My reply to the email which now release is unmonitored so no idea where to send.
Interested to see reaction I maybe alone in your thoughts!

Good Morning

As one of those supporters who answered the call, and incidentally contributed well in excess of the minimum investment I would like to place on record my objections to Gamechanger receiving 100% of any future dividend.
The club is open praising the fanbase,I know most of this is simply soundbites but this a sadly visible disregard of a group of fans who helped out when the going got tough,were here before gamechanger and will be here after they have gone.
I hope in the name of fairness this decision can be reversed quickly.


Ignored Shareholder


On 29/04/2024 09:30, Ipswich Town PLC wrote:
> Ipswich Town PLC‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌
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>
> Dear Shareholder
>
> As you may have read in the recent club announcement, Gamechanger 20
> Ltd has committed substantial additional funding to allow the
> continued development of our football club, both on and off the pitch.
> Clearly that is excellent news and will provide opportunity for the
> momentum of the last three years to be sustained in the long term.
>
> As you know, it was recognised when majority ownership of the club was
> acquired by Marcus Evans, and more recently since the acquisition by
> Gamechanger 20, that further investment in shares in ITFC by the
> majority owner would result in ITPLC’s holding being diluted.
> Following the substantial investments already made, IT PLC's
> shareholding in the club has been diluted to c1% with c99% being owned
> by Gamechanger 20. Dilution will continue as Gamechanger makes further
> investments in ITFC and I am sure you would agree, that is a very
> positive outlook for all of us and we are hugely grateful for the
> support we are receiving from our majority owner as their involvement
> has led to a massive improvement in every aspect of the club.
>
> There may be occasions in the future when it may be possible for some
> funds to be returned to Gamechanger if cashflows permit. We think it
> is appropriate that Gamechanger should be the sole beneficiary of such
> returned funds given the investment they have made and continue to
> make. The most convenient way to achieve this and to avoid the club
> from introducing any debt in its structure, is for any return of funds
> to be by way of dividend.
>
> Your board is therefore fully supportive of the introduction of a
> mechanism to deal with dividends being made solely to Gamechanger. I
> am sure you’ll agree that none of us, as shareholders in ITPLC,
> bought our shares in expectation of a future dividend, and it is
> important that we give our support so that we can encourage
> Gamechanger 20 to continue their investment programme. There is no
> decision to be made by PLC shareholders in this matter as the Board is
> empowered to act on shareholders’ behalf. We as always will continue
> to be transparent and have therefore prepared this letter to explain
> our positioning.
>
> It goes without saying that Gamechanger remains fully supportive of
> the existence of ITPLC as a minority shareholder.
>
> Hopefully 2024 brings the club similar success to 2023. I am sure you
> will join us in wishing management, Kieran and the team every success
> for the remainder of the current season.
>
> Best regards
> The IT PLC Board
>
> Official email of Ipswich Town Football Club
>
> Ipswich Town Football Club, Portman Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2DA
>
> Please do not reply to this email as this inbox is not monitored and
> emails to this address will not be responded to.

Should read

in my thoughts!

yes being treated like s%%t by american owners. Would have been reasonable to have been consulted, still I will still be a share holder long after game changer have disappeared in to the dust

The letter that’s attached is password protected and I have no idea what my password is. Can anyone advise how to get it (without obviously divulging publicly) as it’s come from an unmonitored email account. Thanks

£400 I'll never see even a tiny % of again then.

We should at the very least have been treated with the courtesy of being consulted. Another surprising slip-up in their treatment of loyal fans by GC, following the N*****h ticketing mess-up.

Markp68
The email came from marketing@service.itfc.co.uk, I suggest emailing them (which I've done in order to update my email address, which they still have as my old one despite my having updated it months ago both on the Club main site, shop, and Town TV!)

Sadly - the first indications of what may lay ahead if this time next week we are a Premier League time. The fact that the club would be pulling in millions and would cost a fraction to just buy us out if necessary. I was never expecting anything back and always assumed it was effectively a 'gift' so not really that bothered. But amazing how as soon as things look like making money we're effectively forced out even despite the amount of money most of us pour into the club as supporters. What is even the point of bothering to call us 'shareholders' if we have no share?!

The Premiersh*t just mirrors the rampant capitalism in society more general and the increasing lack of community of social or moral responsibility that comes with it. I'm not sure all of our fanbase understand the risks now that we lose the heart of what makes this club so special (look at Forest now for instance!) particularly with the international attention. Having said that I recognise how important it is for us if we do get up to stabilise the club - I just won't be shedding tears if we get relegated back to the proper football in the EFL having sorted out some of the bills with the windfall.

I don't know how to solve the problems in football, but the European Super League seems the only likely way to take out these big protected brands who have distorted competition out of all measure and protect those of us who like our football in person. Maybe we could keep a European-wide FA Cup style competition to keep the odd match, but ultimately the only interests of letting these behemoths continue to play in a 'league' with proper teams, is for the a small number of medium-size clubs who coin a fortune by being punching bags (Everton, Villa, West Ham etc.). I think the rest of us would probably be better off cutting cloth according to means and just enjoying competitive domestic football. It's very sad - but going to enjoy this week as much as possible as it's set to be about as good as it gets for us in the modern football world!

I am sorry trncbluearmy, but that is not how business works.
You could see this coming almost 2 years ago.
Of course, if ITPLC' board had asked the shareholders to put more money to match Gamechanger 20 Ltd you would still be in line for a dividend.
Get real please, you were never going to be able to do that at the same level as Gamechanger.

Firstly if not for Gamechanger there'd be no dividends to speak of at all. Secondly, how much did you help Marcus Evans when he wrote off the club debts as part of the sale? It works both ways.
Having said all that this is not great PR and really not good timing at all, with the biggest week of the last 20+ years upon us.

I wonder how much it would 'cost' if instead of a dividend they just offered shareholders a one off discount on a season ticket for those that have one, or set of free ticket vouchers to be used over the next season or two. Even just free entry to a couple of early cup rounds would at least pay a degree of recognition back...

If the supporters have less than a one per cent interest any dividend paid to them would have been paltry in any case. Is this the first indication of extraordinary greed and entitlement by Gamechanger?

Gamechanger should buy out the PLC shareholders. Simples.

Guess I'm speaking for myself but I didn't invest with any intention or hope of generating a return on that investment. Vanishingly few football clubs ever make a profit from which to return money to shareholders anyway - and frankly, without Gamechanger, this wouldn't even be an issue. More than happy for them to receive a dividend if/when appropriate for what they've done for my club.

all the down marks by those with no shares

To all those that put their hard-earned cash into the club in its time of need - ignore the down-votes from non-shareholders, and thank you.

The admin costs to give us all pennies in dividends alone make it unworkable. The shares were an effort to keep our club afloat. Nowadays it probably would be a crowd fund.
Your dividend. And mine (I invested too) is out there on the league table.

When I bought shares in the football club I never expected to see a penny back. The club was in need and I only 'invested' what I could afford to lose. After twenty years without a dividend it smells a bit fishy to be told we will never get one, but agree with others that the costs of paying out a few pence would make it impractical. At least we are finally seeing some real dividends on the pitch.

I gave the club money, never saw it as an investment. I don't know how many of us in total brought in, but I think the vast majority saw it as a gift. Obviously some recognition for our support back then would be nice, but I remain a share holder in the club I love.

Our shares are worthless, not worth the paper they are printed on. We possess no influence with a 1% stake and no financial benefit, in a few yeats they won't exist at all.
So if we are lucky enough th be promoted let's get together and sell them to the Saudis. The club would be worth at least £500m and 1% of that is £5m so a decent windfall. All in favour, raise your hands and say aye.

Short-sighted decision by GC for shareholders who are also long term fans and will be around long after GC has gone. A small dividend would be the right thing to do if promoted in recognition of the support shown, clubs earn £100m+ per season in the Premier League so is easily affordable. Sign of greed and bad PR from the club.

Poor form - why would they do this - any dividends would be de minimus to shareholders (who own less than 1% & will be diluted to a fraction of that with the new investment). The admin costs are also tiny as they have to send shareholders the PLC documents in any case.

Is this the first signs of a US clamour for a Premier League pot of cash?

The timing stinks too, especially in such an important week - it's not the money, it's the principle of protecting minority rights that should be upheld - seem so odd after Gamechanger haven’t put a foot wrong so far - a real shame to disenfranchise loyal fans & shareholders by simple greed when the costs are so minimal!

The email was also sent from a no-reply address & the document was password protected (with no password given (hmm!)



Best

James

Solidarity with the aggrieved shareholders. This is a peanuts measure in the grand scheme of things so no need to be cheap and ruthless, and the owners could have added to their deserved goodwill by either treating all shareholders the same or, preferably, buying out the fan/shareholders. Walking on them with disregard (eg no consultations) is very poor form.

Firstly, well done TWTD for reporting on this. The rest of the local media don’t appear to be interested. With regards to the matter of the email, l would just mention that l got a letter from the Pcl, as l am sure others did. Anyway, it would seem from some of the comments on here that we Plc shareholders are a bunch of wealthy people who were looking to make a quick buck. Anyone with an ounce of business knowledege would know this was not the case, as buying shares in a failing football club, or most football clubs for that matter, is hardly a wise investment. As mentioned the share sale was a cry for help by the Club in difficult times, and a great number responded. I have no doubt that most if not all, like me, did not Pat a large sum, but just what they could just about afford.The take over by the Americans was bound to lead share issues to raise capital, thus diluting the Plc percentage, and l think most of us realised that.However the manner in which this development has been dealt with by the Plc Board leaves a lot to be desired. The timing of the announcement is woeful, given the crucial stage of the season.Also, from a purely business perspective, they have simply rolled over, and are using the significant progress of the Club and the substantial new investment as a cover.l do think that it shows a lack of respect to the shareholders, knowing full well that their great loyalty to the Club would not result in any great protest. I bought shares to help the Club at a very difficult time,in the knowledge that it was highly unlikely that l would see a return. It was obvious that this was even more unlikely following the new share issues.
I have no problem with any dividends being paid to Gamechsnger, as any dividends l would get now would not be worth the bother. Maybe a simple share for share arrangement would have been better. Make no mistake our American friends are not in this as an act of benevolence, they expect a return, it would be negligent of them not to, particularly when Org are a pension fund. How long will they give it, we don’t know. I have no doubt that when they do the Club will be in a better place, structurally, financially, and on the field. Who knows the Clubs value if they do sell, might well be such that our 1% of the shares might mean a small return. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Don’t see why some assume GC is behind this? Looks to me more likely the PLC board has taken this action at behest of main club board and suspect driven by a desire to reduce the costs of administering any future dividend to 3500 Holders who now own less than 1% (which will likely reduce to below 0.5%). To put this in perspective, if a dividend was £5m, that would give less than 50k to PLC shareholders (simplistically around £15 each). As the PLC stake declines that could be £5

So the proposal is not completely unreasonable but the timing is woeful and the explanation makes it appear they don’t really give a cuss. It’s certainly a poor look for the PLC Board incl Mike O’L.

A fairer solution may have been to offer to buy back the shares held by the 3500. But even this wouldn’t make everyone happy as the clubs future valuation in the EPL may be much higher. If we are promoted, it looks like a minimum valuation will be north of £300m, so circa 1% is £3m. Simplistically that’s £500-1000 per PLC.

Strange timing if nothing else!!

Like all of us i never expected to make any money from these shares but if we are being diluted further then maybe they could offer us something in return? Some tickets? A discount? Do we still have any shares? It's just not clear to me...