Township Rollers is allegedly moving closer to changing from a society to a fully fledged company. According to sources close to the team hierarchy, preparations are at an advanced stage to change the status of the club.
While there may still be some way to go as the club supporters are still in the processes of conducting due diligence to avoid legal problems, it is said the team has already drafted a new constitution to allow it to change form.
“After the team supporters called for the resolution of the society to give way to the company, an attorney was inducted to make amendments to the Rollers constitution to enable the said change,” the source revealed.
“The supporters are of the view that as the costs of running a football club on day to day are escalating, the society is powerless to finance such. They therefore believe there is a need to have someone who has the financial muscle and the ambition to run it as a profitable entity,” said the source.
He said as the situation is right now, the attorney who was tasked with overseeing the amendment of the Rollers constitution has finished and submitted the new look team constitution, which allows for commercialisation of the team.
It is said that once the team morphs into a company, current team financier Jagdish Shah will be given a controlling share of 80 percent in the company, with the remaining 20 percent sold to the team supporters.
“The logic is that Shah is already pumping his millions into the club hence the decision to give him a controlling share of the club. This is meant to protect his investments in the team whilst also protecting the supporters as they will have a stake,” the source opined.
This was also confirmed by Rollers Chairman Walter Kgabung when reached for a comment. “The Processes to change Rollers from a society to a Public Listed Company (PLC) are ongoing,” he said. “These are very long processes as we have to go through all the necessary legal frameworks to do as such,” he said.
Asked whether the Rollers constitution allows for the team to change into a PLC, Kgabung said Rollers have since adopted a new constitution, which he said ‘allows the team to partner and collaborate with other entities.’
He went on to explain that the new constitution has already been accepted by the Registrar of Societies and is currently the one being used to run the affairs of Rollers.
Kgabung also confirmed that once the processes are complete, the team’s current financier Shah will own 80 percent of the shares, with the other 20 percent reserved for Rollers supporters.
“This 20 percent will be held in trust by the executive committee on behalf of the supporters. Once the team is finally a PLC and shares are floated on the stock exchange, Rollers supporters will have a chance to buy themselves a stake in the team,” he explained. He said the monies will still be held in trust for the society.
“As for Shah, as a majority shareholder, he will also be entitled to float or sell some of his shares. However, in his case, should he sell shares, the money will be his and not the societies,” he concluded.
