Tranmere Rover For Sale On eBay
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Person: Joseph M. Kosich
Company Name: Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC
Telephone Number (910) 295-8851
Email Address:
[email protected]
RESPONSE FROM DORNOCH CAPITAL ADVISORS CONCERNING THE TRANMERE ROVERS FC EBAY ADVERTISEMENT
Pinehurst, North Carolina – July 30, 2009, 2:00PM
1) Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC has become aware the public furor resulting from a listing introduced on eBay during the last two days:
a) The listing was made by Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC without Mr. Peter Johnson’s or the club’s knowledge;
b) Dornoch’s justification for the listing was purely promotional and was introduced with the best intentions of the club in mind;
c) As has been previously reported in the U.S. and U.K. press, Mr. Peter Johnson has engaged Dornoch, as its financial advisor to raise new capital/ownership for Tranmere for the following reasons:
Increase investment in the club’s commercial infrastructure as well as players and academy system;
Provide a transitional ownership plan allowing a responsible new steward of the club to work along with Mr. Johnson and current management; and
Ensure a proper and unlevered capital structure for the club that will exist beyond Mr. Peter Johnson’s tenure as chairman and lead shareholder of the club.
2) Dornoch took the unilateral initiative to list on eBay for reasons which may have been misconstrued/misunderstood by Tranmere’s fans and the general public:
a) Rightly or wrongly, the press and the general public in the U.K. and the rest of the world have been focused on all the negative stories surrounding FA clubs including the financial difficulties many clubs have encountered due to the borrowing excesses over the past several years as well as excesses in the transfer market;
b) Much of the publicity has been centered on the Premiership and Championship clubs and their potential forced sales or financial restructurings;
c) Dornoch’s intention was to create “buzz” and positive publicity surrounding the sale/capital raise for Tranmere which had been generally ignored by investors in the United States, Canada and UK as being too small and insignificant (which of course it is not);
d) Many investors have been unwilling to listen to a story about a wonderful League One club no matter how positive its circumstances:
With scant spending on player personnel, the club was on the cusp of promotion to the Championship League playoffs during its 2008-2009 campaign;
Tranmere has been managed prudently from a financial and operational perspective with the owner funding the club out of his own financial resources shunning debt;
Tranmere has hired John Barnes, a Liverpool legend, to manage a club with the hope that that he can take the club to the Championship League in the coming year;
Tranmere and Mr. Peter Johnson have been seeking new capital and transitional ownership that will continue the club’s responsible commercial and on pitch management that has been the clubs hallmark.
3) It has been recognized that this promotional “approach” has caused negative ramifications on a number of levels:
a) Dornoch misread the potential negative consequences of creating publicity around the club or its fans;
b) Dornoch clearly misread the cultural nuances involved with the marketing of an FA club;
c) Dornoch regrets any negative feelings by Tranmere or its fans who may have felt as if the eBay advertisement/auction was in any way meant to demean or poke fun;
d) Dornoch reiterates that Mr. Peter Johnson nor anyone connected with the club had any foreknowledge of the eBay advertisement and any blame rests with our firm; and
e) Finally, Dornoch has fielded a number of inquiries from potential purchasers/investors as a result of our miscalculated actions. Dornoch has spoken with over 50 parties concerning Tranmere and have yet to be successful in identifying and investor(s) who would be an appropriate party given current economic circumstances.
Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC would like to sincerely apologize to the Tranmere Rovers FC, their fans and football watching public for the ill will that may have resulted from our firm’s poorly conceived actions in connection in its capacity as financial advisor to the club and hope that the foregoing explanation will put to rest the controversy that our actions may have caused.
Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC
Dornoch Capital Advisors, LLC is a corporate finance and advisory firm with offices located in Chicago, Milwaukee, Orlando, FL and headquartered in the Village of Pinehurst, NC. Dornoch provides focused acquisitions, divestiture and corporate finance advice to professional sports team owners, ultra high net worth investors and municipalities globally. Dornoch, through its subsidiaries, makes selective principal investments, typically alongside other seasoned and experienced investors in the sports and media space
