This is what Simons article says
The owners of Coventry City are expected to make a bid for a 50 per cent share in the Ricoh Arena company.
The Alan Edward Higgs Charity, which owns 50 per cent of Ricoh Arena operators ACL, recently agreed a deal to sell its shares in the company to Premiership rugby side Wasps for £2.77m.
That followed the news Coventry City Council had completed the sale of its 50 per cent stake in ACL to Wasps for the same figure.
However, CCFC Ltd - a company in the final stages of liquidation - still has first option rights to purchase the charity’s shares. The agreement dates back to 2003 when the charity bought the football club’s half of ACL for £6.5m
Higgs Charity lawyers wrote to CCFC Ltd liquidator Paul Appleton on October 8 to invite him to take up the option on the shares within 30 days - or the deal with Wasps would be completed.
Now the charity has confirmed it is expecting an offer and the Telegraph understands this offer will originate from Sisu company Otium, but come via Mr Appleton.
Peter Knatchbull Hugessen, clerk for the Higgs Charity, said: “The charity has been in regular correspondence with the liquidator and the liquidator’s solicitors.
“We have had no contact with Otium, and there won’t have been, because the option sits with the liquidator.
“We await the liquidator’s decision. He has said he is minded to make an offer for the shares.
“I’m not prepared to speculate on what might or might not happen. The original deadline still stands.”
Sky Blues officials say they have been kept in the dark over certain details needed in order to properly formulate a bid for the charity’s shares.
The club’s owners seek information contained in a document referred to as the Joint Venture Agreement - which outlined terms of the ACL partnership between the council and Higgs. But they say letters to Wasps, the charity and the council have been ignored.
On Saturday Tim Fisher, Coventry City chairman, said in his programme notes: “We’ve yet to receive the necessary information to enable us to even begin to decide whether we’re able to purchase the Higgs’ shares in ACL, but fans will be the first to know if the position changes.”
It seems to me there have been 2 deadlines running along side each other. Firstly a 14 day one to register an intent to make a bid and secondly a 30 day one to actually bid. The clock started ticking 08/10/14 so they have to bid by 07/11/14.
Unless they match or better the deal with Wasps then it is going to be rejected. There is the problem for SISU. They do not actually know the finer details of the Wasps offer to AEHC. Which means they could easily undercook the offer and that's it gone. This is not a bidding war or an auction. The option allows one crack at it get that wrong and that's it gone.
The original JV deal SISU should already have details of from the previous due diligence, if they haven't what the hell were they doing at that time? They could make an offer that matches or betters Wasps subject to disclosure of the revised JV details (if it has been revised at all). Do the ACL stakeholders have to disclose the details of anything at the moment - would have thought they are within their rights not to release anything detailed at the moment. Make an offer subject to disclosure that is of interest and that's different. Is that possible though considering AEHC probably want nothing to do with SISU - so it would have to be a better offer to make them have to consider it
Funny fucker..
