Adelaide United could be floated on Euro stock exchange

The company which owns Adelaide United could be floated on Euro stock exchange, according to legal documents filed in defence of $1.7m claim.

The company that owns Adelaide United could be listed on an European stock exchange as soon as next year, according to documents filed in the South Australian Supreme Court, giving fans a chance to buy an indirect stake in the Reds.

The revelation was included in a statement of defence filed by United’s owner, Australian Football Opportunities (AFO), as part of its fight against a company associated with Reds’ former part-owner, the bankrupt businessman Bruno Marveggio, which claims it is still owed $1.7m from the club’s sale in March 2018.

Adelaide United chairman Piet van der Pol confirmed the Reds would be bundled up with its Chinese sister club, the Qingdao Red Lions, and possibly a European club, and listed on a European stock exchange by the end of 2021, if COVID travel restrictions were lifted next year.

“Our long-term idea is to set up a portfolio of three to five clubs globally,” Mr van der Pol said.

There are more than 30 European football clubs listed on various stock exchanges, including Italian giants Juventus and Roma and England’s Manchester United.

Mr van der Pol believed having multiple clubs under the one umbrella would be a safer investment option than one which depended on the fluctuations of one team.

AFO is owned by the Hong Kong-based Global Football Opportunities (GFO).

Mr van der Pol has always been coy about revealing the names of the club’s other shareholders, but it is believed Dutch businessman Cor Adriaanse is a prominent investor.

In the statement filed to the Supreme Court, AFO denied it still owed the Marveggio-linked company MCBH Property Group $1.7m.

The statement said representatives of AFO and GFO met with Mr Marveggio in Shenzen, China, in October 2018.

At that meeting, AFO claimed the terms of the sale of Mr Marveggio’s share in Adelaide United were renegotiated.

Mr Marveggio held a 25 per cent share in the Reds through MCBH Property Group but, unlike other shareholders, businessman Robert Gerard and lawyer Greg Griffin, did not immediately take the money. AFO claimed Mr Marveggio agreed the outstanding $1.7m would be converted to a shareholding in GFO when it listed on the stock exchange.

Bruno Marveggio agreed to swap $1.7m for a share in a company that was to be floated on a stock exchange. Picture: DAVE CRONIN

“In exchange of the non-payment of the balance of the acquisition price, GFO offers to issue shares to MCBH upon its listing on a European Stock Market, which is due for completion in 2020 or 2021,” the statement of defence says.

Mr van der Pol and Mr Marveggio founded the Qingdao Red Lions, in 2016.

Mr Marveggio was a director of MCBH until he was declared bankrupt – over a $534,000 debt to the ATO, relating to one of his companies, W.P.A. Nominees – in May 2019.

Liquidators or administrators have been appointed to six entities linked to Mr Marveggio.

MCBH is not one of those.

Its directors are listed as Lian Basile and Alexandra Charalabidis.

They are believed to be the wives of Mr Marveggio’s former business partners Tony Basile and George Charalabidis, who are shareholders of MCBH.