Thomas reveals debt figure before SAC takeover and explains who now owns the land at Sixfields
Kelvin Thomas has explained how the land at Sixfields was used as part of a deal to leave Cobblers debt-free, revealing that the debt associated with the East Stand and other costs was close to £20million before Sports Alpha Capital’s takeover.
Thomas, speaking on the Cobblers Show, said the land was transferred to Neneside, a company controlled by GRS, as part of an arrangement that removed the debt from the football club.
“James (Whiting) would know the details but I think it (the debt) was probably close to £20million,” Thomas told BBC Radio Northampton on Thursday. “That’s not to say that that is the worth of the land or anything like that because we wrote off some money as owners.
“But that’s how much the debt was with the stand and everything. In the end, from where we started, in terms of inheriting a shell of a stand and not owning the land, to now, where we have a fully completed stand and a debt-free club, if you said to anybody 10 years ago that would be the position the club would find itself in, I think most people would see that as a good place to be.”
SAC completed their takeover earlier this month in a complex deal that took nine months to complete.
Detailing how they came to the final arrangement, Thomas explained: “We always said we wanted the club to be debt-free and when we started discussions there was talk around the land and whether it would be included or not. The truth is it became a bit too complicated for Sports Alpha and it wasn’t really what they were interested in, so could we construct a deal that didn’t include the land?
“David (Bower), with his experience and legal brain, started thinking around that and what happens with the land - do you try and sell the land and use that as part of the deal with the debt? But the problem with putting it on the open market was timing and we felt the football club deal was the most important one.
“If we could construct a deal that meant the club was debt-free, that was still the best thing. We had some discussions with GRS around their ability and their skill so they created a company called Neneside and we sold the land across to that company, which is GRS controlled.
“Basically, we transferred the debt across to that company from the football club, so the club benefitted by writing off those debts. It’s worked out a very good deal for the club and we always said the club would benefit from the land transaction.
“That’s not to say that the land transaction is finished, there’s a development piece to happen on that, but I don’t think GRS are in any rush. In the end, we used the land to pay down the debts to the club and we also wrote off some of the debt.
“When the accounts are published, what people will see is a debt-free football club with a finished East Stand. We’re very proud of that because that land was never owned by the club when we first came in, it was owned by CDNL, which was separate to the club.
“What we did was buy that through the administration process and then put it into the club’s hands and we’ve used that to build the stand and eventually make the debt-free, which puts the club in a wonderful position. Eventually the land will be developed and we’ve been very open about those plans, but there’s no longer any risk to the club.”