Dejphon Chansiri is ‘expected’ to formally ‘raise’ the debt owed to him by Sheffield Wednesday prior to the club’s sale, it is reported by The Star.
Dejphon Chansiri placed Sheffield Wednesday into administration last month, following a turbulent 10-year spell at the helm of the club.
The Owls immediately suffered a 12-point deduction and now find themselves 17 points from safety in last place of the Championship table, ahead of the Steel City derby on Sunday.
Image courtesy of: JASON CAIRNDUFF/REUTERS.
Begbies Traynor LLP are the SWFC administrators. There’s a soft deadline of November 21st for indicative offers with the administrators hoping to have a preferred bidder by December 5th, though these deadlines are not strict deadlines as such.
Dejphon Chansiri owed millions by Sheffield Wednesday
Chansiri pumped a lot of money into SWFC over the years. He also lent a lot of money to the club, making him one of the creditors, and in turn, the administration process means that the Begbies Traynor will now try to repay Chansiri as much as they can, with the Thai businessman owed up to £62.5million by Sheffield Wednesday.
But that was before administration, and ’25 pence on the pound liability’ means that Chansiri is only owed 25 pence for every pound he lent the club, meaning only a quarter of that £62.5million (£15.6million) is owed to Chansiri.
The Star now write that ‘Chansiri has not yet formally raised the debt but is expected to do so prior to the sale of the club’. What this likely means is that Chansiri is not yet pushing for his £15.6million repayment but will likely do so before the club is sold to the next owner.
Also in the same report, The Star write that it is unlikely the EFL will reduce this 25 pence to the pound liability for Sheffield Wednesday and Chansiri.
How much money did Dejphon Chansiri pump into Sheffield Wednesday?
In his 10 years as owner, Chansiri certainly gave the club some highs, with a play-off final thrown in the mix and some fond memories. But on the whole, his reign was a torrid one, riddled with financial insecurity and uncertainty, leading to this administration.
Image courtesy of: ED SYKES/REUTERS.
In 2015, Chansiri reportedly bought Sheffield Wednesday for £37.5million, and is understood to have loaned the club around £100million over his 10 year reign, though these loans are thought to be unsecured, meaning they’re not tied to an asset.
One report from The Guardian suggests Chansiri has incurred losses of more than £151million since arriving in 2015. So if he receives just £15.6million back after placing the club into administration, that only covers 10% of his losses.
And in 2020, it was reported that Chansiri’s net worth stood at £438million, so expect his net worth now to be considerably lower, albeit not £150million lower as that cost was spread over 10 years and his last net worth estimation came only five years ago.
Meanwhile, potential Sheffield Wednesday buyer Mike Ashley has a net worth of £3.12billion, meaning he could easily help pay off Chansiri and get the club back above water.