Email from LFU re The Future

[Another Northern Soul]

To: Shareholders in Leeds Fans Community Benefit Society




Your vote on the future of Leeds Fans Utd

A huge amount has happened since April 2015 when we launched the share offer for Leeds Fans Community Benefit Society ('CBS') to enable fans to invest in the potential for fan ownership at our club. We have held talks with a wide variety of potential owners of the club, many of whom were enthusiastic about the concept of minority fan ownership in the club. We have also built a very constructive relationship with Massimo Cellino, which we still have. Indeed in October last year he said that he would sell the entire club to the fans, through Leeds Fans Utd. Sadly that offer was short lived and we haven't yet been able to achieve the goal that we all set for ourselves - a real voice for the fans in the club.

As shareholders and fans you have been very patient and supportive throughout this time. We believe that it is only right at this stage that we come back to you to ask for your continued support as we move forward into the new season. We will therefore hold an advisory opinion poll of all shareholders in Leeds Fans Community Benefit Society as to whether we should continue our current project to achieve a stake in the club for fans, or return the “90%” money held in Escrow by our lawyers to you. The “10%” money deducted by our lawyers for running expenses has been converted into the shares you each own and cannot be returned; however, you will still own those shares and the CBS will still exist for the time being.

The case for continuing:

Although matters have stabilised at the club in the last few months and the appointment of Garry Monk, his backroom staff and other senior appointments are very welcome, there is still a chance that there will be a change in ownership in the future. We are in an ideal position now to take advantage of that and achieve a stake in the club for fans, either by working with potential buyers before they buy the club, or negotiating with them afterwards. We have built a great platform from which to achieve fan ownership. We have over 2,000 Leeds fans who have invested their hard earned money, with total commitments exceeding £500,000. That is a great 'franchise' that any owner of the club cannot help but respect. We also have a structure through which we can raise substantially more money if needed.

If we dismantle all that we will not be in a position to quickly take advantage of any opportunities that arise. As they say; 'you've got to be in it to win it'

The case for discontinuing:

We have been trying to achieve our goal of fan ownership for almost 18 months without success. We regard the chance of achieving minority fan ownership while Mr Cellino and GFH own the club as low. Your guess is as good as ours as to how long they will remain the owners. Although there appeared to be a period earlier this year when Mr Cellino wanted to exit, he now appears to be more settled in his intention to continue owning the club. Consequently the prospect of achieving fan ownership in the club in the very near future appears low.


That's the choices:




If we discontinue the current project to achieve fan ownership in Leeds United then all CBS shareholders will receive 90% of the money they have invested back and the CBS will continue to operate for now.
If you continue to support the current project we will be in a position to take advantage of any future opportunities to secure a stake in the club for fans.






The Directors of Leeds Fans CBS recommend that you vote 'yes' to continue the project.

The task of achieving a stake in the club for fans was always going to be a long term one and we can only be in a position to achieve it if we remain fully mobilised and fully funded. But the decision is up to you as shareholders and fans.



What happens if you vote 'yes':

If shareholders vote to continue the project then invitations will be issued for additional directors of the CBS to take the project forward. Elections to appoint those directors will be held at the earliest opportunity. The current Directors have indicated they are willing to continue to serve as Directors of the Society.



What happens if you vote 'no':

If you vote to abandon the current project, the current Directors will remain in place to oversee repayment of 90% of shareholders' money and run the CBS for the time-being in a reduced form.



Note Well:

You should note that this is not an individual invitation to shareholders to ask for their money back. If the majority of shareholders vote to abandon the current project then all shareholders will receive their “90%” money back, irrespective of how they have individually voted. Likewise, if the majority vote to continue then all shareholders' “90%” money will remain in the CBS’s lawyer’s Escrow account.



How will the vote work?

The vote will be held under the rules of the society and will be on the basis of one member, one vote. This means every full member has a single vote in the opinion poll regardless of how much money they contributed. Group members have a single joint vote through the group’s principle member.

The question on the poll will be: “Should Leeds Fans CBS Ltd CONTINUE its current project to achieve a stake in Leeds United for the fans?”. There will only be two answers: “Yes – continue” and “No – return the 90% money”.

For sake of clarity, the members with a valid vote are those whose name appears on the Ordinary Share Certificate. The Ordinary Share Certificate (which was emailed after your investment was confirmed) also contains your membership number; the confirmation email you received also contains the address details we hold about you and any changes you have requested since then have been confirmed to you by email. Contact the society onoffice@leedsfanscbs.com if you want further guidance and help with voting.

The result of the opinion poll (that is, whether members have chosen Yes to continue the current project or No) will be decided by a simple majority of all validated votes cast indicating Yes or No. For sake of clarity, all spoilt or invalid votes will be discarded and will not form part of the result.

The poll is conducted by the directors and is intended to allow members to advise them how they wish to proceed. The directors have unanimously agreed to implement the guidance advised by the vote regardless of their own views.

The register of members eligible to vote is the Society’s members’ register held by the society at 5pm Sunday 17th July 2016. No entries will be added to this list after that time.

Members whose details have changed recently can contact the society on office@leedsfansutd.com orpolling@leedsfanscbs.com to for them to be updated. Where possible a revised invitation to vote may be sent but this cannot be guaranteed and the directors accept no responsibility for votes that cannot be cast due to incorrect details. The directors are aware some members may be on holiday at this time so the voting period will be held open for 28 days.

The vote will be conducted online by email invitation to members except for members who have previously indicated they’d prefer a postal vote; those members will receive a paper form and it is the member’s responsibility to ensure their vote is received on time by the society. No other voting method is acceptable. Online invitations will be sent by email from the address polling@leedsfanscbs.com or survey-noreply@smo.surveymonkey.com and members are advised to add these addresses to their email client to prevent the email being treated as junk or spam.



Critical dates for the poll are as follows:

Tuesday 19th July 2016. Email invitations to vote will be sent to members using the members’ register of 17th July 2016.

Monday 18th July 2016 to Friday 29th July 2016. Postal voting forms will be posted.

Monday 15th August 2016, 5pm BST. The email voting poll will close.

Monday 22nd August 2016. Final date for receipt of postal votes at Revie Road office.

The votes will be validated and counted. The result will be announced as soon as possible afterwards. Valid votes can only be made via the email invitation or an official postal voting form; no other method is acceptable.

The directors reserve the rights to amend these procedures in the event of exceptional circumstances and to use the guidance given along with any other relevant matters in implementing the future of the current project and the CBS.



You can cast your vote by clicking the button below. You DO NOT have to vote now – you have until Monday 15th August 2016 to vote.

When you have voted your decision CANNOT be changed so please take you time to decide before voting.

[NottinghamWhite]

It'll be a remain vote on this referendum, don't miss the money so not bothered whether I see it again or not.

[Another Northern Soul]

Very good email too I think.