Bad news for Saxo-Bank

iainf72
iainf72 Posts: 15,784
edited December 2008 in Pro race
IT Factory have filed for bankruptcy

Not sure what their financial commitment to the team was but can't be good news
Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

Comments

  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    And there's an exciting fraud story attached to it.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/ ... 1-06-50-21

    Sounds like Riis needs their cash.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Interestedcp
    Interestedcp Posts: 48
    iainf72 wrote:
    IT Factory have filed for bankruptcy

    Not sure what their financial commitment to the team was but can't be good news

    Since ITF was going to be their new main sponsor from 2009, this will leave a massive hole in Team CSC-SB's budget. It will not be easy for Riis to find a new main sponsor.
    Riis says he will keep the team running.

    The IFT CEO ran some kind of leasing pyramid scheme, besides committing massive tax fraud. The CEO was a charismatic gung-ho type who ran the company as a dictator. IMHO all the signs of a classic incompetent psychopat who bluffs "everyone" and then run the company into the ground.

    --
    Regards
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    The team was supposed to be presented today, the new 2009 kit unveiled and more. What a mess. But usually riders sign their contract with a legal entity owned by the managers, not the sponsors, so the riders will be signed up to get their wages from Riis Cycling. Clearly Bjarne Riis now has a shortfall to make up and I can't imagine too many sponsors knocking on the door in this environment.
  • moray_gub
    moray_gub Posts: 3,328
    iainf72 wrote:
    And there's an exciting fraud story attached to it.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/ ... 1-06-50-21

    Sounds like Riis needs their cash.



    It would be suprising if he didnt

    MG
    Gasping - but somehow still alive !
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    I'm a bit concerned here. We have one of the biggest teams in the sport and it is having to resort to raising money from dodgy companies that no one has heard of which now collapses amid talk of fraud, the hells angels and Interpol.

    Not so much for the riders, but for the sport as a whole, it says a lot about the financial health and the reputation of the sport that no big sponsor wanted to get involved. If the biggest team in the world suffers from this, it makes you worry for the outlook of smaller teams.
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,718
    Indeed, kind of makes you feel sorry for Riis...
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
    My blog and pod...
    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • Sirius631
    Sirius631 Posts: 991
    Kléber wrote:
    I'm a bit concerned here. We have one of the biggest teams in the sport and it is having to resort to raising money from dodgy companies that no one has heard of which now collapses amid talk of fraud, the hells angels and Interpol.

    Not so much for the riders, but for the sport as a whole, it says a lot about the financial health and the reputation of the sport that no big sponsor wanted to get involved. If the biggest team in the world suffers from this, it makes you worry for the outlook of smaller teams.

    It reminds me of Le Groupment, which was a pyramid selling outfit. The team when bang before much serious racing was done, leaving Robert Millar and Luc Leblanc without a team. Riders have better job security these days, their contracts being with a team entity rather than the main sponsors.

    Sirius631
    To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Am i imagining it or at the outset of the Pro-Tour did the bond payable by the teams not guarentee the riders wages?
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • OffTheBackAdam
    OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
    Kléber wrote:
    Idodgy companies that no one has heard of which now collapses amid talk of fraud,

    "About IT FACTORYIT FACTORY's mission, vision and business model. ... For 10 years, IT FACTORY has been successful at developing and selling applications for Lotus ..."


    Not exactly a fly-by-night organisation, having been in existance for 10 years.
    Shades of Enron here?
    We've not heard of it before, but how many Danish companies can you name off the top of your head? (PS, "Bacon" dosn't count! :wink: )
    Suddenly a company finding itself going down the tubes, the CEO having concealed some very dodgy dealings from the board and shareholders, isn't unheard of.
    Afterall, Gordon Brown's been doing it for a decade here.
    Currently, the CEOs being sought by Interpol as a "Missing Person"
    http://fav.or.it/post/838296/the-extraordinary-rise-and-fall-of-denmarks-it-factory
    http://www.infoworld.com/news/feeds/08/12/02/Danish-software-company-goes-bankrupt-as-CEO-disappears.html
    Riis's team may be in trouble, but the 139 employees of the compnay and the Bank it owes 350 million DKr are in worse trouble.
    Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Here's a curious turn of events. It seems that IT Factory had paid Saxo Bank a biggish sum of money to be co-sponsor. They've got the money but don't need to share, so it looks like they're getting to be sponsor on the cheap.

    But Riis won't see the money

    http://www.sporten.dk/riis-sidder-i-saxen

    Welcome to dealing with Investment Banks Bjarne....
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

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