The Everton Football Club Company Limited

Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, December 7, 2004

[Excerpt involving Christopher Samuelson]

Richard Lewis:  “Hi, my name is Richard Lewis.  I've got a very basic question, but I think, a very important one - we read, obviously about the Fortress Sports Fund and they're going to take a chunk of shares to give the club £12.7million, but it has been published in the newspapers that there will be a proposal possibly to go up to 50.1%.  Now that means control of the club and I don't think many people in this room know…... who they are, so could you help us?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Yeah, there is an option in the contract, which is actually on our side.  There's an initial £12.8 million for 29.9% of the club, which is the lowest percentage you can buy without an overall offering, and then.….. that does not involve ownership or even leadership in any way - if it all goes well, there is an option then that we can talk through, about making another £17million investment, taking the investment up to £30million.  Actually…... what someone looking for money can do is go out and try to find it and work hard and meet the right people - hopefully, the right people - talk to the right people and give the right people the support and hopefully they will come up with the goods, but at the end of the day, you can't MAKE the person put the cheque in the bank, so…...I know you've heard the words Fortress Sports Fund quite a lot, so we've invited Christopher Samuelson, who is the Genevan....erm....based head of the Fortress Sports Fund to come to this meeting tonight to (a) say hello and put a face to and answer your questions, if you want to ask him some questions, so Christopher, you might want to come out front here and take the questions of Evertonians.…...who are suspicious of you Christopher.....”

Christopher Samuelson:  “By the way, Bill only asked me to come 2 days ago and he only told me about one hour before this meeting that I might be invited to speak, so my notes are quite small, erm.…..and I'll tell you one thing, I've learned a great deal about……when we first....Fortress Sports Fund, let me begin there, was……we decided to create the Fortress Sports Fund some time ago, to invest in sport generally, and my partner in this is someone called Kevin Neal, who has a financial services business in this country, and operates outside, and he and I have worked together for the last 6 or 7 years. One of the areas we have worked in, is providing financial services to people who are high earners and therefore a lot of sportspeople and people in the football sector as well.  So, when we were suddenly asked, would we consider investing in a football club, we said ‘No’ and then we were persuaded to look at the football club in question, and when we heard it was Everton, which is the club I have followed all my life, I took a close interest.  We originally were asked, would we buy out True Blue Holdings' shareholding of 72% and we responded to that by saying ‘No’, having looked at the financials and everything else, we felt the club needed the money - NEW money going INTO the club, and that was our whole basis on which we negotiated – to put new money in.  And in fact, the share price which had been used, was exactly the same share price as True Blue had paid originally for the shares.  So, no change in that at all, we just used that as the arbitrary value, then it was a question of how MUCH money, well, we cannot go beyond 29.9% because of the fact that the club falls under what we call the Blue Book, which regulates people, organisations or businesses which have raised money from the general public, even although they are not listed on any Stock Exchange.  So, we were limited to that amount, and that so, sort of led us to the fact that, that equated to 12.8 million pounds and that was exactly what we then agreed to raise, which we have raised by the way - we are just waiting on the last regulatory approval for the money to go into the fund, and I'll explain a little bit about the structure of the fund - the fund is an umbrella fund, we call it, technically, in technical terms, a protected-cell fund, and the only reason it in Brunei, is that it's the best jurisdiction and the right laws to use for this kind of structure.  It is also a place where I happen to have one of my offices, so it is easy or relatively easy for us to do.  Brunei is a new financial services centre in the world; they've spent a huge amount of money putting the infrastructure into place.  In fact, the Fortress Sports Fund is the FIRST fund, and the first protected-cell fund ever set up in Brunei, which is one of the reasons this has taken slightly longer than one had expected.  We have drawn on investors from my side and from Kevin Neal's side, who we know well, to put the money into the fund. Yes, we have an option to put more money in, the club has an option to accept it or not, but we're not looking, in any way for control of Everton Football Club.  Why did we agree to invest in Everton?  There are a couple of reasons - first of all, it is a great club with wonderful supporters.  Secondly, every successful football club has, at its very core, an outstanding manager - you have one, I don't need to tell you.  Thirdly, you have to have an excellent Chief Executive - you have one of those too.  Keith Wyness has a wonderful track record and we are very supportive of his arrival at this club.  Fourthly, you have a very dedicated chairman, who, I think if he cut himself, would bleed blue.  I, by the way, have travelled back to London with Bill in his car, having suffered a loss, this loss in particular was one to Tottenham, and it was like going to a funeral when your best friend had died.  He really adores this football club and you can feel the passion with which he supports it and that is exactly what I like.  We believe, and you've seen some of the presentation from Keith tonight, we believe that all of that is attainable and more - in time - you cannot build it overnight, we're here for the long-term, we're investing in the club at a time when it's being valued at a fraction of what some of the other Premier League clubs are valued at, and we believe that the value of course, will rise in time, which is to the benefit of all you here as shareholders, and we want to see the club go on winning and to be highly successful.  Thank you.”

Bill Kenwright:  “Don't go - don't go yet.  Can I just say - WE didn't ask him to buy out True Blue, believe me, I don't know where that came from, but it wasn't from the people on this table.  I'm sure there are some questions.  Keith, that …….erm……Evertonians would like to ask you?”

John Shearon:  “John Shearon.  You've mentioned that you are buying into the club because of...David Moyes, Keith Wyness, us, etc.  You didn't mention that you want to buy into the club to get a profit. You said that the club will float and that the price is low-down, I'm a shareholder, but when that price goes up - I don't want anything back - you do.  So that must be the driving force for you, and the money that Keith Wyness is talking about is £42million to £60million - a cut of that will be going to you.”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Well, let me.…...let me answer that if I may.  Every fund invests ultimately for some gain, but one of the reasons my investors are investing, is exactly the same reason YOU have invested - we want to see a highly successful club - we're not looking to realise a huge sum of money at all, we're just simply there to stand behind and watch the club grow and be successful.”

John Shearon:  “So you are a philanthropic organization?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Well.……”

Bill Kenwright:  “That's a good question - can I ask you that question?  I mean...are....you don't intend there to be profit dividends do you?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “I'm not looking for dividends at all. 

Bill Kenwright:  “....because we don't do them at this club.”

John Shearon:  “So why are you doing it then?  I'm not being...(inaudible)”

Christopher Samuelson:  “I've supported this club all my life, I'm delighted to be able to bring to the table money which is very useful.....”

John Shearon:  “So Christmas has come early?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “(inaudible reply)....and I'll tell you one thing as well, I'm glad of, having talked at length with David he will look after this money just as much as these will....”

Unknown1:  “Thank you for your presentation - very impressive.  A question - because obviously it's a fund - do you have a planned exit strategy?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “We have no intention of selling the shares - at all.”

Unknown1:  “Over 20 years?  5 years?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Well who knows what's going to happen in 20 years time?”

Unknown1:  “So you're prepared to be locked in ad infinitum?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Yes, and we're prepared to put more money in to help this club go on growing.”

Unknown1:  “That's excellent - thank you very much.”

Colin Laphan:  “Colin Laphan. I'd just like to thank you on behalf of probably, quite a few of the fans in the audience tonight, for wanting to...donate so much money to Everton, at a time when we really need it - thank you very much.”

Unknown2:  “OK Mr. Samuelson, you've got 14 days now to, you know, back up what you've just said, and hopefully, you know, we'll take you at face value, and hope this happens, because we have been at similar stages with other people offering money to this club in the past which have, you know, faded away.   What I would like to ask is: - BEFORE this is a done deal, do we have to have an EGM to actually announce this, to go forward?”

Bill Kenwright:  “I think what has to happen is, erm, once the money's in the bank, we then have to present …..(inaudible)….. shareholders meeting - yes there has to be a shareholders meeting......”

Unknown2:  “OK, on the back of that.....”

Bill Kenwright:  “....(inaudible).....the 29% mark...”

Unknown2:  “...on the back of that, and given, you know, the summer of discontent that we've had on the top table, does that mean that, now that True Blue shares are now in Everton stock, certain members of the top table could vote against the said proposal by the Fortress Sports Fund?”

Bill Kenwright:  “If they wanted to – yes.”

Unknown2:  “OK - thank you.”

Wayne Hughes:  “Hello, Wayne Hughes.  Basically, I want to ask - is this going to be an issue of new shares?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Yes.”

Wayne Hughes:  “So therefore, True Blue Holdings, or the individual shareholders now that's broken up, plus the Fortress Sports Fund will own over 75% of the club, if it's a new share?  If you're taking 29%, and they've got 60, then the small shareholders holdings will devalue?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Well we already had....what...73%?”

Unknown3 :  “72%.”

Bill Kenwright:  “72...I'd never thought of that to be honest with you.”

Wayne Hughes:  “So, our say in the club will devalue?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Well...everyone's share value will be cut.”

Wayne Hughes:  “Yeah, but once you own 75%, you can do whatever you want."

Bill Kenwright:  “……(inaudible reply)……”

Wayne Hughes:  “OK - and the other thing I want to ask you Mr. Samuelson - who scored the winning goal in the '66 Cup Final?”

(Inaudible reply, but Mr. Samuelson re -directs the question to Mr. Kenwright)

(General uproar - mainly inaudible, but can hear “Mr. Samuelson! He's asking YOU")

Christopher Samuelson:  “In 1966 I was actually in Munich as a student.”

(More uproar - can hear "So?" from several people, "You're an Evertonian aren't you?” "You're an Evertonian all your life?”   "I wasn't even born and I know")

Christopher Samuelson:  “You've caught me out on that one.”

Colm Kavanagh:  “Who scored in 1984?!”

Paul McMonnies:  “Excuse me Mr. Chairman, Excuse me Mr. Chairman - that man's NOT an Evertonian. He is not an Evertonian.  We'd rather he'd be honest and say he's not an Evertonian.  He said "YOU've got a great manager, YOU've got a great chairman" - Evertonians don't talk "YOU" they talk "WE".

Bill Kenwright:  “I don't know whether you heard that from down here, but there is a suggestion that Chris Samuelson is NOT an Evertonian, erm....”

Unknown4:  “Does it make any difference?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Thank you.”

Unknown5:  “Well, no it doesn't but...”

Paul McMonnies:  “It doesn't, but if he's lying about that, what else is he lying about?”

Bill Kenwright:  “If he's lying about that, what else was he lying about?"

Unknown6:  “Ungrateful!”

Bill Kenwright:  “I think the bottom line is, in 14 days time, as Mark said, a little bit less now, we'll know whether we have...err.....£12.8 million pounds which I have to say is NOT for the immediate - not for January, it's to....erm....it's to give us a cushion for the future, for the ongoing but erm....anyway, I just thought you'd like to meet Chris and hear him talk and erm...we have 14 days to see...erm...if the money goes in the bank.”

Bill Kenwright:  “I think that's Michael Owen at the back there with his hand up...”

Michael Owen:  “Thanks Bill.”

Bill Kenwright:  “Give us a speech Mike....about your name first.”

Michael Owen:  “Well it's something I'm trying to live down as you well know, but erm.....it's nice to see Mr. Samuelson here, and Mr. Samuelson, I'd like to welcome you to the centre of the universe, but just one thing I'd like to ask Mr. Samuelson, if I'm not mistaken he said they're not....the Fortress Sports Fund is not looking for control of Everton, is that correct?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Yes - that's what he said – definitely.”

Michael Owen:  “But why buy 50.1%?”

Bill Kenwright:  “No he didn't say that - he has an option to buy that, but it's OUR option.”

Michael Owen:  “All it is Bill, I'd just like to ask Mr. Samuelson, I'm sure....Mr. Samuelson - have you proved people wrong before?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Can you repeat that?”

Michael Owen:  “Sorry - have you proved people wrong before?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “In what....in what way?”

Michael Owen:  “In any way, because basically, I would like you to prove me wrong, because I'm worried, should I be worried about control of this football club going out of the country?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Let me express the same thing I've already said - we have no interest in control...at all. We're making ……(inaudible)……  putting 29% in there, £12.8 million pounds, we've volunteered to put more money in, erm, originally we came to the figure of £30 million, which was....and it turns out, that if you divide the share price, erm, ……(inaudible)…… so you put 30 million in you come to 50.1% …… (inaudible)…… that's how it happened.”

Michael Owen:  “Don't get me wrong, I mean, the vast majority of Evertonians would love to see this investment, and I would love to see David Moyes being given a good sum of money in the very near future, all it is Bill, we have the prospect of a takeover of the club and there's not many of them come along is there?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “This is not a takeover of the club - you can control if you wanted a business with less than 50% - it's names ……(inaudible)…… on the board that control them ……(inaudible)…… but, I would point out to you that we will have 2 people on the board only, and if you can count the number of people up here you'll see they outnumber us completely, so we don't have control of the club. We're here...we want to help and we'll try and do everything that we can to help the club ……(inaudible)……”

Michael Owen: “So, perhaps we're at crossed purposes - you're talking about just owning 29%....”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Yes.”

Michael Owen:  “...at the moment, sorry...”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Yes.”

Michael Owen:  “... I was talking about the prospect ……(inaudible)…… of you owning 50.1%.”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Well that will be a decision for all of the shareholders....”

Bill Kenwright:  “Mike - that will be a decision for the shareholders because we've got the option.”

Michael Owen:  “OK, thank you.”

Bill Kenwright:  “Mike often comes to my office and we sit down and we have these kind of conversations and I always say to him - Listen, I do find a lot of...erm...good points in what he says, and I don't think that what he is saying is unreasonable at all, but, if you have an Abramovich, would you not want him Mike?”

(Several audible shouts of "No" from the audience)

Bill Kenwright:  “I don't think I would, but I'm asking Mike.”

Michael Owen:  “I'll withhold comment on that!”

Bill Kenwright:  “Ahhhh - who scored the winning goal in the 66 Cup Final Mike?”

Michael Owen:  “Tony Hateley?!”

Michael Owen:  “Just one other thing Mr. Samuelson....”

Michael Owen:  “If we do qualify for Europe this season, can we stay at your place?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “I hope we're not going to play ……(inaudible)…… Geneva.”

Unknown7:  “……(inaudible)…… We'd all buy shares in Zurich Grasshoppers then!”

Bill Kenwright:  “Thanks Mike, thanks everyone, oh - more questions here.”

Unknown8:  “It's a really quick one for Mr. Samuelson - you're talking about your business partner earlier on, who's name I forget - I understand he's also a players' agent?  No problem with that, if we take you at face value..... “

Unknown9:  “Jerome Anderson.”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Kevin......”

Unknown8:  “...can we be assured that if any players...first of all - am I correct in thinking your business partner is also a football agent?”

Christopher Samuelson:  “No.”

Unknown8:  “Fine.”

Christopher Samuelson:  “Kevin Neal is not a football agent.”

Unknown (Bill Kenwright?):  “He's a Tottenham fan.”

Christopher Samuelson:  “……(inaudible)…… I know many of the agents personally, I'll tell you that now, but it is entirely up to the management team here who they buy, when they buy, whatever - we will NEVER interfere in that.  We work with some agents, purely because we do some of the financial services for them, for their clients - that's it.”

Bill Kenwright:  “There's one there....”

Mark Edwards:  “Hi.  One of the topics we haven't covered this evening is...can we receive a précis on the groundshare situation?”

Bill Kenwright:  “Am I allowed to let Chris go?”

Mark Edwards:  “By all means.”

Bill Kenwright:  “So just to sum that up, Chris has come over from Geneva just so you can see the face of the man Keith has been working with a lot lately and I've been talking to a lot and...we will know in 2 weeks won't we?  And I bet you by then he'll know who scored the winning goal in the 1966 Cup Final.  Yes, so....the groundshare....”

[N.B. This is a verbatim transcript, reported with no bias, and only clearly audible speech has been included - any inaudible sections have been marked as such. Further versions may be issued, should inaudible sections be resolved, and/or “Unknown” speakers identified]

Incidentally, Christopher Samuelson was then interviewed on BBC 5Live, gleefully informing Evertonians the world over that - YES! - the Fortress Sports Fund was imminent! Click here to listen to that interview.

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