THE HAGUE –
ADO Den Haag comes when it comes to major shareholder United Vansen (UVS) in the hands of club icon Martin Jol. The Chinese have agreed on the sale of the shares to the former player of ADO, UVS confirms. There are still a few hurdles to be cleared to finalize the deal.
Stichting Toekomst ADO Den Haag (STA) and association HFC ADO Den Haag (HFC) are the Dutch shareholders and will soon be informed by United Vansen’s lawyer. Both parties only own a very small percentage of the shares, but must sign the contract with Jol for the sale to go through.
If they don’t want to do that, they have three weeks to find another candidate to take over ADO. That candidate can then be presented to UVS, after which the Chinese owner can decide which party to go for.
Ask if Dutch shareholders want to sign
It is doubtful whether both shareholders will immediately proceed to sign the purchase contract. During the entire acquisition process, the Dutch shareholders and the Chinese United Vansen are already at odds with each other. Deals are already falling off for various reasons.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Dutch delegation said that they were not aware of Jol’s interest. “He can report to the front door if he wants to buy ADO,” it sounded. Afterwards, the Dutch shareholders had known for weeks that Jol wanted to buy ADO.
New Player Restructuring Expert
Another player in the game is Jeroen Reiziger. He has been appointed as restructuring expert for a week. Because things look different for him if the 2.1 million euros debt of ADO is tapped by Jol, he must also be informed by the lawyers of UVS. The role of Traveler stems from the WHOA procedure, a law that is five months old. It is still unknown how exactly he is involved in the deal. It is certain that he does not have a final judgment on the deal, but that he is a voice that must be heard.
If the hurdles have been overcome and all parties agree to the takeover of the shares by Jol, the game is not over yet. The KNVB license committee then needs about six weeks to judge that ADO under Jol is in safe hands and will not get stuck in a financial quagmire in the foreseeable future. Only when the KNVB has also given its approval, Jol can call himself the owner of his childhood sweetheart.
ADO awaits details
The club from The Hague reacts on its own website: ‘ADO Den Haag has taken note that United Vansen has reached an agreement with the Jol group about the acquisition of the shares of the club. ADO is looking forward to the further details of this proposal.’
‘ADO is in talks with several parties together with the restructuring expert. After the details of all offers are known and comparable, the stand is drawn up.’
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