- Jagdish will own 80 percent of the club, society 20 percent
- The deal will allow Jagdish to bring any investor of his choice – Rollers PRO
- Jadgish coy on the developments
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
Township Rollers are moving closer to transforming from a society into a fully registered private company, a move which will see Jadgish Shah own the majority of the club, Gazette Sport has established.
Whilst many clubs in the country are still locked up in the old model of trading as societies, which has fended off a lot investors in recent times, Rollers appear to be the only club proceeding very well on transforming from this old model. According to the latest information that has been gathered by this publication the club will, in the not so distant future, be trading as a privately owned company.
Sources at the centre of the transformation process have revealed that, though some members of the society remain unsure about the process, the majority are of the view that it is in the best interest of the club.
“Though we still have some who differ with the idea, it is what is in the best interest of the team. We all want the club to grow, and this can only happen if we do this (privatization),” said a source close to this developments.
“This is actually stage 2 of what was agreed with the Executive Committee. The first stage (leasing the club to Shah) was was to create a model in which it would allow the investor (Shah) to run the club without being disturbed. Now we are at a process where we want to hand over the club to Shah full time, and that can only happen if we de-register it as a society into a private company. Shah will take 80 percent, and the society will remain with 20 percent,” stated the source.
Last month, Rollers wrote to Somerset Gobuiwang requesting him to de-register Township Holdings (PTY) Ltd from trading as Township Rollers Football Club. This is said to have been a move that was advised by officials at Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) when the Executive Committee attempted to begin the process of privatizing the club.
Rollers Public Relations Officer Bafana Pheto confirmed that the they have began the process of turning the club into a private company. “We have been requested by members of the community to do so (privatize), we will be selling him shares to own the club, he will be largest shareholder,” Pheto told Gazette Sport.
Though Pheto denied that they will give over 80 percent of shares to Shah, he said that this would allow Shah to bring in any investor under his wing, but the says the society will also have their opinion on which investor Shah decides to bring in.
Reached for comment on the matter Shah only confirmed that the Executive Committee had also wrote to him making the same request as Gobuiwang as he was a partner in Township Holdings PTY LTD, and also that he was aware that the society is in the process of turning the club into a private company.
He further denied that former Mochudi Centre Chiefs investors the Jamali family would be joining the club, but said Batswana should welcome and appreciate if such could happen and not push investors away from the game.