Inverness Caledonian Thistle consultant Alan Savage confirms he has made an offer to buy the club and take them out of administration
Inverness businessman Alan Savage has confirmed he has made an offer to buy Inverness Caledonian Thistle to take them out of administration.
The founder of the recruitment company Orion Group has made an offer of £800,000 to purchase the club and has given administrators BDO a deadline of Friday, April 11 to accept his deal.
Savage revealed his offer at a press conference at the Caledonian Stadium on Friday morning, where he has also been working as a consultant with Inverness Caledonian Thistle since the club have been in administration since October.
He has already funded over £1 million at the football club to ensure that it remains operational at least until the end of the season while in administration.
Savage said as part of his bid he has set up a new company called FC Inverness and his £800,000 offer to buy the club is conditional on four points.
They include 100 per cent of the shares are transferred to FC Inverness.
All long-term loans are written off.
All the trade creditors sitting in administration accept that their debts are settled.
The company PropCo gives a written undertaking to sell the peripheral lease (excluding the triangle) to Inverness Caledonian Thistle for the price agreed at a meeting of shareholders which took place on Wednesday, March 19 with an assurance that the purchase can be completed by Friday, April 18.
Speaking at the press conference today, Savage said he would be willing to step aside if the club receive a better offer to take them out of administration.
But he has confirmed he has officially made a bid to BDO and awaits their response.
He said: “Under my control the immediate drivers will be to keep the club’s football licences, stay in League One and prepare for next season.
“The team around me will remain the same, Scott Kellacher, Billy Mckay, Charlie Christie, Graeme Bennett and Andrew Benjamin.
“Obviously as I have said before, the club will need help and I am hoping that being out of administration and debt free will encourage local businesses and governmental bodies to step up to the financial plate.
“If my action prompts the acceleration of a better offer from another buyer I will immediately step aside.
“My offer last August was to fund this club for three months until a buyer was found, this was extended to the end of the season and that still stands. But without ownership and full control, I can only pay up to June’s wages if my offer is not accepted.”
They also confirmed that some loans had been written off and shares returned to the club, assuming a buyer can be found, and talks have re-opened with potential buyers.
The administrators say three areas of concern discouraged interested parties from making a bid.
They included the level of loans to the club from former directors, the disparate current shareholdings at the club making it difficult for a buyer to gain adequate control, and the uncertainties remaining around the ownership of land surrounding the Caledonian Stadium.
In December, BDO confirmed that they had rejected one bid to buy the club.
Nine days ago, 10 major shareholders at the club were reported to have held breakthrough talks which had overcome barriers for interested parties to make a bid.
Savage said he is going the deal alone with nobody else involved with FC Inverness at present.
"We have been circling for months and months and nothing ever happens. There is always another excuse or another reason why it can't be done.
"Someone needed to do something. I have set FC Inverness up and it's just me at the moment.”
"It's a fair offer. I mean £800,000 is the offer, but I've put in £1million, so it's like £1.8m.
"I have discussed it with the administrator. He thinks it's fair, but it is for others to decide.
"If he has got other buyers lined up and they make a better offer with a better plan then fine. It may accelarate the offer.
"All I care about is the continuation of Inverness Caledonian Thistle as a football club. Whether that's in League One or League Two, wherever it lands, it is better than trying to apply for entry in an obscure division and then 10 years later get into the Highland League.
"The important thing is to save the club and keep the licences. This is a way of doing it.”
Savage was adamant that the deal was dependent on him receiving 100 per cent shares at the football club or the deal would not be able to go ahead.
"80 per cent is no good. I want 100 per cent.
"If two Hollywood film stars come along, for example, buy a club and there is no debt or talking to anyone else about whether they sell their 1000 shares.
"It needs tidying up once and for all.
"The reason the club has not been sold is because it is complicated. People with money say they have problems with this or that. They then say they are off.
"People want decisions and I'm offering solutions where it is a football club again.
"Nothing much changes in terms of the way it operates in terms of the playing side.
"But there will be no more battery farms or anything, which were valiant efforts to raise funds. But this is a football club, let's stick to football.”
He added: "The administrator will write to all shareholders and says, based on this offer, we want your shares.
"All the major shareholders in last week's meeting said they would do that, so it is the rest of the shares that need tidying up.”
Savage also said if his bid is successful, he would be looking to keep the club full time and give themselves the best shot of moving up the leagues as soon as possible.
However, he also said he would be looking to cut costs to make the club a more sustainable operation.
He said: “I think even if we go to League Two. If we go down, we would want to give it our best shot.
“I will be screwing the costs down and running it like a proper business.”