Today the board of directors resumed: one of the hot points is the amount to be paid to the trust that manages the club. There’s also Barnabas’ plan B on the table. If the fee deadline is missed, penalty points will arrive
It is to the bitter end, but there hasn’t been any white smoke yet. The two managers Andrea Radrizzani, founder of Aser Group and Matteo Manfredi, who created Gestio Capital, preferred by the board over the proposal presented by Alessandro Barnaba, who has been working on the Sampdoria dossier for five months, continue to deal with Massimo Ferrero and with the trust which manages Samp, but so far the squaring of the circle has not been found. There are many knots to solve, starting with the amount to be paid to the trust (35 million), which cannot be negotiated, as it is then destined to satisfy the requests of Roman creditors waiting to be liquidated by Ferrero.
A complicated story, which is creating many tensions in the city. Yesterday evening, shortly before 10 pm, President Lanna came down from Tower B of Corte Lambruschini and with a megaphone explained the state of the art to the ultras. Who have promised to return to the Corte Lambruschini skyscraper at 1.30 pm today, when the meeting of Sampdoria shareholders will resume (in second call) suspended yesterday shortly after the start, with the sole purpose of giving time to Ferrero and the two managers candidates to replace him to find an agreement. Very complicated, obviously. Meanwhile, Alessandro Barnaba, already present yesterday at the headquarters as a minority shareholder and in any case ready to take over with his proposal remodulated several times in recent months, but evidently judged less favorable for creditors by the board of directors, remains at the window. Who, in the end, chose the other. Difficult to understand the scenarios on the horizon, but the impression is that Radrizzani and Manfredi won’t go on indefinitely. Either it closes quickly, or they will leave the table. And, at that point, Barnabas would come back into play. We will know in a few hours.
The other deadline
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Today is also a key day on the salary front: the fees of the members for the first quarter of 2023 must be paid by midnight, under penalty of a four-point penalty in the next championship. The advance of the parachute would allow the Sampdoria club to find part of the resources, but not all. For the others, more help from a bank would be needed, willing to grant it only if it was certain that Sampdoria has a future. Otherwise, with the club at risk of bankruptcy, he wouldn’t expose himself again with Sampdoria.
Plan B
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If then the negotiation with Ferrero breaks down definitively, Radrizzani-Manfredi or Barnaba could bet on a forced capital increase, which should obtain the go-ahead from the Court (probably this will happen, to safeguard the interests of creditors), but would give the possibility Samp to survive as a going concern. The risk would be that of possible legal actions by Ferrero. Who, however, in the first instance, would lose everything: in addition to the money to give to the trust (and its creditors), also the property of Sampdoria. A very high risk for everyone: but who would be better off? And it is precisely on these bases that the board of directors hopes that in the end an agreement will be found with difficulty between Ferrero and the new owners.
Continuous contacts
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The Sampdoria shareholder’s meeting resumed a few minutes ago, while contacts – hitherto unsuccessful – continue between the reference shareholder Massimo Ferrero, the trustee Vidal and the Radrizzani-Manfredi group. Outside the Sampdoria headquarters, in Tower B of Corte Lambruschini, guarded by the police, a few hundred fans have returned and are chanting chants against Ferrero together with the slogans “Hands off Sampdoria” and “Don’t leave here ”. Meanwhile, there are now only a few hours left before the payment of the salaries of the registered players: around 13 million are needed, partially covered by the advance of the parachute for the relegated teams.
May 30, 2023 (change May 30, 2023 | 3:20 pm)
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