buddiecat Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 SMiSA Summer Update During the close season the current SMiSA committee of 11 members have been involved in the continued promotion and attainment of the Trust principles and aims, and although we hope to have even more additions and achievements to report on later this month, you will see below that despite the close season and holiday period that as a Trust Board we have strived to maintain our efforts. The Trust is continuing to grow in every sense of the word thanks to every member’s involvement and support which ultimately benefits St.Mirren, the fans and the community now, and for the future. Over 200 members – from 65 members 6 of whom made up the committee, in January 2014, there has been a sustained and steady increase and just last week the membership passed the 200 mark, 11 of whom are actively recognised as the committee, or to use the legal term ‘board members’. This increase has allowed the initiatives below to be addressed with, so far, positive outcomes. SMiSA Panda Club – has been rebranded for a second season at a cost of £2500 which ensures the concept remains open to young potential saints fans of the future allowing them to attend fully supervised coaching and match attendance for only £2 (zero cost if they are season ticket holders) YD Academy Sponsorship – The Trust is recognised as the youth academy’s main sponsor and during the month of July a total of £1400 + £400 + £79 in sponsorship has been used to purchase vital equipment for the academy. (new balls, training software etc) which you will see photos of on the website promoting the sponsorship. Player kit sponsorship – Last season the Trust sponsored two player kits (details in any match program), specifically James Marwood home kit and Mark Ridgers away kit. At the end of the season the relevant players shirts are passed to the sponsors and names of Trust members are drawn randomly. The Trust members who won these two tops were Alan Jones and Ian Smart who have both been contacted and collection of the shirts arranged. This season however it is only intended to sponsor one player kit at a cost of £350 and this will be arranged shortly with the clubs commercial department and again at the end of the season there will be a draw made within the membership. St.Mirren General Manager – Regular monthly meetings have been taking place for some time now and have become a matter of routine engagement and are always attended by Brian Caldwell, at least one representative of the Youth Academy and two of the Trust committee. Although you will have read above about some of the items undertaken in support of the clubs youth academy it is also of benefit to SMiSA in that any projects or initiatives the Trust is undertaking will ensure we are supported and assistance is provided where required such as events, share purchase, facilities, promotion of the Trust etc etc and more importantly that dialogue is maintained between both parties. As a member of SMiSA if you have any points you would like to be taken up with the general manager, or indeed anyone at the club, please do not hesitate to contact us and your point will be submitted for discussion at the the following meeting. Fan ownership – As you will be aware, the trust board has been working with former St Mirren director Gordon Scott to investigate the feasibility of a joint offer for the majority shareholding in the club held by the consortium, and we made all members aware of this by email on 1 July We were delighted by the feedback we had to the announcement, which was overwhelmingly positive, and that has encouraged us to keep pushing forward. To recap, the model we are working on would see meaningful fan representation over the short and medium term, and majority fan ownership over the long term. The idea is that Gordon will put up the majority of the cash for an offer to the consortium while the trust fundraise the rest. If the offer was accepted, Gordon would become club chairman and SMiSA would receive a place on the board, but would continue to fundraise to buy Gordon’s shares at some point in the future. We are doing this because we believe no one will take better care of our club than you, the fans. We also believe this model offers us the most viable and sustainable way of making that happen. But as we made clear at the time, we are still at the early stages of a very long process. There remains plenty work to be done before we could make a formal offer to the consortium, or be in a position run the sort of fundraising campaign required. We are conscious this is the first communication on the subject since the initial statement, however we have been busy behind the scenes in the past month. As we are sure you would understand, such a complex undertaking takes a lot of time and effort to do properly, and we are keen to ensure everything is carried out in a professional manner. Among other things, we have been researching fundraising models, budget projections and legal considerations. We are excited by the possibilities of what we are working on, but are determined to make sure our model is viable and robust before putting anything on the table. We would ask that you bear with us in the meantime as we will update members further once we have something more concrete to share. And we would reiterate that any potential deal would require to be voted on by the SMiSA membership before it could be agreed. Private Share Purchase – Before the potential for the Trust to consider pursuing the consortiums 51% shareholding it was public knowledge that the Trust was intending to buy St.Mirren shares from other shareholders and several offers were taken up. In light of the Fan Ownership initiative general purchase of privately owned shares will cease until further notice (pending the outcome of the 51%). The last of the pending purchases was completed recently and no further offers will be initiated. At this point therefore the Trust shareholding in St.Mirren FC is as follows: Original shares purchased from club = 3877 shares Private shares purchased since Nov 2014 = 2465 shares at a total cost of £12,325 Total shareholding = 6342 This equates to 3.3% shareholding in St.Mirren Acknowledgement – the Trust board would like to thank you for your continued involvement with SMiSA and we would hope that you help promote the Trust at every opportunity and encourage others to get involved and help ensure collectively we all continue to MAKE A DIFFERENCE to the club and the community. Any feedback, questions or comments are always appreciated therefore please do not hesitate to get in touch at any time either by replying to this email address or on facebook.com/1877SocietyLtd or twitter.com/1877SocietyLtd Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted August 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Good update. A few questions..... Do the Consortium not own more than 51% since I believe they bought out some large share holdings to try to achieve a 75% controlling stake along with KMcG and GLS. What is to stop an inflated price to buy being agreed with the Consortium given that GLS will ultimately want the same deal? What happens to the shares of the remaining minority shareholders - would they be offered the same right to sell at the same price the Consortium and GLS receive? The consortium have been buying shares ever since SMiSA began to do so, i would expect it to be more than 51% now. GLS and KMcG have an agreement with them which can offer a 75% share to any prospective buyer. The members of SMiSA will vote on whatever price the consortium will accept, i would trust that the members will vote against buying at an inflated price and also against unrealistic terms. The only way of achieving a majority shareholding is to buy shares from the consortium, their shares are the only ones which have any value at the moment, that value for us (the supporters) is to save our club from being available to any speculators. The aim is to buy no more than is needed to achieve the majority share, which will allow us to block any speculators from using our club for their own gain. We will need all the money we can get to be used to invest in our club and make it grow on our terms, so remaining minority shareholders will not be asked to sell their shares to us, they can (and i believe will) work with us to improve the standing of the club. The club would then be a true community asset and never a saleable asset. One club - for us, by us. I must state these are my own thoughts and wishes, hopefully you agree with them or constructively argue against them for the good of our club. P.S. I went for a nap after my dinner and woke up 6 hours later, thats what i call a power nap, and is also why i am typing at such a ridiculous time of day, cant remember the last time i saw 3 o'clock in the morning. Edited August 17, 2015 by buddiecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud the Baker Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Fiver a share - is that for the consortium too? Edited August 17, 2015 by Bud the Baker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted August 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 Fiver a share - is that for the consortium too? Sorry, I cannot comment on share prices, that is all part of the negotiations which are ongoing. The price we need to pay to get this deal done will be made known to members when and if we have reached agreement on a sustainable figure with the consortium, then we all vote on whether we agree or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud the Baker Posted August 17, 2015 Report Share Posted August 17, 2015 (edited) Fiver a share - is that for the consortium too? Um, shurely shome mishtake, hic Edited August 28, 2015 by Bud the Baker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted August 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Update below Edited August 27, 2015 by buddiecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted August 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2015 Fellow members You will already be aware the Trust committee has been working with former St. Mirren director Gordon Scott in recent months on a joint offer for the majority shareholding in the club held by the consortium (http://www.smisa.net/news-archive/180-smisa-statement-fan-ownership-gordon-scott). Below is an update on progress with that. The model we are working towards would - if a deal is agreed - see Gordon become chairman and majority shareholder, while SMiSA would substantially increase its shareholding and receive a place on the board. The Trust would then continue to fundraise over the long term to buy out Gordon's shares, meaning the fans would ultimately have majority ownership of SMFC at some point down the line. While the current board deserve enormous credit for all they have done for the club over the past two decades, they have made it clear they want to move on and they will, at some point, sell up. We believe our model is the best possible option for the club and for Paisley and see it as the only viable way to keep St. Mirren in the hands of the people who will care for it best...you. The news is that SMiSA representatives and Gordon recently met with members of the consortium for some initial discussions around our offer. Nothing has been agreed, and we would stress more work will be needed before there could ever be an agreement. But the discussion was positive and all parties are committed to working together to look at routes through which agreement could be found. Of course any deal would only be agreed in principle - nothing can or will be signed without first being approved by a vote of all SMiSA members. In the meantime the SMiSA committee will continue to work behind the scenes to refine our model. As you can imagine a share purchase of this size is a massive undertaking. In the past few months we have been very busy as we work through the financial, fundraising and legal aspects of the deal and there remains a lot of work to be done on our side. We have also met with colleagues at the ‘Foundation of Hearts’, who have successfully pulled off a scheme similar to our own, and would like to thank them for their advice, which has been a massive help to us. In terms of further announcements, we want to make sure we are as open as possible but hope you would appreciate the negotiations bring a need for confidentiality, meaning there are aspects we simply cannot go into for now. With such a complex deal, negotiations were never going to be straightforward or be over with quickly. However we will continue to keep members up to date as soon as there is something we are able to report. The SMiSA Committee BBC St.Mirren Latest St Mirren 2-3 Livingston Greenock Morton 0-0 St Mirren St Mirren sign up defender Watson Annan Athletic 1-2 St Mirren St Mirren 1-2 Dumbarton SMiSA Forums Latest Smisa Update Summary Report From Agm 4Th April Last Chance Saloon - Coys ! ! ! ! Smisa Agm 4Th April Website content and images copyright The St.Mirren Independent Supporters Association (SMiSA). SMiSA is operated as an Industrial and Provident Society 1877 Society Ltd. Registered in Scotland with Company Number SP2624RS Website designed and hosted for SMiSA by Big Front Door Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beyond our ken Posted January 26, 2016 Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 No updates since August? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 No updates since August? Not on here but they are on the SMiSA website which you can link to above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 BID FOR THE CLUB – PUBLIC MEETING ON SATURDAY As you will already know, there has been major progress of late on our joint bid with former St Mirren director Gordon Scott for the majority shareholding in St Mirren. As a result of that we are holding a public meeting on Saturday at 12.30pm in The Wynd Centre, School Wynd, Paisley. Existing SMISA members are being asked to come along at noon for the trust’s AGM, where we will deal with routine trust business.Non-members should join us at 12.30pm for a presentation and Q&A on the bid, where you can put your questions to Gordon and the SMISA committee. Be aware capacity in the venue will be limited, so in the event of exceptional demand entry will be first come, first served. See you there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 Be aware capacity in the venue will be limited, so in the event of exceptional demand entry will be first come, first served. See you there! Could the meeting be repeated for those locked out/unable to make it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 Could the meeting be repeated for those locked out/unable to make it? There will be more John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 There will be more John. Good stuff Peter.Hope there's plenty locked out on Sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazmc83 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 (edited) Great new website, that's me signed up #buythebuds. Edited April 15, 2016 by gazmc83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 (edited) Info on bid available on new website, www.smisa.net Edited April 15, 2016 by buddiecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 (edited) Edited April 17, 2016 by buddiecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 New rain jackets for the ballboys, they have got hoods - but i didn't see them using them in the rain yesterday, maybe hoods aren't cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pick Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 New rain jackets for the ballboys, they have got hoods - but i didn't see them using them in the rain yesterday, maybe hoods aren't cool. they have hoods, had to get the lads to tuck them in as i could not see the SMISA badge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSS Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 That's not fair on the lads with their backs turned. PS.Can they be told to slow down when giving the ball back to the opposition? ⚽???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddiecat Posted April 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 (edited) http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/ill-put-saints-back-top-7781814#ICID=sharebar_twitter Edited April 18, 2016 by buddiecat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Hadn't realised the ballboy tops were new - thought they'd been wearing them all season and I'd only just noticed on Saturday! Was there any chance of a deal with JD to get some of the Saints branded ones they're clearing out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1877SMFC Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 Can you confirm if there is a meeting at Saporito's in Gauze St this Wednesday ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewhiteman Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Can you confirm if there is a meeting at Saporito's in Gauze St this Wednesday ? yes and no there has been a meeting organised where a couple of people have been invited from each of the various fan groups, buses, websites, fans council etc, with a view to getting feedback and ideas from them and the buy in mood from their respective groups. basically were just trying to cover all the bases and ensure no one is left in any doubt as to what we are trying to achieve, and how. saporito can only accommodate about 20-25 people in the room provided by them hence the above however it is the intention to have a further public meeting in a larger hall within the next couple of weeks (but not on the 1st May !) therefore we would appreciate any feedback on this point to be able to gauge the demand for venue, all thoughts welcomed on likely attendance (or not) thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vambo57 Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hire the Town Hall for a Public meeting on BuyTheBuds. Invite the whole of Renfrewshire/East Renfrewshire via all free media. Spread the word as much as possible. If people can't afford £12 per month, allow them to pay what they can afford, or even a donation. Apparently crowd funding can be quite successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWalesBud Posted April 28, 2016 Report Share Posted April 28, 2016 That's me signed up. Out of the loop a wee bit here in Llandudno, but happy to be involved in #BuyTheBuds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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