DIEHARD
28-02-09, 02:17 AM
Titans get $2m cover from NRL
THE NRL has advanced competition newcomers Gold Coast $2 million to help the Titans cover a recent financial shortfall.
The global economic crisis that is threatening the liquidity of several Sydney clubs hit the Titans late last year, when the club's bank withheld $4 million from a promised loan to fund a development to Skilled Stadium.
Gold Coast needed the money to complete a $30 million "Titansworld'' Centre of Excellence, a six-storey building complete with state-of-the-art training facilities and offices. The bank had initially promised to contribute $18 million toward the venture, but changed its lending policy because of the financial crisis.
Titans CEO Michael Searle confirmed the bank had downgraded its investment to $14 million, leaving the club $4 million short. Searle tried to raise the missing funds from other banks and investors but eventually had to ask for the remainder of this season's NRL grant to be advanced.
The Daily Telegraph understands the amount forwarded was close to $2 million. "The NRL board agreed to advance them the remainder of this year's grant two weeks ago,'' NRL boss David Gallop confirmed.
"It was a highly unusual situation that the Gold Coast found itself in. The only reason that the partnership was prepared to make such a big advance was cause there are no long-term concerns about the club's financial position.''
Searle added that all remaining monies had been raised via a secondary loan from the Commonwealth Bank. "We did find ourselves $4 million short when the other bank changed its lending policy midway through the project,'' he said.
Source: http://www.news.com.au
THE NRL has advanced competition newcomers Gold Coast $2 million to help the Titans cover a recent financial shortfall.
The global economic crisis that is threatening the liquidity of several Sydney clubs hit the Titans late last year, when the club's bank withheld $4 million from a promised loan to fund a development to Skilled Stadium.
Gold Coast needed the money to complete a $30 million "Titansworld'' Centre of Excellence, a six-storey building complete with state-of-the-art training facilities and offices. The bank had initially promised to contribute $18 million toward the venture, but changed its lending policy because of the financial crisis.
Titans CEO Michael Searle confirmed the bank had downgraded its investment to $14 million, leaving the club $4 million short. Searle tried to raise the missing funds from other banks and investors but eventually had to ask for the remainder of this season's NRL grant to be advanced.
The Daily Telegraph understands the amount forwarded was close to $2 million. "The NRL board agreed to advance them the remainder of this year's grant two weeks ago,'' NRL boss David Gallop confirmed.
"It was a highly unusual situation that the Gold Coast found itself in. The only reason that the partnership was prepared to make such a big advance was cause there are no long-term concerns about the club's financial position.''
Searle added that all remaining monies had been raised via a secondary loan from the Commonwealth Bank. "We did find ourselves $4 million short when the other bank changed its lending policy midway through the project,'' he said.
Source: http://www.news.com.au