Open Letter from PDC to BDO: 1 Million Pound Offer to buy out BDO
PDC Media Release:
The Professional Darts Corporation have made a £1 million offer to purchase the British Darts Organisation, as well as offering to invest the same amount in to the grass roots side of the sport.
An open letter, detailed below, has been sent to the Board of Directors and Members of the British Darts Organisation, by PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.
The letter read:
Subject to Contract
Without Prejudice
20 October 2009
To the Directors and Members of the British Darts Organisation:
An open letter relating to the future of Darts
Since the well publicised split in the sport of darts in 1993, much has been written and debated on the merits of one organisation that controls the sport for the benefit of all players.
Since 1993 there have been many changes within the sport of darts – new tournaments, new players, new prize funds etc., but even a neutral would have to admit that the vast majority of these changes have emanated from the PDC, which has resulted in professional events carrying prize funds previously unheard of within the sport.
We at the PDC believe the time is right for one body to control the sport and to take darts to its next level with the financial support and rewards the players deserve – we are ready to take this quantum leap and hope you will give our proposals due consideration.
We note from your published accounts for the year ended 31 May 2008 that your turnover was £758,169, your consolidated assets amounted to £397,881 and that your consolidated profit amounted to £16,919.
We propose to offer you, subject to contract, £1,000,000 (one million pounds) for 100% ownership of the British Darts Organisation Limited.
For your information the latest PDC accounts for the year ended 31 December 2008 shows turnover in excess of £9,000,000 and pre-tax profits of approximately £1,000,000. Current cash reserves stand at around £3,000,000, so you may put your mind at rest as to our financial ability to honour this offer.
We are prepared to also:
1. Honour all existing contracts currently in force with sponsors, venues, broadcasters etc. and
2. Invest a further £1,000,000 in amateur darts to provide funds for the amateur game to develop the stars of tomorrow and to run the amateur events which are the lifeblood of the sport.
We hope that on the basis of the proposal, you will give this matter your urgent consideration. We understand you may well wish to discuss this in depth at both Board and Member level, hence our decision to publicize this offer so all interested parties are aware of the contents of our proposal.
We are prepared to meet to discuss this matter at a convenient time and location with a view to a harmonious conclusion allowing our takeover to be implemented in early 2010.
I hope you agree these proposals are both fair to the shareholders of the BDO and helpful to the financing of grassroots darts organisations who organise the amateur game for men, women and junior darts players.
An offer of £1,000,000 (one million pounds) for a company making a minimal profit and with net assets of approximately £400,000 is in our opinion a generous offer.
An offer to inject f 1,000,000 into grassroots darts must surely not be ignored. What help on this scale is currently available? Does the amateur game receive financial help and if you do not accept our proposal can you provide such much needed financial assistance?
I would suggest that if the BDO Board really care about the sport of darts and the millions of players, then you should accept our offers and let us inject not just finance, but professional management to run darts in a modern and effective manner.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Barry Hearn
3 Comments so far
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I hope that the bdo refuses the offer. I don’t like the idea of the pdc rulling the dartsworld all alone. The bdo is the only darts organisation for me.
I think the PDC will eventually offer more and if the Counties are allowed their say, they will either accept it or Olly Croft will be ousted. When he was interviewed about the PDC last year (BBC, Ray Stubbs, Lakeside) his bottom line was that Phil Taylor, Barney & co. all started out at the Lakeside – which they did. For very good reasons, they moved on. He does have a point – the BDO is the life-and-soul for thousands of darts players. However, the PDC cannot be ignored.
There are some questions that need clarification though:
- What will be the new PDC/BDO’s relationship with the WDF? Will some pub player in Canada still have a chance of qualifying for the Masters through the WDF system, or will the PDC over-rule? Indeed, will PDC players be allowed to play in BDO events?
- What will happen to the two ‘World’ Championships? Will some pub player, anywhere in the world, still have the chance to enter feeder competitions to take him to the Lakeside/Alexandra Palace/wherever? Will the two be merged?
- What will be the future of the BDO professional circuit? Will it become the developmental tour for the PDC (as it is on the way to becoming anyway), or will there be two ‘tours’ of equal merit, with players qualifying from each to all big tournaments.
- How do the PDC view county-darts? It is good that PDC don’t want to force the BDO into bankrupcy, as that would cut off the PDC’s supply of talent, to an extent. However, will the ‘new’ BDO allow inter-county darts to remain?
- Do the PDC want to retain and develop the amateur game via the BDO, or do they simply want to buy it up and close it down? Hearn is on record as wanting to destroy the BDO.
- What happens to professional players (Adams, Fitton, etc) who are contracted to the BDO? Do they transfer to the PDC? Are they treated as newbies?
- What happens to BDO TV contracts? How many people got interested in the game through watching BBC2 coverage?
- Will the ‘new’ BDO continue to run the world championship on behalf of the WDF, or will the WDF/PDC strained relationships perpetuate the split? Could we see a ‘breakaway’ British organisation asking for WDF recognition?
All good points, and ones that will need to be addressed before any ‘buyout’ or other merger takes place. I’m sure that despite Hearn’s hatred of the BDO, that he still sees the value that this organization adds to the PDC itself. In whatever outcome results, there has to be a provision for the grassroots darts field, and hopefully any change will be a positive one for all involved. If the PDC can do for the BDO field of pub players what it has done for the ‘professionals’ then I’m sure things will be beneficial. With bigger payouts on the local level, more and more players may be attracted to the sport, and that can only be a good thing in the long run.