CAST welcomes the news revealed this week in Voice of the Valley that former Charlton director Peter Varney and British investor Andrew Barclay are ready to make an offer to buy the club, as well as the freehold title to The Valley and the New Eltham training ground.
Varney told VOTV: “I have got to know Andrew well in recent months and I am confident he offers stability and the best future for Charlton.
“He recognises the need to get the legacy issues, including the ex-directors' loans, off the table and sees owning The Valley and working with the fans as keys to success. His interest is sporting, not property-based, and he has the financial clout to solve the club’s problems.
”Andrew is keen to do a deal. However, we need to be able to negotiate with the current ESI majority shareholder, Tahnoon Nimer, through his lawyer, and from there with Roland Duchatelet or his representative, which so far we have been unable to do.”
The full article:
http://www.votvonline.com/
CAST received the following from club director Marian Mihail on Thursday morning:
"Thank you for your e-mail. Peter Varney sounds amazing on paper. Unfortunately, last night was the first time I’ve heard of a possible bid any only through the media. Nothing has ever gone into the club, officially or unofficially.
And I think you’ve seen in these months that we are more than reachable (I’ve actually received e-mails or messages from supporters written in Romanian - and a very good Romanian, I might add) and I can assure you that if me and Claudiu would have received such an offer we would have passed it on immediately to Panorama/Tahnoon.
To be honest, it was very strange reading the piece about them last night. Such a difference between them and their possible offer (very positive) and how they’ve handled it (I do have some doubts that they ever truly wanted to get in touch with Tahnoon).
There’s no update yet, but our understanding is that Panorama has agreed to a bid in late May and is just waiting the notice period out, in case MS files for an injunction; and that the name is being withheld to prevent any form of leaking. Now, in theory, since the sale hasn’t taken place formally yet, a new buyer, such as the Barclay/Varney pair, may intervene, but with just one and a half business days left and them not contacting Panorama/Tahnoon in any way and not having any documents available (they probably know Charlton’s current situation just from the media), I don’t see it happening."
However, by Thursday evening, the situation seemed to have moved in a more positive direction. Mihail informed CAST that Varney had been in touch with Claudiu Florica during the day and Varney himself tweeted in the evening:
" Constructive day today with the club but I hope CAFC fans recognise that discussions need to be kept private for now"
