So Who Is Part Of The Consortium?
Covsupport had known for some time but did not publish what we knew due to a) not all the parties had been spoken to, b) we were concerned that any adverse publicity may have scuppered any bid and was not in the interest of Coventry City FC to reveal such information when a lot of the bid is still to be done.
Anyway, the consortium called Manhatten Sports Capital Partners will be headed by former Caludon Castle (CT can't even spell that right) pupil Gary Hopkins. Mr Hopkins has a degree from Warwick and Loughborough
Universities and has lived in America for the last twenty years. He is closely involved with DC United and Cricket In The USA.
Universities and has lived in America for the last twenty years. He is closely involved with DC United and Cricket In The USA.
Others involved in this consortium are Sean McDevitt who is a Managing Director at Alterity, which he co-founded in 1999. He was formerly a senior investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Company, where he led deal teams in a variety of technology and healthcare/ biopharmaceutical transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, divestures, and IPOs. Prior to Goldman Sachs & Company, Sean worked in sales and marketing at Pfizer. A former aptain in the U.S. Army Rangers and was decorated for combat in the Panama invasion. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and received his B.S. in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Phil Harris is a Managing Director at Alterity, which he co-founded in 1999. He was VP of Corporate Development at priceline, where he led the development of strategic partnerships. Prior to priceline, he was VP of Corporate Development at Cendant, where he held P&L and general manager responsibilities. Phil has over ten years of experience managing and advising high growth companies in the software, business services, and healthcare/biopharmaceutical sectors on their strategic alternatives, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures. Phil received a B.S. in Finance from Ohio State University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Roger Marment became the Executive Vice President of International Business Developmen for WWE Entertainments in 2001 and has been at Riddell Sports where he was the President of the Interactive Division. Prior to Riddell, he held senior management positions in Advantage/IPG, ISL Marketing USA and ISL Marketing AG based in Lucerne, Switzerland. He also formed his own international marketing and sponsorship agency based in Stamford and Toronto. While at BSKYB Television in London, Marment was responsible for negotiating rights agreements and contracts as well as acquiring programming for entertainment and sports channels. He started his career as an attorney at Slaughter & May in London and New York.
Hopkins told the CT; We are on a very critical path to make this happen. "I have been consulting for about a year and a half now with stadium development and real estate development for DC United.
"We were looking at building a new stadium and whole retail entertainment complex in Washington DC, and as part of that work I came over to look at the Ricoh which is an example of the sort of thing we wanted to do.
"I met Paul Fletcher and he said the club were looking for investment and asked whether I would mind helping him because he knew I was working in that field in the States.
"We were looking at building a new stadium and whole retail entertainment complex in Washington DC, and as part of that work I came over to look at the Ricoh which is an example of the sort of thing we wanted to do.
"I met Paul Fletcher and he said the club were looking for investment and asked whether I would mind helping him because he knew I was working in that field in the States.
"And as a Coventry fan I couldn't refuse. "So I looked at it and have been working quite closely with Paul now, very quietly for about five or six months, to try to put in place an investment group and consortium that would support this.
"From an equity standpoint I am not the wealthy American in the room. They are my backers. "I am the guy with the experience with other partners and sports business, and has a lot of passion for the project and understands the project very, very well.
"We have just started our talks with all the parties in the Ricoh. "Now we are not delving right down into finances just yet but what we will come back with in about four to five weeks is what we believe is a rational, sensible plan for our own investment in the club.
"From an equity standpoint I am not the wealthy American in the room. They are my backers. "I am the guy with the experience with other partners and sports business, and has a lot of passion for the project and understands the project very, very well.
"We have just started our talks with all the parties in the Ricoh. "Now we are not delving right down into finances just yet but what we will come back with in about four to five weeks is what we believe is a rational, sensible plan for our own investment in the club.