Simul Sports

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Julian Jenkins, the former Cardiff City director who led a group seeking to buy Yeovil Town, has revealed his Simul Sports consortium had three attempts at buying the club.

He hit back at “untrue and unfounded accusations” by chairman (we assume he still is anyway) Scott Priestnall and director Stuart Robins who have publicly stated that Simul did not have the finances to complete the deal.

In a statement congratulating SU Glovers, a business led by Matt Uggla and his mother Julie Anne, on the acquisition, posted on his social media, Jenkins called on “all fan groups to unite behind the new owners.”

He said: “I want to be clear and on the record that as a group we made three genuine attempts at a fully funded acquisition, with the most recent taking place in late December of last year.

“Although we were ultimately unsuccessful, we recognised that it would have been counterproductive for the club’s long-term stability and our ownership aspirations to make public comments due to the sensitivity and seriousness of the club’s future at the time of the attempted takeovers, even in the face of untrue and unfounded accusations about all three bids.

“I want to assure everyone that we acted in the best interests of the club and with the utmost integrity throughout the process.”

The most public attempt made by Simul, backed by Damien Sinngh, the Chief Finance Office for online graphic design tool, Canva, along with former Yeovil midfielder Marc Bircham, collapsed in May and Jenkins’ statement suggests they were back in the running in the race ultimately won by the Ugglas.

In his statement, he expressed his gratitude to the Glovers’ Trust which supported his bid to buy the club, adding: “It’s now time for all fans groups to unite behind the new owners and support their vision for propelling this great club forward. Achieving great things is only possible when everyone works together towards a common goal, and I urge everyone to embrace the spirit of achive by unity.

“I hope the club will soar to new heights and achieve incredible success on and off the pitch under the stewardship [there’s that word again!] of SU Glovers, which I believe the supporters and its community truly deserve.”

In April 2022, Priestnall told supporters that he had agreed a deal with Simul but said the group “never put any money on the table.”

He said: “I did not negotiate a deal, I did not hold out, they never put any money on the table and that is the truth. So there has never been a deal in place to sign, it’s just been ongoing discussions and that goes for any takeover (offer) you have heard about. Nobody has put any money on the table to buy the football club.”

In September, Robins told Three Valleys’ Radio‘s ‘In Conversation With….’ programme, that he had it “on pretty good authority” that no other group had put money on the table to complete the deal.

He said: “The difference with me was I did and when the time was to sign the cheque, I did it, as you would with any transaction of this nature.

“There was never any danger of working with the other parties you have mentioned, because they simply did not put the money where it should have been to conclude that transaction.

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Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has said the decision of owner Scott Priestnall to sell the Huish Park site is the reason the club has survived the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shareholder, who owns a 20% stake in the club, said the sale of the stadium and surrounding land to South Somerset District Council in a deal worth £2.8m “had to take place for the club to survive.”

He also told Three Valleys Radio‘s ‘In Conversation With…..’ programme on Tuesday night that he “had it on pretty good authority” that no bidders for the club, including the Simul Sports consortium led by former Cardiff City director Julian Jenkins, put “any money on the table” despite months of takeover talks.

Robins said: “We all have to remember COVID was devastating for so many clubs, including our own, there was no revenue whatsoever and only costs, except obviously there was furlough and whatever.

“The losses are substantial for a club at this level and it had to be financed and we are still here.

Asked about the sale to SSDC completed in May, he said: “A transaction of that type had to take place for the club to survive. There was always the opportunity before the SSDC deal that a developer could have come in and done goodness knows what.

“That was certainly said by (SSDC portfolio holder Councillor) John Clark when he’s been interviewed a number of times and the club has survived because of what Scott has done.

“There were a number of debts that had to be settled and that was driven by the council. Some money has gone in to the football, but there was some moneys that went in to buying the convenents back, so there was a number of areas where that money had to go.”

We certainly know of one interview conducted by Councillor Clark on the Gloverscast back in May, which you can listen to – here.

Julian Jenkins, who was part of the Simul Sports consortium which was in talks to takeover Yeovil Town.

Robins was asked by Three Valleys Radio presenter Adrian Hopper, a former club press officer, whether he had thought he might be going in to business with a group including Simul Sports, well, he referred to him them as “this fella Jenkins.”

For your recollection, the Simul consortium also including former Yeovil Town midfielder Marc Bircham, investment specialist Darren DeLandro and, following the collapse of the bid, Damien Singh, the Chief Financial Officer of online graphic design tool firm, Canva, revealed himself as part of the bid. And “this fella Jenkins“, of course,

In response, the director said: “I was pretty confident it was only going to be with Scott (I went in to business with) because there were a number of parties that had not put their money where their mouth is.

“I have heard a number of parties had put money on the table, but as I understand it that never happened, I have it on pretty good authority.

“The difference with me was I did and when the time was to sign the cheque, I did it, as you would with any transaction of this nature.

“There was never any danger of working with the other parties you have mentioned, because they simply did not put the money where it should have been to conclude that transaction.

He added: “From what I know now, a lot of the stuff you read and here whether it’s on Twitter or via other parties simply is not true.

“I know on very good authority I was the only one that was prepared to put the money in.”

He spoke about his introduction to Priestnall via a mutual friend, saying: “My pal, Dave, introduced me to (Scott), I was invited down to have lunch, one thing led to another and one day Scott asked if I would like to be involved.

“I said I would like to be involved at a meaningful level and I am quite prepared to invest, that’s how it all started and we concluded the transaction four to five months ago.“

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The bid to take over Yeovil Town led by former Cardiff  City director Julian Jenkins is off, the group has confirmed.

In a series of tweets posted on Sunday by Damien Singh, Chief Financial Officer of a online graphic design tool Canva, confirmed the bid by Simul Sports Group was off saying it had made “a series of offers” to chairman Scott Priestnall.

The Australia-based businessman is not a name which has been publicly linked to the group led by Jenkins and involving former Glovers’ midfielder Marc Bircham and finance specialist Darren DeLandro.

The statement read: “Regrettably after a protracted period of due diligence during which we have expended significant time, energy and financial resources, we have had to cease our efforts to secure ownership of Yeovil Town Football Club.

”We unfortunately could not conclude our negotiations despite a series of recent offers with funds placed on our solicitors account.

”Yeovil Town is a special club, I’ve visited Huish Park on a number of occasions and have family in the area. We had big plans to restore the glory days and footballing pride to the community. But disappointingly that has come to an end for us today.

”Myself and the other members of the group, Darren DeLandro and Marc Bircham, acknowledge that this is a difficult period for the fans and we want to wish the Glovers all the best for the future. No further comment will be made at this time.”

The statement from Singh that the group had made offers to buy the club backed by funds contradicts statements made by Priestnall a month ago. Speaking to a group of fans at Huish Park, he said had accepted a deal but claimed the group never put money on the table, read more – here.

The news comes after months of speculation around the potential deal to buy the club from Priestnall which began last June when he confirmed he had been approached by a group to buy the club. In December, Jenkins went public and confirmed his group was in talks which was followed in January by a statement saying said the deal was in the “final stages of due diligence.”


Who is Damien Singh?

Julian Jenkins’ name is the one which most Yeovil Town fans will think of when it comes to Simul Sports, the group which has been seeking to buy the club.

However, it was a name not previously connected to the group, Damien Singh, who made the announcement that the bid is over.

Singh is Chief Executive Officer of Canva, an online graphic design tool which is the product of one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies, valued at Australian $40 billion.

A chartered accountant whose career began working in Bristol where he spent six years at Smith and Williamson before moving to Australia in 2011 where he worked for a number of firms, including Grant Thornton and PKF in Sydney, before joining Canva in 2016.

If you needed an idea as to his personal wealth, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, in February he bought a terraced house in Sydney’s exclusive Paddington district for A$12m.

As for his connection with Yeovil Town and football – well, his statement makes it clear he has family living in the Yeovil area and has visited Huish Park on occasion.

Couple that with the fact he appears to have been based in Bristol at the start of his accountancy career and you at least get a connection with the Westcountry.

 

The news that the Jenkins-led takeover comes just a week after it was confirmed that Priestnall had agreed a deal to sell the club’s Huish Park stadium and land surrounding it to South Somerset District Council for £2.8m.

On Friday, supporter and retired businessman Stuart Robins was appointed to the club’s board of directors after appearing to have bought in to the club as a shareholder.

 

The never-ending saga – a timeline of takeover talks

  • June 28, 2021: Chairman Scott Priestnall announces he has “been approached by a group to buy the club” – see more here.
  • July 30, 2021: In a statement alongside manager Darren Sarll, Priestnall said he was continuing to “talk to interested parties, including development partners” – see more here.
  • September 6, 2021 – The Glovers’ Trust says it believes two groups are in advanced negotiations to buy the club – see more here.
  • October 12, 2021 – The Supporters’ Alliance Group issues a statement calling on Priestnall to invest or sell – see more here.
  • October 13, 2021 – A new filing on Companies House shows Yeovil & Athletic Football Club has taken on the club’s £800,000 loan to Sport England – see more here.
  • October 13, 2021 – The Gloverscast echoes calls for clarity as rumours grow of consortiums led by Director Glenn Collis and former Cardiff City commercial director Julian Jenkins – see more here.
  • November 22, 2021 – The Glovers’ Trust calls on Collis to talk with them about his offer for the club – see more here.
  • December 3, 2021 – Manager Darren Sarll says he would love to remain at the club adding that “until the hierarchy is set in stone, nothing is set in stone” – see more here.
  • December 5, 2021 (a.m.) – The Glovers’ Trust issues a second  statement calling for all parties involved in takeover talks to clarify the situation – see more here.
  • December 6, 2021 (p.m.) – Scott Priestnall issues a statement give groups looking to buy the club seven days to complete a deal – see more here.
  • January 18: Julian Jenkins said Simul Sports was “engaged in the final stage of due diligence” – see more here.
  • March 1 – Finance expert Greg Baker was revealed as being part of the group – see more here.
  • April 22 – Director Glenn Collis, who was thought to have been interested in bidding for the club alongside Simul, quit the club saying he had “questions on the club’s direction” – see more here.
  • April 23 – Priestnall claimed that he had accepted an offer, understood to be from Simul, but claimed: “Nobody has put any money on the table to buy the football club.” – see more here.
  • May 20 – South Somerset District Council confirms it had completed a £2.8m deal to buy Huish Park and land surrounding it – see more here.
  • May 29 – A series of tweets by Damien Singh, CFO of tech start-up Canva, confirmed the bid by Simul was over – see more here.

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Greg Baker, the founder of a London-based finance firm, has been revealed as the backer behind Simul Sports, the group seeking to buy Yeovil Town from owner Scott Priestnall.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the Glovers’ Trust confirmed the founder of ESE Capital “will finance the consortium and the deal.”

Greg Baker

It goes on to confirm Julian Jenkins, former Cardiff City commercial director, finance specialist Darren DeLandro and former Glovers’ midfielder Marc Bircham as being involved in the group.

The Trust also says that member and supporter Terry Stevens had introduced it to Jenkins and subsequently Baker.

Of the delays to the deal, the Trust statement adds: “There have been numerous delays due to Omicron in December, Land Registry (due to the nature of the deal involving various parcels of land) and various aspects of due diligence.”

It added: “There is a huge desire to get this deal over the line and bring about change for Yeovil and Somerset in general.”

There are no details given on timescales for the completion of a deal with the Trust saying Simul has “never committed to dates for completion, only provisional timeframes.”

Last weekend marked 11 weeks since a seven-day deadline set by chairman Priestnall for a deal to be completed expired.

According to its website, Baker’s ESE Capital is involved in investing in house building developments “bringing about positive environmental and social change through each of the projects.”

The connection with a self-declared property investor might be cause for concern that this is someone interested in the land around Huish Park, but the Trust statement confirms Simul’s bid is for Yeovil Athletic & Football Club, the company which runs its football operations including the stadium.

It adds Simul is also looking to purchase a strip of land which runs alongside Western Avenue and the stadium and is presently leased by South Somerset District Council.

Land owned by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited is bordered in red – except the bit in mint green which is owned by Yeovil Athletic & Football Club Limited.

All other land around the stadium will remain in the ownership of Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, a company which counts its directors as Priestnall and his fellow club director, Glenn Collis.