Now is the time to have your say on the future of our club.
We’re asking all members to vote on whether we can allow more investment from outside owners while keeping the club majority-owned by us - the fans.
This means changing the Trust rules to allow a new minimum level of fan ownership of 50.01% – our majority rule.
The Dons Trust rules currently mean we must have a minimum level of 75% of the voting rights in the Club. We are proposing this change to maintain, uphold and support majority fan ownership while allowing further investment from minority shareholders.
Doing this would involve a change in rights and abilities for the Trust and other shareholders. It is designed to protect majority fan ownership while enabling the club’s growth and securing our financial future.
The Dons Trust board, the board of AFCW PLC, the team behind the Plough Lane Bonds and the finance committee all believe that now is the right time for members to make this decision to give us all greater clarity and the ability to plan for our future.
We believe the potential reduction in our share ownership to be worth the trade-off for the greatly increased financial flexibility provided by making more investment equity available and stabilising the finances of the Club.
We recommend that members vote in favour of resolution two.
Football finances have become even more challenging for League Two and League One clubs. As outlined in the recent financial update League Two clubs were running at an average operating loss of £2m last season. The Club currently has around £10m of debt, primarily owed to fans and members through Plough Lane Bonds.
The current cost of that debt, the annual interest, is £400k a year. £3.4m of bonds are due to be repaid or refinanced in 2025 and we have £3.3m due in 2027.
The likely outcome is that the cost of borrowing over the next five years will increase from current levels. Any replacement of bonds through external debt is likely to require securing any borrowing against the stadium which is something we want to avoid.
Further equity investment could be used to replace expensive debt, while removing any need for external borrowing that would enable us to invest to grow.
We would like the opportunity to explore avenues for minority equity investment that would not undermine but rather support our growth as a fan-owned club.
You can read more background information and updates here: https://thedonstrust.org/majority-rule/
The Dons Trust board