Kieran Maguire has claimed that West Brom’s loan from MSD Holdings offers good news in the club’s ongoing acquisition.
Albion are very close to finalizing the sale of the club, according to Maguire, with conversations ongoing between all key parties.
The finance expert claimed that MSD’s willingness to lend West Brom more money demonstrates that they have faith in the future owners, when they would otherwise be concerned about the existing owner’s capacity to repay.
“Taking a positive spin on this, I think West Bromwich Albion are very much in play as far as the sale of the club is concerned,” Maguire said on The Price of Football podcast [30 November].
“The fact that MSD [Holdings] has been willing to lend could be because they are aware of negotiations between West Brom’s current owner and the prospective owners, have a degree of faith in the prospective owners, and are thus willing to lend on that basis.”
“Otherwise, it is I think just a little bit twitchy about putting more money into West Brom.”
Positives to take from a worrying situation
Initial concerns about the new loan centered on the fact that the club would be stuck with further debt before the new owners arrived, leaving them with more than expected to pay off and complicating an already difficult arrangement.
However, according to Maguire, because of the ongoing negotiations with the prospective buyers, MSD must have had some assurance or belief that they would be able to repay their loan, since they would have been hesitant to lend to the current ownership group.
Taking a positive outlook on what appeared to be another step backwards for West Brom, hopes will be maintained that this is the way things will go rather than an excessively enthusiastic evaluation.
With the buyout talks continuing steadily and John Percy of The Telegraph expressing hope that it will be completed by January [30 November], there is a new sense of optimism, despite previous concerns about the off-field situation.
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