8 Takeover

Simon and Charles were seated in a relatively large conference room facing a group of five middle-aged men. Everyone was quietly staring at each as if sizing one another before one of the men spoke up:

"As you can see Mr. Emerson. The board of directors have gathered at your request to hear your proposal. I hope you won't waste all of our time."

Simon who was amicably smiling the entire simply nodded his head as he responded:

"Of course. My family have always been avid supports of the Brandys. I requested your presence today to see if there is anything my partner and I could do to help with the club's current predicament."

Simon's words drew a series of frowns from the group opposite him as they didn't appreciate his roundabout way of speaking. However, he didn't seem to notice as he continued flashing his smile which was starting to irritate the directors.

One of them could no longer stand it as he spoke with irritation:

"Enough of this charade. We don't have time for your childish games, tell us what your offer is and we'll give you our answer."

Simon didn't take the man's rudeness to heart as he immediately replied:

"To be honest, I would like to buy the club. Naturally, I want at least 95% share not including the 5% that I already own."

The entire room descended into silence as everyone went about looking at each as if communicating telepathically. A few moments later, the first man to speak spoke again:

"Am afraid that is not possible Mr. Emerson. Brandermill FC is not a public company, which means there are a lot of consideration in place regarding the sale of shares, you should know this since you yourself are a shareholder."

Of course, Simon knew about it, but he wasn't disheartened because he knew they were simply grandstanding to attempt and get a better price out of him. He simply continued speaking as if he didn't hear the man's declaration.

"I understand your reservations Mr. Steward. But let us not pretend to be unware of the club's pending administration. The company will no longer be private at that point, and I could simply buy it then for next to nothing. I am now offering you an opportunity to get ahead of the ugliness that is sure to come."

The faces of the five men couldn't help but darken as they realized that they no longer had much leverage over Simon. Steward turned to his colleagues before leaning back on his chair and remaining quiet as if he no longer cared about what happened.

Seeing that they were starting to give in, Simon decided to hit the iron while hot as he continued speaking:

"I don't need to remind you gentlemen that even though the club has a relatively small debt, you did spend more than you earned so far in the year, and with the loss of your sponsorship, there really is no longer any chance of recouping these losses. Since this is a privately-owned club, the club's debts are in fact your debts."

Simon paused slightly to gauge the directors' reactions before continuing with his speech:

"What am offering you is the chance to get rid of this debt by selling me your shares of the club."

The board members were quiet as they digested Simon's words which made sense but fell short of their hopes since they hoped that they could get a little more out this famous spender.

Unfortunately for them, Simon was not in a charitable mood. Especially considering the trouble these five men caused him in his past life when they prevented him time and time again from selling his shares when he needed the funds. Now, he was going to let them leave with nothing more than the cloth on their backs.

Eventually, Simon's amicable smile was starting to morph into a sadistic grin in the eyes of the board members. One of them was about to attempt to negotiate but thought better of it and kept quiet. None of these men where stupid and they knew that finding someone to rid them of their debt was already good enough.

Seeing that no one was making any dissenting arguments, Simon turned towards Charles who was sitting next to him and nodded before turning to the board members and speaking:

"I'll take your silence as acceptance. My partner will now hand you each of you the pertinent paperwork so that we can get this out of the way. Naturally, a peppercorn payment of one pound is included. Thank you for you time and I hope we can work together some other time."

Simon stood up while still smiling while Charles passed five thick binders to each of the men before heading towards the exit without having said a single thing the entire time. Seeing this, Simon Simply nodded to the men and followed Charles out of the conference room. The moment his back faced the board members, the smile fell from his face and was replaced by a satisfied look.

Charles who was waiting for Simon outside of the conference room spoke to him as soon as he stepped out outside and closed the door with a hint of worry in his face:

"Don't you think you were a little too forceful Simon. What if they decide to sell the club for parts simply to spite you."

Simon simply shook his head as he replied while walking away from the conference room:

"You heard them. This is a private company where all the decision lies with the shareholders and I happen to be a shareholder. Also, they are not really losing much in this deal aside from a little pride."

"Alright. Since you're spending your own money to buy this club, why did you have to bring me with you?"

At this question, Simon's eyes really started to gleam in anticipation as he turned to Charles and smiled brightly while speaking:

"This is honestly the best part of the whole plan. We will use EPD Holdings to buy stakes in numerous companies around the Brandermill area that are slightly struggling right now but will soon start performing marvelously."

Charles couldn't help but be suspicious but looked probingly at Simon who simply continued speaking while chuckling:

"You know, caterers, transportation firms, construction companies, etc. Any company that does business with the club, we'll have some stake in, eventually, we'll be paying ourselves."

Charles nodded his head understandingly, but he still spoke inquisitively:

"Then you need the club to actually make money for this to be viable, unless you want to use your own money to pay yourself."

"That's where the new sponsorship deal comes in. That will bankroll the club's expenditures for the remainder of the year, I also plan to pump some of my own funds into the club for the first season. All in all, it should be a very lucrative deal."

"I hope so. Am just worried since all of this is based on you trusting that this club will survive relegation due to a freak accident."

Simon's response was a slight laugh as he couldn't explain how he knew that a club that finished some 14 points ahead of them would suddenly find themselves in administration which will cost them 15 points and essentially save the club from relation by a single point.

.....................

The next morning, Simon and the five Brandermill FC board members were seated on the raised platform in the Foster Stadium press room with half dozen reporters sitting across from them. The media room was not even a tenth of the way filled, in fact there wasn't even a camera recording the proceeding.

Mr. Steward cleared his throat before speaking in an unnecessarily loud voice considering there were only six reporters present:

"Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to thank you for coming on such short notice. We, the Brandermill FC board of directors, have reached an agreement with our fellow board member, Mr. Emerson, to our shares to him making him the sole owner of the club and it executive chairman. This decision was reached after a long period of deliberation and negotiation after which we have decided the best way to secure the future of the club and usher it into a new age and new heights was to go through with the sale. Now, I will turn your attention to Mr. Emerson."

Steward extended his hand towards Simon who was sitting next to him. Simon couldn't help but internally curse this man for his high praise which served to only increase the pressure he would be under as a new owner, but he still continued smiling as he nodded to Steward before addressing the reporters:

"Thank you for coming in everyone. I would like to say that I could not be more excited and prouder to be taking charge of this glorious club. I will not bother you with specific, but I believe that this club at we all know, and love will remain as sturdy as it had for the last 80 years. Now let's go to question, but since we have such an expansive group of reporters, let's keep it to one question per person."

Simon's words garnered laughter from the reporters before they all immediately put their hands up. Simon pointed to a man directly across from him who immediately spoke:

"What brought on the decision for the sale? Is it because the club is rumored to be going into administration?"

"Haha. That was two questions, but we'll let it slide. The club's transfer to me was because the board of directors have decided that a new approach was needed for the club following the less than stellar [performance this past season. As for going into administration, I would like to definitively dismiss these rumors as baseless. Next."

Simon proceeded to point at another man who then spoke:

"Mr. Emerson is this purchase by the Emerson Bank or is it a personal endeavor."

"This has no relation to the Emerson Bank and was done under my prerogative to try and being order to my favorite club. Yes, you sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Emerson. I would like to enquire about the amount you spent so as to obtain full ownership of the club."

"The exact amount will remain undisclosed due to numerous reasons; however, a peppercorn offering was made for the club the exact amount which can be found in public documents."

That specific reporter didn't seem happy with Simon's answer, but Simon did not pay him anymore attention as he pointed to the only female among the reports. She immediately spoke with a bright voice:

"Mr. Emerson. You are 24 years old this year making you the youngest chairman in English football history. Do you think your age might impact your performance as the sole owner and chairman of the club?"

"That's a good question Miss. I do believe that my age will be a factor in how my performance, but I also believe that it will be a positive factor. I will also like to point out that David Sharpe of Wigan is only 21 and is already earmarked by his grandfather to run the club soon, and considering they're a premier league team, I think we should be fine. Finally, if worse comes to worse, I could just toss on a team jersey and start playing, although that might lose us games. Haha"

Simon then turned to the final reporter who immediately spoke without prompt:

"What will be your first action as the new chairman of the club Mr. Emerson?"

Simon was quiet for a few seconds before responding:

"A series of examinations and audits will need to be conducted from everything from the stadium maintenance, to the custodian staff so as to determine what needs to be done so as to improve the club and get ready for the upcoming season."

Seeing that he had answered all of their questions, Simon stood up while speaking with his trademark smile that hasn't left his face the entire time:

"Alright. Thank you for your time and please get some refreshments on your way out."

Simon then followed the board members out of the press room.