Worcester Warriors takeover?

[Adder]

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/15 ... Warriors_/
THE Scottish Rugby Union are rumoured to be interested in investing in Worcester Warriors.

According to The Rugby Paper, the SRU could take a controlling interest in Warriors who have been put up for sale by owners Sixways Holdings Limited.

The Aviva Premiership outfit have reportedly been valued at 26.7million.

But the national report understands the freehold of the 50-acre Sixways site. which has a book value of £17million, is not included in the deal with the SRU.

It has also been suggested Warriors could act as a base for Scottish players aiming to play in England’s top flight.

The SRU owns and funds Pro 14 sides Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors and had a development partnership with London Scottish where the Championship club provided opportunities for young Scots.

This summer the union confirmed they had broken the £50million turnover mark for the first time and had achieved a surplus of £1.7million in the 2016/17 financial year.

Warriors have refused to comment, while a spokesman from SRU added: “Scottish Rugby does not comment on media speculation about its respective areas of business.

“In today’s global game the activities of all unions are naturally of interest and any relevant information is always communicated through our official channels at appropriate times.”

Rumours have been rife over the ownership of Warriors who have reportedly lost more than £16million over the last three seasons.

The club’s backers have rejected a bid from ex-Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths who wanted to obtain a 51 per cent stake with a “silent investor” taking the remaining 49 per cent.

But Griffiths took to the club’s unofficial fans’ forum last week to say he remains hopeful a deal to secure an outright purchase of Warriors can be “resurrected”.

Livingstone, an international mid-market mergers and acquisitions firm, have been appointed by Worcester’s owners to find a buyer.

It's still a rumour but what sort of deal would be interesting for the SRU and what would be their motivation?

It could probably be something similar to their Nice deal in France (joint investment + a consortium) with a bit more cash and a few more SQ players in the team. I think they have 6 in Nice. Can't seen any other deals worth the investment.

Motivation:
better salaries for some Scottish Players seeking to move out + SRU player protection.
Testing ground to develop Newbies?

[Adder]

this led me to take a look at who is playing with Nice.

Dave Cherry at Hooker (26)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/cheree-dave/

Bruce Flockhart backrow (20)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/flockhart-bruce/

Josh Henderson Flyhalf (20)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/henderson-josh/

Peter Murchie (surprised) (31)

[Adder]

Tried to check out game time but was not easy.
Nice lead their pool of 11 teams after 10 games with 45 points (9 wins + 1 draw)

[whatisthejava]

Its a rumour that wont go away, not a bad idea but we do need more professional spaces to continue

[sharvey44]

this led me to take a look at who is playing with Nice.

Dave Cherry at Hooker (26)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/cheree-dave/

Bruce Flockhart backrow (20)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/flockhart-bruce/

Josh Henderson Flyhalf (20)
http://www.stadenicois.com/joueurs/henderson-josh/

Peter Murchie (surprised) (31)

Really hope DC gets picked up by Edinburgh next season.

[Adder]

He seems to score a bit for Nice

[OptimisticJock]

Its a rumour that wont go away, not a bad idea but we do need more professional spaces to continue

It's not a good idea either. I'd rather more money was put into the super 6 or they looked seriously at investment in a 3rd District. Worcester are debt ridden.

[Puja]

It doesn't seem to make sense to me. Not sure why the RFU would ratify it, considering they'd then be funding a semi-Scottish team who would presumably be looking at picking and promoting players with at least a Scottish gran.

As I said on the EMB, if they've got this much money to chuck about, they'd surely be better off having dual contracts to keep Scots in Scotland or even reopening the Border Reivers? Or hell, buy out London Scottish and move them to the Pro 14 if they're desperate for a poaching vehicle in England.

Puja

[OptimisticJock]

The Reivers can go fuck themselves.

[whatisthejava]

The Reivers can go fuck themselves.

Im really intrigued to read about this if or if not it happens

I cant see the RFU caring , i actually see Premier rugby being more twattish about it as the SRU will want extra release time and prem rugby will try and prevent that happening

[OptimisticJock]

The Reivers can go fuck themselves.

Im really intrigued to read about this if or if not it happens

I cant see the RFU caring , i actually see Premier rugby being more twattish about it as the SRU will want extra release time and prem rugby will try and prevent that happening

If the SRU own them then surely they could have the extra time if they wanted.

[Which Tyler]

The Reivers can go fuck themselves.

Im really intrigued to read about this if or if not it happens

I cant see the RFU caring , i actually see Premier rugby being more twattish about it as the SRU will want extra release time and prem rugby will try and prevent that happening

If the SRU own them then surely they could have the extra time if they wanted.

It's still go against PRL regulations, and if you want to play in the Prem, then you'll need to be a member of PRL.
Mind you, owning multiple clubs is also against PRL regulations, so SRU will need permission from PRL to buy Wuss... Unless the plan is to buy Wuss and put them in the Pro14 somehow, which would seem a bit of a waste

[whatisthejava]

Im really intrigued to read about this if or if not it happens

I cant see the RFU caring , i actually see Premier rugby being more twattish about it as the SRU will want extra release time and prem rugby will try and prevent that happening

If the SRU own them then surely they could have the extra time if they wanted.

It's still go against PRL regulations, and if you want to play in the Prem, then you'll need to be a member of PRL.
Mind you, owning multiple clubs is also against PRL regulations, so SRU will need permission from PRL to buy Wuss... Unless the plan is to buy Wuss and put them in the Pro14 somehow, which would seem a bit of a waste

Thats a possible answer but im not convinced that offers more benefits then starting a club in Scotland.


My gut feel is this is meant to be a base for scots wanting to play in AP and a base for the exiles so academy players have a south base for them

[Adder]

If the SRU own them then surely they could have the extra time if they wanted.

It's still go against PRL regulations, and if you want to play in the Prem, then you'll need to be a member of PRL.
Mind you, owning multiple clubs is also against PRL regulations, so SRU will need permission from PRL to buy Wuss... Unless the plan is to buy Wuss and put them in the Pro14 somehow, which would seem a bit of a waste

Thats a possible answer but im not convinced that offers more benefits then starting a club in Scotland.


My gut feel is this is meant to be a base for scots wanting to play in AP and a base for the exiles so academy players have a south base for them

Thinking of 6 players max

[Edinburgh in Exile]

Seems daft to me... then again... it’s our union, so who the fuck knows. With the minefield that will be PRL and the RFU coupled with the SRU’s fairly bullheaded track record of handling negotiations, It just seems like a monumental bawache.

I’m with Baz on the boarders though, they can collectively get fucked. Bring back the Cally Reds and base them in Aberdeen and/or Perth.

[OptimisticJock]

Your first match ticket is on me EinE

[Stones of granite]

ditto the short guy and Shipman's apprentice

[Which Tyler]

Thats a possible answer but im not convinced that offers more benefits then starting a club in Scotland.


My gut feel is this is meant to be a base for scots wanting to play in AP and a base for the exiles so academy players have a south base for them

If it was to buy a club to put in the Pro 14 - then you'd probably need someone else to add a club to keep numbers even; and... you'd want them based in either in London, or in Scotland. If the former, then what's wrong with London Scottish? (other than royally screwing them over a copule of years ago); and if the latter; then surely it'd be cheaper to start a new franchise from scratch, call them the Highlanders, and give them to Aberdeen.
Besides, the sale of Worcester apparently comes with a condition that the club stays put at Sixways.

[switchskier]

The thing that doesn't ring true about any of this is that the sale doesn't involve ownership of the major asset, the stadium. Part of the valuation of the club will be the staff but that doesn't have the same value to the SRU as it does to the current owners. So without control of the stadium it's hard to see how they can even attempt to break even on the venture.

[Cameo]

I dont see how this is a good idea same as I like London Scottish but I don't think that the SRU should be putting significant money into them (all though Im all for loaning players for free).

If we have excess money there is plenty it can be spent on here. The dream for me is still to get the Reivers back but there are much lower aims we can go for too

[General Zod]

Where would a team play in Aberdeen? I don’t really know the place - as far as I can see there’s Pittodrie and a pretty crappy athletics place that I could imagine would be a prohibitively bleak place to which to try and entice a following.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Thats a possible answer but im not convinced that offers more benefits then starting a club in Scotland.


My gut feel is this is meant to be a base for scots wanting to play in AP and a base for the exiles so academy players have a south base for them

If it was to buy a club to put in the Pro 14 - then you'd probably need someone else to add a club to keep numbers even; and... you'd want them based in either in London, or in Scotland. If the former, then what's wrong with London Scottish? (other than royally screwing them over a copule of years ago); and if the latter; then surely it'd be cheaper to start a new franchise from scratch, call them the Highlanders, and give them to Aberdeen.
Besides, the sale of Worcester apparently comes with a condition that the club stays put at Sixways.

Aberdeen is not in the highlands. It's probably the most sensible place to start up a third pro team though, yes.

[Stones of granite]

Where would a team play in Aberdeen? I don’t really know the place - as far as I can see there’s Pittodrie and a pretty crappy athletics place that I could imagine would be a prohibitively bleak place to which to try and entice a following.

Pittodrie is the only place with a stand that I can think of. Aberdeen Sports Village is far from bleak (at least, as far from bleak that anywhere in Aberdeen gets) but is not at all suitable as a Pro Rugby venue.

[OptimisticJock]

Telegraph:

Any hopes the Scottish Rugby Union hold of investing in Worcester Warriors will almost certainly be dashed by the Premiership club, this column understands.

The SRU has been linked as one of two bidders for Worcester as a potential base for Scottish players to play in England’s top league.

It is understood the Rugby Football Union, who would have to agree any takeover, have not be made aware of any intention by the SRU to buy Worcester.

And senior Premiership sources suggested it would be black-balled in a similar fashion of Montpellier owner Mohed Altrad’s attempt to buy Gloucester because of the potential conflict of interest. The SRU own both Edinburgh and Glasgow, who could potentially face Worcester in European competitions.


Wee bit contradictory

More money for the future Border Highlanders

[General Zod]

Daft idea in the first place. Not because of the idea of a base at the top table in England, but because it is obvious that there would be so many black balls going about, the ballot box at Twickenham would resemble the bottom of a rabbit’s cage.

That and they could easily get relegated, particularly if the premiership reduces in size.