Looking east Bill?
Last Saturday the Cutter named the Jain Group as the company who are actively seeking to acquire an interest in Everton FC. Since then a number of media outlets have commented upon the story, some partly corroborating our content (the Daily Mirror), some denying its validity, while others (the Liverpool Echo in particular) have advocated caution at this juncture.
The Cutter stands by every word that we wrote and additionally would like to add some further meat to the bones, namely that these talks have been ongoing for quite some time and have taken place not only with EFC but also Liverpool City Council – since spring of this year in fact, with more detailed meetings taking place in early autumn.
We have strong reason to believe that Mannoj Kumar Jain, the founder Chairman of the Jain Group of Industries, was in attendance at these meetings.
The Liverpool Echo attests that no contact has been made between the Jain group and Everton FC in over ten days now and we have no information that contradicts this. As they state, the longer this silence continues the more likely it is that negotiations have reached an irretrievable impasse.
However, to balance that out, we also know that there has been ‘gaps’ in the drawn-out series of negotiations before now.
In the words of our original source – who probably should have been wearing a hat and trenchcoat when he said this – ‘the land deal is key’.
Additionally, as has been widely reported elsewhere, there are a number of other interested parties in EFC with strong rumours linking an unknown American company amongst others.
The Cutter is not aware of who these companies are so we have instead looked away from Goodison Park in the direction of Liverpool City Council henceforth known as LCC.
Here we have discovered some very interesting news.
Not only did the Jain Group meet with the LCC in spring and autumn of this year but there were also alleged representatives of other Indian construction and real estate companies similarly involved. One of these is believed to be the PCM Group of Industries, one of the India’s leading business conglomerates who deal in such diverse areas as engineering, information and communication, manufacturing, service, energy, media, steel and consumer products.
Whilst the Cutter is legally obliged to point out at this stage that there is no direct link between PCM and EFC we would also like to remind our readers about the 40 acre land deal that began this whole process. In the words of our original source – who probably should have been wearing a hat and trenchcoat when he said this – ‘the land deal is key’.
The source was referring to the proposed Football Quarter, a designated area in and around Stanley Park which comprises two football stadia (Goodison Park and Anfield) and 40 acres of land dedicated to educational, recreational, leisure and community facilities designed not only to promote business and regeneration but also to aid in the transformation of Anfield, Walton, the City and the immediate region.
Further meetings are planned.
In an entirely unrelated matter Lord Heseltine is due to visit the city of Liverpool within the next couple of weeks.
