.  Makwana said this:-

 

 “For the last three years I have been studying football ownership, management and discovering good and bad practices.

“Football is no longer a business entity that can rely on owner/chairman to keep injecting money in the bid that they will secure a payday by getting into Championship or Premier League – in fact some reports suggest nearly two-thirds of Championship clubs are operating with negative EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation).

“The business of football has grown up and matured, football is now actually the last element in the business cycle… commercialisation, fan engagement, entertainment, leisure options and community building is paramount for success.

“It is my opinion that blockchain technology and digital assets are integral to the transition of business success.”

“One of the first things I want to instil at the club is better facilities for fans and visitors plus develop a multifunctional site that will allow us to maximise usage of space,” he said about Hayes and Yeading United.

“New food and beverage is being introduced over the next 12-24 weeks. The reconfiguration of the ground floor of the main stand will bring better facilities for the staff and playing team.

“The construction of the upper floor of main stand will bring a chairman’s lounge, media suite plus two incredible function halls (150 and 500 capacity). Three new entrances: Directors and Media, Terrace Bar and Atrium will provide a more logical flow.

“Fan Park will be pedestrianised and allow for match day hospitality and private events. New changing facilities and referee rooms for the 3G pitch.”

He added: “There is a lot of work to do but the early indications to the proposed strategy is showing a 10x return on the investment and rollout”.

 

It all sounds too good to be true.  10x return on the investment and rollout!  And yet he never did get to take over Hayes and Yeading.  It would be good to know exactly why!

I don't think the Courier have done any digging. That just looks like they've regurgitated a post from his LinkedIn profile. 

Edited July 28 by RiG

[STFU]

Putting this here instead of the supporters trust statement thread so it gets more attention.

Hopefully the link works but you need to go look at the full conversation between two fans one of who is on the supporters trust board.  There's a lot more than 3 replies as shown.

It says that the supporters trust do not want to be asking questions of seventy7 ventures as they're worried it might frighten him off.

 

[CELTIC1CALEY3]

Video is consistent with my thoughts. Luckily there is currently no legal agreement with this person.  So far the only journalist to find out information that is not on a Club statement is Norman Silvester  who is an investigative journalist of note.  On the face of it he may have been fed information about American investors to take him off the true plan. All other journalists have either chickened out or been unable to speak to Scot Gardiner or Board Members.  

 

[STFU]

It's also possible the american interest didn't materialise into a deal and seventy7 was the only option left on the table.

[ymip]

Great video which throws the local media's journalistic integrity over this entire debacle into sharp contrast.

For the current board and our forner Chairman, a self avowed fan of the club, to rubber stamp this bin fire of a deal they should be forever damned. Shameful and self serving in equal measure. The apparent lack of due diligence and absence of even a cursory duty of care towards either the club or fans is truly mind blowing.

I cannot for a second imagine this Walter Mitty-esque fantasist can possibly front up with the money required to conclude the deal unless he's bankrolled by fellow shysters with the sole intention of capitalising on the demise of the club.

You think things can't get any worse and then the fourth horseman of the ICT apocalypse rides into town. Truly the darkest of days.

 

 

 

Edited July 28 by ymip

[robbylad]

2 hours ago, RiG said:

I don't think the Courier have done any digging. That just looks like they've regurgitated a post from his LinkedIn profile. 

I think they call it "churnalism".

[Yngwie]

2 hours ago, ymip said:

Great video which throws the local media's journalistic integrity over this entire debacle into sharp contrast.

For the current board and our forner Chairman, a self avowed fan of the club, to rubber stamp this bin fire of a deal they should be forever damned. Shameful and self serving in equal measure. The apparent lack of due diligence and absence of even a cursory duty of care towards either the club or fans is truly mind blowing.

I cannot for a second imagine this Walter Mitty-esque fantasist can possibly front up with the money required to conclude the deal unless he's bankrolled by fellow shysters with the sole intention of capitalising on the demise of the club.

You think things can't get any worse and then the fourth horseman of the ICT apocalypse rides into town. Truly the darkest of days.

There are lots of unanswered questions - but just because we don’t know the answers doesn’t necessarily mean the answers will be as bad as you fear!

Even if the Board are naive and have been seduced by the buzzwords, the club’s lawyers ought to be ensuring that normal business acquisition procedures are followed, which early on would include obtaining evidence of the availability of the necessary funds.

One thing that nobody has pointed out yet is that of the 13 companies Makwana has ever been a director of, NONE of them have suffered any form of insolvency. For a ‘serial entrepreneur’, or fantasist if you prefer, that’s actually pretty good going!

[big cherly]

5 minutes ago, Yngwie said:

There are lots of unanswered questions - but just because we don’t know the answers doesn’t necessarily mean the answers will be as bad as you fear!

Even if the Board are naive and have been seduced by the buzzwords, the club’s lawyers ought to be ensuring that normal business acquisition procedures are followed, which early on would include obtaining evidence of the availability of the necessary funds.

One thing that nobody has pointed out yet is that of the 13 companies Makwana has ever been a director of, NONE of them have suffered any form of insolvency. For a ‘serial entrepreneur’, or fantasist if you prefer, that’s actually pretty good going!

‘Don’t worry we have enough lifeboats’   Captain of the Titanic as they leave Southampton. 

[IBM]

You could register a company for £14.99 today from the advert on the page today. 

[dougiedanger]

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

There are lots of unanswered questions - but just because we don’t know the answers doesn’t necessarily mean the answers will be as bad as you fear!

Even if the Board are naive and have been seduced by the buzzwords, the club’s lawyers ought to be ensuring that normal business acquisition procedures are followed, which early on would include obtaining evidence of the availability of the necessary funds.

One thing that nobody has pointed out yet is that of the 13 companies Makwana has ever been a director of, NONE of them have suffered any form of insolvency. For a ‘serial entrepreneur’, or fantasist if you prefer, that’s actually pretty good going!

The kind of glaikit thinking that has got the club into this position.

[+DoofersDad]

3 hours ago, Yngwie said:

There are lots of unanswered questions - but just because we don’t know the answers doesn’t necessarily mean the answers will be as bad as you fear!

Even if the Board are naive and have been seduced by the buzzwords, the club’s lawyers ought to be ensuring that normal business acquisition procedures are followed, which early on would include obtaining evidence of the availability of the necessary funds.

One thing that nobody has pointed out yet is that of the 13 companies Makwana has ever been a director of, NONE of them have suffered any form of insolvency. For a ‘serial entrepreneur’, or fantasist if you prefer, that’s actually pretty good going!

7 of those 13 companies were dissolved. 4 of those 7 companies never had any accounts submitted prior to them being dissolved.  

Makwana resigned from one company in October 22 which remains technically active but appears to be simply existing.

Makwana is involved in 5 active companies as follows:-

Seventy7 Ventures Ltd.  This deals in "management consultancy activities other than financial management". Makwani is the sole director and only employee. Latest accounts show net liabilities of £15,898.  On 28th June this year, a charge was filed against the company by a Jersey based company.  If Seventy7 Ventures cannot repay the unspecified loan, the Jersey firm has the claim on all aspects of an unspecified project.  I can't see anything other than ICT being "the project".

Cryptolytx Ltd.  This is involved in "other publishing activities" and "new agency activities".  He is the sole director and there are no employees.  Net liabilities are £19,935.

! am for change C.I.C.  (whatever that means).  The nature of the business is described as "other social work activities without accommodation not elsewhere classified".  There are 2 other directors.  It was founded in July 2022.  No accounts have been submitted and they are overdue.  A notice was published just 5 days ago that "unless cause is shown to the contrary, the company will be struck off the register and dissolved not less than 2 months after the date shown."

ELI APP Ltd.  Involved in "Other information technology service activities", Makwana is the sole director and only employee.  Net liabilities are £86,945.  An active proposal to strike off is currently suspended due to an objection.

Enterprise Lab Ltd.  This company apparently provides "educational support services".  Makwana is the sole director and one of 2 employees.  The company has net liabilities of £50,634.

There is absolutely nothing in all of this that would give me the confidence to give Makwana £10 towards running an ice cream van, let alone taking control of our football club.  There are red flags everywhere.  It would be good if the club would explain to its shareholders, season ticket holders and supporters in general, what it is about Mr Makwana that gives them the confidence that he can both finance a majority stake holding in the club and then finance and manage the long term development of the club.

[Leaky Blinder]

Based on all known information, and in light of the unexplained financial position surrounding the identity of the mystery investor a question mark must now exist, pending completion of the due diligence process, as to whether the Board of Directors are complying with the Companies Act 2006, in particular

Section 172, the duty of care to promote the success of the Company

(1) A director of a company must act in the way he considers, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to

(a)the likely consequences of any decision in the long term,

(b)the interests of the company's employees,

(c)the need to foster the company's business relationships with suppliers, customers and others,

(d)the impact of the company's operations on the community and the environment,

(e)the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and

(f)the need to act fairly as between members of the company.

So it's over to the board to tick all the boxes in this regard .. and this is where the trust could and should play a role in conjunction with other shareholders in holding the board to account by evidencing compliance with statutory requirements. 

 

[+old caley girl]

On 7/27/2024 at 10:27 AM, Northern_jaggie said:

Liaising with the council, it must be something to do with lease assignation. How could it be anything else 

Agreed 

[+old caley girl]

16 hours ago, Yngwie said:

None, that seems to have been misinformation from the rumour mill.

A different group I believe?