http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?chid=4&schid=651&secid=0&cid=222217 MÉXICO - El empresario mexicano Jorge Vergara dijo que cuando negoció la compra de las Chivas del Guadalajara no tenía los 190 millones de dólares que ofreció para hacerse de la propiedad del club más popular del fútbol mexicano. When he was in talks to buy the club he didn't have the money to buy it. He affirmed that the other owners likely wouldn't have negotiated with him had they known. The club, however, now operates in the black.
Wow, if those quotes were really said by Vergara, the MLS better make him prove that he has the capital to sustain MLS ownership. We don't want another team contracted after only a few years of existance.
MI Espanol no es bueno...could one of the many bilingual friends of this board post an exec. summary of the article in English, please. Thanks.
My spanish is only so-so, but what fuegofan said is correct from what I gather. He lead the previous owners of chivas to believe that he was richer than he actually was.
A couple more interesting nuggets from that piece: Vergara says that he's covered the $16 million that Chivas has given up in sponsorships by issuing Chivas "bonds". Hmmm. If I were running the due diligence for MLS, that's certainly something I'd like to learn more about. I'm sure that however he's structured those debt obligations (assuming that's what Chivas "bonds" must be) he must've limited their recourse such that they wouldn't reach his other interests, but it's still something you'd want to know more about. He also says that he's going to launch about 40 new products with the Chivas image. Perhaps one of those new products should be a line of better shirts:
I would think Phil Anschutz and Lamar Hunt would be able pretty damn well to spot whether or not Vergara's legit. He wouldn't have made it this far if he was completely fronting.
Yeah, I hate you Liam, but I agree. You can buy Chivas with no money, it's kind of hard to buy the other teams that he owns without any.