Chairman's Plea to Shareholders

By: Rob Sedgwick
Date: 20/10/2001

GTFC shareholders have been sent a letter outlining the club's latest proposals to end the deadlock over issuing new shares in the company and thereby injecting much-needed capital into the club's coffers.

The club, which has £600,000 of authorised share capital, has only ever issued around £240,000 worth of £1 shares; any attempts to release the remainder have always been turned down in the past by the current shareholders.

Individuals wanting to invest in the club in recent years have had no option but to buy shares from existing holders, often at prices far above their face value of £1 each.

GTFC shareholders have been presented with two options as to how the club could raise up to £350K in the unissued share capital.

The first option would be to allow the club to issue shares to any party who is interested in buying them, with the second choice being to allot shares for existing shareholders on a one-to-one basis in a Rights Issue. The club have estimated that the second option would cost in the region of £30,000 to prepare the prospectus and supporting documents.

The latter option may be more attractive to some current shareholders as, if they bought all the shares allotted to them, they would be guaranteed to maintain at least their present holding level in the company.

The various Town boards have attempted similar moves in the past, but they have always failed due chiefly to existing shareholder's desire to maintain their voting power without having to part with any funds. With the club however, facing an increasingly difficult task just to survive in the current climate and with the future looking bleaker than it has done for many years, the Grimsby chairman Peter Furneaux has appealed for shareholders to set aside factional differences and put the club's interests first.

"It's absolutely vital for the football club that this is passed," Furneaux told the Grimsby Telegraph.

"We don't want to force anybody to buy shares, but we want people to allow others to have the chance of buying them.

"We haven't got the money and the bank won't lend us it"

"The manager and I are always looking to strengthen the squad but we haven't got the money and the bank won't lend us it.

"The wages are far above what we can afford"

"I want the team to go forward and be able to look at other players. The wages are far above what we can afford, but we either go forward or we fall by the wayside.

"We need the commitment of others"

"This club is at a major crossroads. This period could a be a crucial part of our history and we are poised to do something on the pitch, but we need the commitment of others."

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