Genoa – Popeye. Or wall to wall. The substance does not change. Yesterday’s summit between the Gestio Capital/Aser Ventures consortium on one side and the trustee Gianluca Vidal not only did it not produce any agreement, but it led to a stalemate that could have impactful consequences on the outcome of the negotiation. Whether today, before or during the Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting scheduled for 6.30 pm in the Corte Lambruschini headquarters there will not be a suitable opening by Vidal, the investors Matteo Manfredi and Andrea Radrizzani, who given the folds taken from yesterday’s confrontation they feel blackmailed by the propertythey may withdraw. Leaving Sampdoria again on the brink of the abyss, with the specter of bankruptcy and the restart from Serie D ahead, with another matriculation number. And then another name and another brand, at least for a few months.
Not by chance the Groups of the South will once again present themselves under the headquarters todayto make their voices heard. And to monitor what is happening, to the cry of “Hands off Sampdoria”. It would be a sensational epilogue, which could create significant environmental disturbances. The fans, angry and exhausted, would never accept, could never accept, that this negotiation fell through.
Manfredi and Radrizzani strongly supported Sampdoria. In ten days, working day and night, they set up an operation compatible with the debt restructuring plan prepared by the Board, presenting a reasonable offer that would save the team and the employees, the companies of the creditors, and all their families. And to start again in continuity, that is from Serie B. Offer evaluated better than that of Alessandro Barnaba by the Sampdoria board, who accepted it shortly after midnight on Friday. Gestio Capital, asset manager of the operation, in which Aser Ventures and Qatar Sports Investment invest, has reached an agreement with both Sace and the banks and with all the creditors. AND making 40 million immediately available to the Sampdoria club for the capital increase and for its rescue. Which would allow, to begin with, the 13.5 million for the first quarter of federal salaries to be paid tomorrow, avoiding the 4 penalty points to be served next season.
For white smoke, however, as has been repeatedly repeated and recalled in recent days, an agreement with the property is also required. Vidal’s goal is to “keep alive” the Rosan trustwhich through the sale of Sampdoria will have to provide an external financial contribution to the compositions of the Ferrero family, the most substantial is Eleven Finance, whose meeting of creditors for the vote is scheduled for 22 September.
Manfredi and Radrizzani were stunned by the rigidity of Vidal’s position, deeming cards in hand that they have satisfied all requests and positions with their proposal, including allowing the trust to continue to operate. And even in the presence of a reasonable severance pay, they are opposed. While Ferrero for his part feels like a “scapegoat” in this matter as he clearly indicated in the communiqué entrusted to his lawyer Sammarco, released on Saturday evening through Ansa, he repeats that he has not received any suitable offer to satisfy the trust and is willing to “fight” to assert his reasons. In the midst of all this, there is the salvation and future of Sampdoria.
Contacts between Manfredi and Vidal continued yesterday evening and will continue today. The hypothesis already aired in the past few hours is gaining more and more body, namely that this afternoon’s Shareholders’ Meeting is to all intents and purposes declared valid by the notary, therefore with the presence of the majority shareholder, and then left “open” for a couple of days, just to allow more time for these tight negotiations. Calling a third would have technical times (it takes 15 days) which would risk compromising not only the payment of salaries but also the registration for the championship, which must be done by 20 June.
Beyond the investor-trustee comparison, the general current that pushes to get to the closure of the negotiation is strong and the transfer of Sampdoria to the Manfredi/Radrizzani couple. Starting with the main creditors, such as the banks (especially Intesa and Macquarie), who have given the Board of Directors a huge hand in managing these last very difficult months and in the light of the agreement immediately found on their credits, they have trusted the initiative of Gestio Capital, recognizing its solidity. Certainly Vidal and Ferrero are taking a big risk. Because, as has already emerged in recent days, if the confrontation continues – and the consortium decides not to withdraw – there is the intention of following the road of theforced capital increase, therefore without the consent of the majority shareholder, as part of the negotiated settlement of the crisis, on the basis of the rules introduced by the new bankruptcy law code. The pick is Across Fiduciaria, a small shareholder with 100 shares of the Sampdoria company, attributable to Banca Sistema.
In short, this morning’s picture puts Vidal and Ferrero in front of two options: accept the proposal of Manfredi and Radrizzani and keep the agreements open, or the immediately effective capital increase will in any case be forced. By exposing themselves, this is already known, to appeals and oppositions, but pending their completely uncertain outcome, the agreements would become bankruptcies and the Ferrero family would lose everything. And if the Court proves him right, one day, he could ask for damages from the directors and from the lawyer Bissocoli, the expert of the negotiated composition. As if to say that he would not recover anything.
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