If Harris and Blitzer genuinely are in a consortium bidding for Chelsea, then it’s likely that they already have a buyer/s lined up for their Palace shares.

Old, Ungifted and White

In theory if they have to get rid of their Palace shares quickly then Parish could get them for nothing

There's definitely no coming back to Palace for Blitzer & Harris should their bid for Chelsea fail.

We can't be seen as being the booby prize.

They must have already made a deal to offload their shares whatever happens.

[Link]

So Textor seems a brighter future certainly, but a 40m investment doesn't buy all that much. I guess it just ups his stake in CPFC2010 or whatever the current Holding name is.

So I manage a Workshop which provides a safe learning environment for blokes struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues. Being a Palace fan isn't listed yet.

As far as I can parse it, Textor bought 40% of the club for £89 million at the start of the season. Harris and Blitzer apparently own 22% of the club so the £40 million would not really be invested in CPFC per se (typical careless headline-grabbing). In reality it would simply be money that enabled Textor to acquire Harris and Blitzer's 22%. Or in other words, they (as sellers) and not the club itself would pocket that "investment". The £40 million is simply Blitzer and Harris' RoI on their original purchase.

If 40% of the shares cost £89 million in September and 22% are now selling for £40 million, given that the club's market value has probably slightly increased over the past nine months as a result of recent successes on the pitch, Textor is picking up the deal at a slight discount to true value, probably because buying from a partner owner eases the path for Harris and Blitzer to move quickly on Chelsea if they need to do so. In short, the number makes sense for all parties.

Having established that the £40 million is NOT really an investment in CPFC (a real investment in CPFC would be any money Textor put into the club above and beyond the £40 million he's spending to buy the shares), the key question is whether Textor becoming the clear majority shareholder (since after such a transaction, he would own 62% of Palace) is something we should be happy about?

On the plus side of the ledger, first, he seems genuinely committed to Palace beyond the club being simply an investment. To coin a phrase, his "hearts in it". Second, at least to date, he's been supportive in both operational and financial senses and has let Parish do what he does well. There's no reason to think that wouldn't continue, so he represents operational continuity at a time when continuity is good. And third, he seems to generally be a responsible executive (not a Mel Morris, Mike Ashley, or someone who seems likely to lead us up the garden path to ruin). In spite of his showbiz industry background, he appears to be a low-profile, responsible character and if you can read anything into his education, raised with conservative protestant values.

On the downside of the ledger (if it is a downside) he is most decidedly not a billionaire. His wealth is largely paper, not cash, and his net worth is around $250 million which is certainly rich by your standards and mine but it's not top six rich by any stretch of the imagination. If the financial markets were to suddenly go south for any reason, his paper wealth could be rapidly and severely compromised. No reason at present to think this could or would happen, but you know the disclaimer: your investment in shares can go down as well as up, etc. Given this landscape and the extent of his wealth, I'd imagine his investments in the likes of Palace are probably quite highly leveraged, and that he's carrying some debt. This makes him more of a Glazer than an Abramovich, at least from a balance sheet perspective.

All in all, personally I'm happy with Textor picking up Harris and Blitzer's shares when taking the above into consideration. But I'm not kidding myself; this is not the arrival of Christmas. It's not going to mean a sudden influx of cash and a wild spending spree and if, indeed, that happened it would be bad news, not good news, because the spending would be highly leveraged and as every football fan should know by now, that's little more than an invitation to trouble.

As I see it, Textor puts the shares and ownership of Palace in a safe pair of hands and it means the responsible, somewhat cautious, but effective approach and business model Parish has developed over the last ten years can be expected to continue operating much as it has done so far. That's something to celebrate.

Sydenham by birth. Selhurst by the Grace of God.

All these figures being banded about re shareholdings are very woolly. The press rarely gets this sort of information correct.
My only concern is that it would appear Textor was deeply in to Fubo which has suffered a dramatic drop in value since last summer. Their price has fallen from c. /share last summer to today. Market cap billion to billion. It would appear he had 10% of the stock but hopefully he sold enough to put his c. £89million into Palace. His net asset value last summer was showing at 0m. So this will have gone south since if he still has a stake in Fubo.
It would appear he is not so heavily in Fubo now but it is hard to know. I just hope he has got enough funds set aside to take us forward and also his involvement and shareholding in Botafogo the Brazilian club, but it is hard to see where.
I really hope he is on a sound footing. Only time will tell.
Firstly let’s see what Harris and Blitzer pull off at Chelsea. In comparison to Textor they have got very deep pockets. (Combined c. billion)It’s just unfortunate they didn’t go too deep into them for us. If they have to sell their shares in Palace it will be interesting to see where it goes.
If they fail to secure Chelsea then what? Again only time will tell.

Edited by dreamwaverider (29 Mar 2022 5.03pm)

Edited by dreamwaverider (29 Mar 2022 5.14pm)