New owner says Inverness Caley Thistle transfers will be case by case basis
Inverness Caledonian Thistle should be under the control of new owner Ketan Makwana by the end of the month – and he has said that even before penning the final contract he would look at potential transfers on a “case by case basis”.
He also confirmed, in an exclusive interview with The Inverness Courier, that he will pay the wages of club staff – including coaching staff and players – in August to “safeguard the integrity of the club so it doesn’t fall into an insolvency event”.
Seventy7 Ventures’ Makwana is well aware about the speculation about him and his motives by those who are sceptical of the move, as he admits there is too little information available for fans but that is something that he hopes to rectify.
But with Caley Jags fans eyeing all developments closely, he said that he has been in contact with George Moodie of the ICT Supporters Trust whom he offered to meet the next time he is in Inverness.
Makwana was not able to state exactly how much he is putting into the club because of a non-disclosure agreement as the lawyers make their way through highly commercially sensitive contract work.
But after a string of poor results, winning just once in July, and the Scottish transfer window closing on August 30 at about the same time that the final contracts are due to be signed, he refused to rule out bolstering the side despite not owning the club.Makwana said: “I have got a very good relationship with the internal team at Inverness, we have formed almost a unity of trust and transparency - I am coming in and I am trying to keep the bricks in the foundation while we move along.
“Let’s say there is a situation where the club is needing to make specific transfers, there is no reason the board can’t come to me and discuss that with me internally and if we feel that it is the right business decision we will advance. We just have to do it in a sensible way.
“We also have to make sure we do it in a way that is not going to impact our future strategy and the way we want to for the club moving forward, so it will be on a case by case basis.”
Makwana underlined that not only from a financial perspective, but in the interests of transparency, fans would know much more before the deal is sealed.
He did go on record to say that with the board, a further announcement will be made prior to the final signing of a contract which grants him a 50.48 per cent majority stake with more details about investments.
“But one of the things that I can promise, as we get closer to the deal being completed, is that I am going to be speaking to the new interim chairman to see if we can do further media to provide a little bit more context,” he said.
“I just want to go on the record to say that I am fully aware of everyone’s desire to know exactly what we are doing and I make assurances that before the deal is officially signed then both sides will come forward in unity to give a bit more detail.”
He added: “So just hold on for a few more weeks.”
One thing he was able to confirm outwith the NDA was that he has secured enough assets to not just take control of the club but to invest in it once he does have control and he did that by starting early.
He said: “When we came to the conversation initially - and this was before I even spoke to [ICT’s chief executive] Scot Gardiner for the first time - we had already started to liquidate assets within the company to put forward for a potential purchase.
“We have actually got two schedules of assets for liquidation, the first is primarily to meet the capital requirements for the club acquisition and the takeover of 50.48 per cent shares.
“And the second liquidation is to actually then have more capital in reserves ready for us to invest in to the football club.
“We have got to consider what the club’s ambitions will be, where we want to be, and furnish the requirements the manager would need.”
