Nick78 wrote:
Skaife is fucked.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/s ... 23,00.html[spoiler]
Quote:
Mark Skaife hits skids with $3.6m debt
Exclusive by James Phelps
December 01, 2008 12:00am
AUSTRALIAN motor racing legend Mark Skaife is living in a rented three bedroom flat less than 1km away from his former Toorak mansion with his wife and two daughters as he faces financial ruin.
In one of the saddest stories in Australian sport, the five-time Bathurst winner will walk away from his glittering 21-year touring car career at Oran Park this weekend in danger of losing everything.
A special investigation by The Daily Telegraph has uncovered details of a series of business transactions that have left Skaife's company - Skaife Sports - owing Scottish racing magnate Tom Walkinshaw $3.6 million.
Had he not faced such immense business debts as owner of Holden Racing Team (HRT) he may not have quit as a driver at the age of 42.
Documents obtained from the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) reveal the Holden icon risks losing all his Skaife Sports assets, including one of the country's greatest sporting brands HRT, should he default on the multi-million dollar loan to Walkinshaw.
Skaife, who won his first Bathurst in 1991, rose rapidly to the peak of the sport in Australia.
Enormously popular with fans and sponsors, the Melbourne-born driver is known for his aggression on the track and his outspoken attitude off it.
"It's a sad situation," a source close to Skaife said. "He doesn't deserve this."
Skaife last year sold his family home in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak about the time he traded "debt for equity" with one of Walkinshaw's Australian-based companies Real Racing.
Skaife and Walkinshaw agreed on a deal that would see 50 per cent of Skaife Sports transferred to Real Racing in exchange for debt relief.
Walkinshaw - himself a successful touring car driver and former owner of HRT - then obtained 1,750,000 shares in Skaife's company.
Walkinshaw Performance - formerly Holden Motorsport - is contracted to provide race services to HRT.
"Skaife Sport had a services agreement with Holden Motorsport when Skaife bought HRT," the source said.
"Everything was fine until Walkinshaw took control of Holden Motorsport in 2006.
"Under the arrangement with Holden Motorsport, prior to Walkinshaw owning the business, the team received favourable costing and monthly bills for all the services required to run a race team.
"But the accounting systems changed under Walkinshaw and Skaife Sports found itself in massive debt. Instead of monthly costings he got a yearly bill which took him by surprise and he could not pay it."
A 47-page contract between Skaife Sports and Walkinshaw Performance was then drawn up to address a "shortfall" relating to a $3.6 million debt. The document - obtained by The Daily Telegraph - shows that Skaife is at risk of losing Skaife Sports and control of HRT if the terms of the loan agreement are not met.
It is also alleged that Skaife's dire position was contributed to by his major sponsor, Holden Special Vehicles - also owned by Walkinshaw - not paying the sponsorship amount for two years. And it's also claimed the cost of parts and service for Skaife's team were raised after Walkinshaw took control of Holden Motorsport in 2007.
The added expense was allegedly a major contributor to the debts incurred by Skaife Sports - a claim Walkinshaw denies.
Another V8 Supercar team, John Kelly's HSVDT - which is also under a similar arrangement with Walkinshaw Performance - will break away from Walkinshaw at the end of the year.
Meanwhile Skaife has been channelling his earnings from his driving career back into his business as he attempts to service the debt and hold on to his iconic race team.
But those close to the popular driver fear he may lose the team made famous by the late Peter Brock.
The pressures on Skaife grew to the point where he had to give up his Melbourne mansion and move into a rented flat with his wife Toni and daughters Mia, 2, and Tilly, 1.
Skaife also has a son Mitch to a previous relationship.
All of his family members will be by his side this week as one of the great Australian sporting careers comes to an end at Oran Park on Sunday.
[/spoiler]
I call bewlshiet. You don't wake up one morning and suddenly find yourself in $3.6m debt. Skaife has fucked up big time somehow.
More to this story, apparently his manager, Craig Kelly, has said that those reports are bewlshit.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/motorsport/skaifes-reported-ruin-rubbish-says-manager/2008/12/01/1227979909479.htmlQuote:
Scott Spits
December 1, 2008 - 2:12PM
The manager of Mark Skaife has described as "absolute rubbish" reports that the retiring motor racing champion is facing financial ruin.
Skaife's manager, former AFL footballer Craig Kelly, said the five-time Bathurst winner was happily living in a rented house with his wife and three children after selling his Toorak mansion last year.
"It that's a rented flat, then there should be three families living in it," Kelly said, stressing that the 41-year-old was not in financial trouble despite allegations of a bitter business dispute with Scottish racing magnate Tom Walkinshaw.
Kelly said he was "very disappointed and angry" that such reports would be "rolled out" before the final race of Skaife's V8 Supercars career at Sydney's Oran Park this weekend.
Reports claimed the Holden driver could lose all of the assets in his own company, Skaife Sports, because of a $3.6 million loan to Walkinshaw.
If Skaife defaults on the loan, the losses could include the Holden Racing Team (HRT), one of the most famous and lucrative brands in Australian sport, according to the reports.
Kelly said Skaife had made many sound commercial choices throughout his career and the motor sport champion had decided to sell his Toorak mansion last year 'for a host of reasons'.
"He didn't want to buy a new property at the time because he didn't want to buy in at the top of the market," Kelly said.
According to media reports, Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) documents show Skaife sold the mansion about the same time he traded "debt for equity" with one of Walkinshaw's Australian firms, Real Racing.
Walkinshaw, who once owned the HRT, bought half of Skaife Sport in September last year in a deal that was reportedly struck to relieve debt the company owed to another of Walkinshaw's companies, Walkinshaw performance.
Under an agreement with Holden Motorsport, Walkinshaw Performance supplies racing services including engines, engineering and paint to HRT.
Walkinshaw denied allegations that price rises from his company had forced Skaife into a financial corner, saying a sponsor had defaulted on Skaife.
with AAP
Not surprised that rival news firm Fairfax News Limited made this report. Obviously one firm is telling a whole bunch of lies.
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