A people’s shareholding beside that of the Consortium; “We are basketball” is created

The desire of ordinary fans to support the basketball team Pallacanestro Varese, a passion cultivated over many years of basketball, both on and off the court, the presence of a protector like Toto Bulgheroni, who is increasingly involved in the sporting and organising events of the red and whites (he recently joined the Board).

There is all of this behind the project “We are basketball”, which will be starting up in the next few days, and which will be officially presented in the first week of July. It is an association with 15 founders (we will see who, below), created with the intention to purchase increasing shares in Pallacanestro Varese (which is currently 100% in the hands of Varese nel Cuore), thereby giving the chance to those who want to join to become an owner of a small part of the club ten times the champions of Italy. It is a sort of people’s shareholding, because, in “We are basketball”, there will be ordinary supporters representing themselves (companies that would like to, can form a consortium).

On the matter of a consortium, the new association has been in contact with the Chairman, Alberto Castelli, for some time, in order to join the company as minority partners in the best possible way. “We are basketball” is not a hostile operation against the current structure, but an important addition to it; the intention of this trust, which was just formed, in the presence of a notary, is to purchase 1% of Pallacanestro Varese in the first year, an additional 4% in the second year, and then 5% after three seasons; this final move will depend on reaching one thousand subscriptions. “We also want to have one of our representatives on the Board of the company, once we’ve obtained at least 5% of the shares,” explained the lawyer, Luca Villa, the head of the association and the first person to act, with his new companions.

 

On the founders, in addition to Villa (“From the year of the Unforgettables, I thought of something like this: seeing the people’s participation in the finals in Chalon provided the necessary spark.”), there is Toto Bulgheroni, the “beacon” and the best known point of reference in the new trust; with him, other big names in Varese basketball, such as Renato Vagaggini (the owner of Montello and the UISP Championship commissioner), the former press agent of the red and whites, Marco Zamberletti, and the team manager of the Teva Under 15s, Umberto Argieri. The rest of the group is made up of other supporters who never miss a game involving the Openjobmetis team for anything (live or on the media): Riccardo Aceti, Paola Biancheri, Antonio Caputo, Paolo and Nicola Martegani, Luca Novelli, Alberto Rimoldi, Ivan Spertini, Matteo Villa and Gianmatteo Vitella.

They will also have the task of being guarantors of agreements reached with the representatives of the Consortium Varese nel Cuore (if it all comes true). The group still have to choose the official logo and the investment methods; in any case, there will be a number of sum options for joining (probably the largest investment will be €500, and the smallest, €100) and a series of side initiatives, to get the trust known and to gather subscriptions, both inside and outside Varese, fishing from the pool (which is by no means small) of red and white supporters spread all over. Now, the decision has to go to the Consortium (the subscribers have already received a detailed letter of explanation), who will have to decide whether or not to sell part of the shares of the club; for the moment, however, there is a certain degree of optimism surrounding the matter, creating an atmosphere that is diametrically opposed to that of the proposals put forward, some time ago, by Gianfranco Ponti.