American TV executive jets in for Motherwell FC investment talks

American TV executive Erik Barmack has begun a charm offensive on Motherwell FC fans after jetting in from Los Angeles for investment talks.

The former Netflix executive recently entered into an agreement on non-binding heads of terms with the three-man Motherwell board over a deal which would see him become the majority shareholder of the fan-owned club.

The Well Society has a 71% stake in the club but a majority of members who voted on a theoretical question recently stated they were open to a deal which would potentially see it drop below 50%.

Any agreement would need to be ratified by Well Society members and Barmack has claimed the fan-owned society was the “key” to his interest, despite the proposed deal, as it stands, effectively bringing fan ownership to an end.

The former journalist stated that the role of himself and his wife Courtney, who works for Snapchat, would be to “see how we could help assist the Well Society and the CEO [Brian Caldwell] should a deal materialise”.

In an interview with BBC Scotland, he added: “Our perspective is we never want to make an investment that disempowers the Well Society and the connection the fan-owned group has with the club.”

Barmack added that he would be “healthfully sceptical of outside investment” if he was a Well Society member while refusing to give any details on the financial deal.

He claimed his was a “passion-based approach” with “no short-term plan to view this as a financial investment”. Motherwell chair Jim McMahon previously stated Barmack and another interested party were looking to make a return on their investment.

Motherwell supporters do not have any financial details of the deal yet, which would be crucial to giving up a fan-ownership model which has never really been put into practice.

Having needed to bring in Les Hutchison as an ownership partner in the 2014-2015 season with the club on the verge of running out of money, the Well Society assumed ownership in 2016. The group has already committed £1m into the club and has a reserve fund of about £750,000.

But the society has only recently had a majority on the club board and long-serving director McMahon is hoping to change the ownership structure before his impending retirement.

McMahon recently claimed the club needed “significant investment” to compete with other externally-financed clubs in the cinch Premiership.

Motherwell spent £7m more than Kilmarnock on wages in the previous seven seasons, also spending more on staff costs than the likes of Dundee, St Johnstone, Ross County and St Mirren in recent campaigns but have recently made losses.

Barmack is set to attend Motherwell’s home game with Hibernian on Saturday and hold further talks.

He talked about connecting “the world of Hollywood and the world of European football”, building a global following, using social media and artificial intelligence to add value, as well as possibly overseeing a documentary, having been involved in the Formula 1 series Drive to Survive.

The Well Society has not been directly involved in negotiations, although co-chairman Douglas Dickie has been a key party, as a member of the club board. It is finalising its own business plan to help grow the club’s income in the event that Barmack’s interest does not translate to a deal.

In a recent statement, it said: “As the majority shareholder, we will continue to work on Society plans to engage fans, maximise membership and raise funds, while these negotiations continue.

“Things are at an early stage and we do not have the information as yet to reach a decision on whether we, as the elected representatives of the Well Society, believe that an agreement would be credible or beneficial to the football club.

“Rest assured that you – our members – will always be those with the responsibility of agreeing to or rejecting any investment opportunity which potentially alters the operating model of the club and the Well Society’s shareholding.”

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