Originally posted by Tomovich
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Anyway, if you are British, you may have heard of PFI. It's the scheme where the cheapskate government doesn't want to spend large tax sums on infrastructure like roads and hospitals and schools. So the government gives that pleasure to a private company.
It's a great get rich quick scheme, I only wish I'd thought of it, the private company builds the road/hospital/school and leases it out to the government for 30 odd years and then the government owns it after that.
Relevance? Well here it is, the private company refinances the deal and that's how it makes hundreds of millions of pounds.
1) The project design/cost is agreed
2) The private company gets a loan from the bank at an extortionate rate approaching 11-12 % interest.
3) The private company throws up the buliding/road
4) The government tarts using it and paying for it based on the cost plus interest at 11-12%
5) The private company now has colateral (the building/road) AND a guaranteed regular income from the government. So it refinances the deal at a rate of about 5-6%. And the profits roll in from the government (tax payers)
I imagine this deal has a similar conclusion. When H&G borrowed the money, they had no club and the club had no planning permission for a new ground. Now the club does have that, plus a grant from the EU (IIRC). They'll be able to refinance it on that basis probably.
Has'nt this all got VERY depressing, when they took over i was gutted, i wanted Dic, but i convinced myself they would'nt miss out on such a wealthy owner unless H&G had really trumped them, promises, no contracts even, in place stating the things they would do for us i thought, great thing's i thought. But after all the internal **** they caused so soon into their tenure i was upset, i never really thought Dic would be back, so the news lifted me, empassioned me even to new heights of confidence, i've woke up every day since, hoping today was the day we would pass into DIC's hand's & once & for all get this club back where it belongs. Now though it is just depressing me, it's not over till it's over but the Dic dream is slowly but surely receeding, imo, We'll get the Stadium Designs soon no doubt, big show & more promises from you know who, i expect they'll be good too, but nothing they say or do will change my opinion of them, i've learnt too much about Hicks especially & his past through all this to do that, i could never trust him. Anyway this is just a mild rant from a glum fan, sorry to go over old ground, just wanted to get it off my chest. 
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