It's still not clear on exactly who owns the hotels. Does the benefactor own them and direct all revenue to the club, or does the club own them?

According to The Age The club does not own the pubs but will receive the revenue generated from the property portfolio, while at the same time incurring no liability.

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Got that chubb.

And it made sense until I read RP's quote:

"And the deal's been struck in such a way that some Carlton directors and other club-friendly financiers will be providing equity on behalf of Carlton."

Which somewhat suggests that Carlton will have some equity in these hotels (albiet through 3rd parties).

Regardless, it's an awesome development so I'm not too fussed either way. But if it turns out the club actually ends up owning these 9 hotels, well then that's just cream on the cake.

I don't think the Club will hold title to the properties. They will still be held in the name of the benefactors. I don't believe that they would be that generous! If we held Title there would be lots of other issues such as Land Tax and Capital gains issues & maintenance. I would be happy just to cop the income but not any losses that may occur which does happen with owning pubs.

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Last nights announcement regarding the club's participation in the acquisition of a portfolio of hotels is incredibly exciting and will go a long way to ensuring the Club's long term future as it will ensure we can generate nonfootball income as well as have a greater reach into the community.

Dick only covered the matter briefly and no doubt as the week unfolds we will be asked many questions and will seek to clarify a number of issues surrounding the transaction.

In advance of that I will give you a brief snapshot of the deal.

A portfolio of 9 existing, profitable venues was purchased by an investor who was looking for a JV partner. That investor is not Bruce Mathieson and this transaction has nothing to do with Bruce. Bruce is however assisting the Club in other areas unrelated to this deal.

As a result of the generosity of a number of individuals including some boardmembers the CFC will be the JV partner in this acquisition. The Club's equity contribution will be provided by these generous individuals. The individuals will receive benefit for entering into the deal but so will the Club obviously. The portfolio is very profitable and expected to generate significant revenue for the CFC.

The Club will have no debt on it's balance sheet as a result of the deal and any debt required to fund the deal will be taken out by the JV entity on a nonrecourse basis, meaning the the club is not guaranteeing the debt.

Regarding the Club debt, the core debt has been reduced by $2M so far with significant cash in the Bank to fund increased football operation initiatives. The $8M figure is incorrect. It is the Club's intention to reduce the debt as we achieve surpluses but not to the detriment of servicing our most important assets - our players. It is further our view that while no debt is preferable, a level of debt is OK for now if we are generating sufficient revenue to comfortably service it, while at the same time growing our business so we will have the means to repay it in the future.

Despite last night's on field result we are tracking well with our core and non core business activities.

Regards,

Mark Harrison

Thanks for the info Mark.

What does JV stand for? Joint Venture?

Are we bolstering our recruiting & player departments?

Is Steven Icke in charge of list management?

One for the mods - can we arrange a mid-season Q&A with Stephen & Mark?

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For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

JV stands for joint venture.
We have already bolstered by recruiting dept both interstate and o/s and yes Icke is in charge of list management and doing a great job.

cool. 9 pubs that scotto can have a bash on in and not worry about gettin kicked out.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

Thank you Mark. great for the club

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Hopefully not!

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Are any of them "Irish" pubs

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

My understanding is that the club entertained well in excess of 1000 corporate clients last night including more than 400 in the Presidents dinner.
A great effort by all involved including the clubs corporate supporters.
On top of a record membership, the Carlton faithful should be very proud.

Too bad the entertainment was'nt up to scratch.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Mark,

Obviously everyone is very busy at the moment, and doing a great job. Is there any chance someone could attend a Q&A before the end of the season? Whether that be yourself, Stephen, or someone else, your time would be greatly appreciated if possible.

If not, could we prepare a list of, maybe 10, questions to ask and have someone prepare answers in their own time?

We have a few interstate games coming up, is there any progress on organising functions at MC Labor park for these?

Thank-you again for stopping by and giving us an update on the hotels and the membership total. If there is anything we can do please let us know.

_________________
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

I would be happy to avail myself for a Q & A session sometime over the next few weeks. I think Stephen will also be happy to participate and will confirm with him and come back to you.

Excellent.

Thanks Mark.

_________________
"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Thanks for arranging TBB!! Really appreciate it. I know their time is precious and each post they make on here is worth gold to us members/supporters - what's more these board members have substance!!!

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For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

Much appreciated Mark.

I know thats not why you are doing this but the communication and openness wont be forgotten at election time.

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T E A M

Hear, hear.

Even if his info on the mebership numbers was a bit dodgy.

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Great news! It's a testament to our great club that all supporters, regardless of their financial means, are working so hard to return it to its rightful position. I love this club.

Thanks for that update Mark. I was sitting with a Hawthorn Director during the game who told me about the Carlton Presidents Dinner at half time - the Hawks were up in the game of course but extremely envious about being about to get 900 people + to a Club Function (when the most they've had over the past few years is 400 or so) Shows how people are being invited back or just inviting themselves back to the Club.

Of course the Hawks were very interested in the pub news as well...

Please let me know if the following is how it works then:

* Some Directors of the Club, and perhaps others outside of the Club, have brought the Club into a pub property deal arranged by this Great Friend of Carlton.
* These Directors have also provided the Club's share of equity by way of donation / gift.
* A large part of the acquisition funding is provided by way of an external financier, non-recourse to the equity holders (for others this means the rights of the financiers to reclaim any debt owing is limited to the security provided by the pubs ie if the deal goes bust, the financier can't go to the investors, including the Club, for additional Cash).
* Therefore the Club benefits from any equity returns from operating the pubs, but also, we get the benefit of any uplift in value in the pubs should the Club decide to sell its equity interests at a later stage.
* The equity returns are probably the 'millions and milllions' being talked about by Mr. Pratt in the Age, but also our equity interests improves the balance sheet by having a share in an operating profitable business.
* So P&L, Cashflow and Balance Sheet all take a huge fillip and the Club's future looks far rosier...


As an aside, its pretty clear that this Great Carlton Friend should win 'Mike & Dan's Play of the Week for Round 12. Sure beats everything we saw on the field!