New Hearts Takeover Link

Reports are indicating that a consortium who tried to bid for Hearts in 2005 are considering a second attempt to buy out majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

Led by two Edinburgh businessmen Fred Wood and Pat Munro, the consortium attempted to take control of Hearts ahead of Romanov in 2005 and claimed that they had funds of up to £30 million to call upon. However it’s doubtful if that ever was the case.

Now it is believed that Wood and Munro can call upon heavy investment from Iceland, as well as the Middle East to bolster their bid.

Munro gave an interview to The Sun (always a reliable resource!) and this is what he had to say:

‘We have people in Iceland and in the Middle East we are talking to at the moment – we are pushing ahead with various things.

‘The fans and smaller shareholders are unhappy about Romanov’s holding of the club and how he runs it.

‘Our goal is to take over the club and buy Romanov out.

‘Our group of investors, from Edinburgh and the Middle East, want to build a new stadium for the club with a nearby hotel, bank, casino and supermarket.

‘We are quite interested to have Icelanders on board because of their interest for British football and good reputation in business.’

It is true that shareholders and supporters of Hearts alike are getting increasingly concerned with Romanov’s management style at the club. They have seen the most promising new dawn arguably in their history being effectively shot to bits after a series of bizarre decisions with regards to members of the coaching and playing staff since the beginning of last season.

However there are two things I’d like to say on this. One is that it’s going to take one hell of a bid to get anywhere near shifting Romanov, who has made it very clear that he has a lot of plans for Hearts, starting with the stadium re-development in the summer. He is showing no signs of wanting out at this stage, so any deal would have to financially benefit him to the point where any potential profits he forecast from a future sale of the club would be recouped. Can anyone actually see that happening just now?

The other thing is that we should be very wary of taking just any alternative we have to a regime we’re not happy about. That is effectively how Hearts ended up with Romanov in the first place. The shareholders and fans hated the Chris Robinson regime so much that they’d have pretty much taken any serious bid to get rid of him, which they ultimately did with Romanov.

Personally I can’t see this materialising.