Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EXCLUSIVE: Alan Savage provides update on Caley Thistle’s investment talks with Portuguese wealth management group

The stand-in owner and consultant reveals plans to get the financial situation sorted before investment discussions can advance.

Alan Savage, chief executive of The Orion Group, and former ICT chairman. Image: Sandy McCook
Alan Savage, chief executive of The Orion Group, and former ICT chairman. Image: Sandy McCook

Alan Savage has put the brakes on any chat of advancing Caley Thistle talks with potential Portuguese investors.

The consultant and former club chairman announced this week that around £3million of loan debt was wiped out after shareholders wrote their amounts off, while others were compensated with new share equity.

It was a monumental step forward for the League One club, which has been staring administration square on.

Reports suggested a Lisbon-based wealth management company were set to meet in Portugal with The Orion Group chief Savage along with Gordon Ritchie, whose GRM Marketing firm are on board to find a buyer of ICT.

The Lisbon-based group, who have footballing interests in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Brazil, are said to be keen to invest in Caley Thistle.

Caledonian Stadium Inverness.
The Caledonian Stadium, Inverness. Image: SNS

No need to rush to sell Inverness

Savage, who confirmed the potential deal could be worth €2.5million – or £2.122m – explained there’s work to be done behind the scenes to ensure he has all the financial answers to questions put to him by the would-be investors.

He told the Press and Journal: “There is no rush to sell the club now. If we go into (negotiations) in a weak position, it will cause more problems that we’ve got already.

“As long as I pay the bills, why do we need to dash into anything?

“The Portuguese have asked a lot of questions, most of which right now we can’t answer. I will be able to answer those in two months’ time.

“That will go out with a teaser document which will show what the balance sheet, for example, stands at, or what the creditors are owed. We’re a going concern, we’re in League One, so it will take that route.

“For better or worse, the club is under my control, probably for quite a while. The mission is to do it game by game.

“There are no plans for me to go to Portugal next week. They would be asking me to bring all the paperwork with me and we don’t have these details yet. We’re no longer on our knees. We don’t need urgent rescuing, because I’m here.

“There is now merchandise in the shop and we’re in a strong position.

“The state is play is I am trying to get the loanees’ deals over the line. They just need to sign their agreements, and we can go from there.

“We’re still trying to steady the ship and get things over the line.

“The city of Inverness needs a competitive football club, and I aim to help improve the situation and help rise up from League One if I can.”

Sir Alex Ferguson has shown support to Duncan Ferguson at ICT. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

No cash injection from Sir Alex

Manchester United fan Savage also offered more detail on the conversation he had with Sir Alex Ferguson on the club’s plight.

Savage, who hopes to provide funds for boss Duncan Ferguson to sign a striker before the end of the month, said: “I read that Sir Alex, or Alex Ferguson as I can call him, put money into the club, but people were putting two and two together and getting nowhere near it.

“He hasn’t put money in, but he offered to help us in any way he can.

“He wants Duncan Ferguson to be given a real shot at being the manager here. He’d like the fans here to give him a chance.

“I think people could see from the second half performance (in the 1-1 draw with Montrose) how well the team was playing.

“If we can add a striker to Duncan’s options this month, that could really help us.”

It’s understood Ketan Makwana’s Seventy7 Ventures, the early preferred major shareholders under previous CEO Scot Gardiner, has not yet provided evidence to support his hopes to inject money into ICT, unlike the Portugal-based suitors.

Inverness manager Duncan Ferguson could land a new striker this month. Image: SNS

Fan’s donation shown to the boss

Savage revealed one tiny example of the goodwill shown towards the club came before the Montrose game last week when a Skye-base fan posted a cheque for £30 to help the club in any way possible.

The ex-chairman, who has vowed not to be distant from the playing and coaching staff, has also paid for striker Billy Mckay’s next coaching badges as he oversees the under-18s this season.

Savage also confirmed that Inverness-based Cairngorm Group, led by David Dowling and director Graeme Bennett, will be installing solar panels on the Caledonian Stadium stand roofs to reduce the electricity bill, which is “very welcome”.

Conversation