So in your opinion what is the argument all about now? In net terms it is clearly not the rent.
The food revenues offered are what, 20 - 25% of the total? Are the club do you think insisting on more and also other streams of revenue?
Do they want this backdating so the debt is wiped virtually?
It seems this is not now a rent dispute but a dispute about far more than that.
All that follows is just an opinion
I agree it is not about the rent any more if indeed it ever really was. In some way it has to be about how SISU get their money back. Hedge funds just do not go into distressed companies with a view to turning around and long term ownership...... it just is not their function. It is hard to put a case together that sees CCFC becoming profitable any time soon, so how do they (sisu) get their way out of a very big hole.
Argument now is on the face of it about repaying the debt they have accrued, and the cost of the F&B's not the sales value. The first, well to a large degree they let roll up in an effort to distress ACL. But in order to do so they have had to distress CCFC first - people miss that. The plan only works if despite making seemingly the right moves CCFC remains without money - the debt is CCFC's not Sisu's. Nothing for ACL to go after if CCFC is distressed first. Now the debt is getting pretty ridiculous and the plan has hit a major bump because ACL have refinanced easing their cashflow which was the major problem not the ACL profitability. As for back dating well I think a lot of the delays have been SISUs fault why should ACL pay the cost of that?
F&B's belong to the EIC joint venture..... am sure there can be clever paperwork done that gives CCFC the turnover but Compass a share of the profits (ACL's share going to CCFC as indicated in various comments) The problem is what those sales cost. If the sales etc are all done by EIC in CCFC's name then they will want to know cost. The due diligence that SISU want is just another delay in all honesty, The sales could be done on an open book basis ie all sales recorded seperately and open to inspection and costs could be agreed and audited as they go on..... it really is not difficult
But now a new factor or two have emerged......
building a new ground .......... I have no doubt the threat was made but back tracking already ......... but it is another spanner in the works and source of delays
Lease breaks - not heard that before have we ........... if the intention is to stay and build something valuable together with ACL why need it? But it is something to discuss isnt it, something to not accept
ACL finance - crying foul thats not fair. Potential to challenge it and delay. In actual fact you tell me any business that wouldnt look firstly to its owners then secondly to other finance if it were cheaper than the banks. Especially when Yorkshire bank were putting pressure on for various reasons. You could argue that such pressure only happened after SISU distressed CCFC, stopped paying rent, and had seen the ACL books - but who knows there could be other reasons and it was just coincidence
Mediation - catchy idea but would it actually serve any purpose? neither side has to be bound by it
Smoke and mirros all the time Grendel............. there is spin from both sides .............. but I can not see any reason why it is ACL's interest not to get a deal done, they dont want to take the club down (if they had they would have ages ago). I think the rent is the first lever after that it is all about control........... SISU are not new to these situations, contrary to what some think they are clever driven even ruthless at times and they have a plan. Everything so far has bought them time and that is clearly important to their objectives
If this was just about what is best for the club then there a lot of people who can see what needs to be done in terms of all costs, access to income, security of site ownership, working partnerships, long term future etc - got to assume that SISU have seen that too but they have perhaps other objectives?
just my thoughts and opinions nothing more - could be wrong or right