Liverpool FC Forum

by **In and Out** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:42 pm

If Huang took over, it would mean that China’s government would have a stake in the Premier League, one of the world’s most high-profile commercial arenas.

Liverpool would become the second foreign state-owned club in the English top flight, following Manchester City’s takeover by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi.

Were a deal to be completed - and it was reported last night that CIC had traded $558 million of shares since July 19 in readiness to pay off Liverpool’s debt - Huang would be subject to the Premier League’s new Owners and Directors Test, which has replaced the Fit and Proper Persons Test.

There are no indications that Huang would fail the new test’s criteria, which objectively assesses a potential buyer’s finances.

The moral question of the Chinese government’s involvement, however, would not be under scrutiny.

CIC, which was set up in 2007 to be responsible for managing part of China’s foreign exchange reserves and also has a stake in Canary Wharf, has assets of around $332 billion to spend abroad and has stockpiled around $2 trillion of currency.

Its management and board are directly answerable to the country’s communist government and its board of directors is influenced by the Ministry of Finance.

Huang, considered a serious bidder by Liverpool’s chairman Martin Broughton, has made his interest public in recent days and a statement yesterday confirmed his intentions, though he has not made a formal bid.

“Mr Huang would like to emphasise that he has registered interest in investing in Liverpool FC but has made no formal bid,” the statement said. “There has been much speculation from a wide array of people, many of whom have little knowledge of the facts.”

While Huang clarified his role, Kirdi, who has links to co-owner George Gillett’s son, Travis, said he was in “advanced negotiations” with Gillett and Tom Hicks.

Sources at Liverpool have previously dismissed Kirdi as a serious bidder, but the Americans are understood to believe his consortium offers a real option.

In a statement, Kirdi said he had reached agreement on a price with the Americans and that a formal purchase agreement is being prepared. He said he had promised to clear the club’s debt and finance the new ground in Stanley Park.

“I want to build Liverpool,” he said. “Everybody who wants to come into Liverpool wants to take the money and go outside.

“I have a new plan [for the stadium] which I have given George Gillett. This one is not only a stadium but also a stadium with a hotel and shopping centre.”

While the American owners believe Kirdi’s bid has substance and Broughton will be obliged to consider it their confidence is not shared by RBS or some within the sale process.

This may explain why Kirdi referred to negotiations with the American owners, rather than with Broughton.

The Rhone Group, New York-based investors, are also thought to be among the bidders, though they have not commented publicly on their intentions.

One of the few certainties to emerge on another breathless day on Merseyside is that the position of Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, will not be under threat, regardless of who takes charge.

It was reported last night that under the Chinese takeover, Hodgson would be given a transfer fund of around £150 million to spend on a clutch of high-profile players.

Source: Telegraph

by **Reg** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:42 pm

zarababe wrote: In a series of trades since 19 July, CIC has sold $558m of shares in Morgan Stanley, equating to £351.4m. That sum is equivalent to Liverpool's debt to the nearest decimal place, and is exactly the number insiders say has been quoted to interested parties as the sale price.

The Chinese are just like T&T, they have to sell before they can buy!

I thought these guys were RICH? :laugh:

by **jacdaniel** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:44 pm

Lee J wrote:I'm not sure I want £150m to be made available to Roy. I'd love to see Roy acheive without all this backing to be honest, then we can say Roy did that. If we spunk £150m or so on the team then win the league we'll have the rest of the world saying "you bought the league!" blah blah blah

China to take over us. Pay off the debt, build a new stadium and maybe give Roy £40m to bolster the team up a bit.

A small part of me agrees with that.

But it angers me to see chelsea and city fan's rub our noses in it... just cos they have extra money.

In a more positive way you could look at it as investing for all the times the Americans didn't.

And Barcalona and Madrid don't seem to come under any scrutiny despite spending millions and using dirty tactics to unsettle players.

by **7_Kewell** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:44 pm

Reg wrote:
zarababe wrote: In a series of trades since 19 July, CIC has sold $558m of shares in Morgan Stanley, equating to £351.4m. That sum is equivalent to Liverpool's debt to the nearest decimal place, and is exactly the number insiders say has been quoted to interested parties as the sale price.

The Chinese are just like T&T, they have to sell before they can buy!

I thought these guys were RICH?

that's what worries me slightly. I look at Pompy and all of their 'rich' owners who took over, and now look at them.

I'm not saying it's the case here, but we have to be careful.

by **In and Out** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:46 pm

Reg wrote:
zarababe wrote: In a series of trades since 19 July, CIC has sold $558m of shares in Morgan Stanley, equating to £351.4m. That sum is equivalent to Liverpool's debt to the nearest decimal place, and is exactly the number insiders say has been quoted to interested parties as the sale price.

The Chinese are just like T&T, they have to sell before they can buy!

I thought these guys were RICH?

Read the article I just posted reginald

by **Reg** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:48 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:1) The Chinese bid makes most sense to the long term future of LFC. They expect to make money from the club by primarily building a new stadium and also focussing heavily on marketing the club in the far east. Maximising the revenue from an enormous fan base. This all fits in with the existing moves the club have already made to create more exposure in the far east - Standard Chartered focus their business in the far east.

The profit potential of exploiting LFC in China is massive, but will the profits stay in Liverpool or go straight back to CIC? I deeply suspect CIC is 'mother' and LFC will be run on a tight budget with 'sufficient' funding and not a penny more, all profits going back to Beijing.

by **In and Out** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:50 pm

Reg wrote:
SouthCoastShankly wrote:1) The Chinese bid makes most sense to the long term future of LFC. They expect to make money from the club by primarily building a new stadium and also focussing heavily on marketing the club in the far east. Maximising the revenue from an enormous fan base. This all fits in with the existing moves the club have already made to create more exposure in the far east - Standard Chartered focus their business in the far east.

The profit potential of exploiting LFC in China is massive, but will the profits stay in Liverpool or go straight back to CIC? I deeply suspect CIC is 'mother' and LFC will be run on a tight budget with 'sufficient' funding and not a penny more, all profits going back to Beijing.

Possibly.

Still I think we'd be in safer hands that way.

by **7_Kewell** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:53 pm

Big marketing push in China? I guess our shirts are the right colour for starters.

by **kopite_1232002** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:54 pm

i wish i was a fly on the wall in broughtons office. if broughton purslow and arye vote against the yanks do they have to go with that. ?

or can they take them to court and drag it out. if i owned something and 3 board members decided who i sold to and how much for i wouldn't be a happy man

by **Roger Red Hat** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:56 pm

why is there no british bidders? Where are all the british tycoons when we need them. fk the foreigners.

come on Dragons, where are you?

by **tubby** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:00 pm

Liverpool FC sale can't be stopped by Tom Hicks and George Gillett

LIVERPOOL FC owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett appear to have lost control at Anfield – even before the likely sale of the club before the end of this month.

The unpopular Americans are unlikely to have the final word on who replaces them in the hot-seat as club owners, the Daily Post can reveal.

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton is understood to have received assurances from both Hicks and Gillett that they will not stand in the way of his recommendation for new owner.

The Americans will accede to the wishes of Broughton as long as he has the joint backing of the remaining two board members, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre.

In reality, their three board votes would defeat the Americans’ two, if they took a joint stance.

That appears to make it ever clearer that Hicks and Gillett lost full control at Anfield as soon as Mr Broughton arrived on the board in April this year with a remit to sell the club.

It has always been denied that Mr Broughton was appointed at the behest of Liverpool’s chief creditors, Royal Bank of Scotland, but what is clear is that they are fully behind the sale process being overseen by the British Airways chairman.

A source familiar with the situation said he enjoys the “confidence” of RBS.

Six bidders are being analysed by Mr Broughton and his team to see which offers the best long-term deal for the club.

One of those is Chinese businessman Kenny Huang, who is offering around £325m – far short of the £600m-plus price tag the Americans would like to sell for.

The club has a total debt of around £350m, with £237m of that owed to RBS. Any successful offer from Mr Huang is likely to have to involve paying off the total debts.

Yesterday, more details of Mr Huang’s business dealings emerged.

Widespread reports that he owns 15% in the NBA basketball side Cleveland Cavaliers are wide of the mark, but he is heavily involved in the commercial rights and advertising in China's National Basketball League.

His company, QSL Sports Limited, also has the “exclusive contract to promote, reform and manage NBL in collaboration with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)”.

It is not believed a deal on LFC is imminent as the due diligence process being overseen by Mr Broughton is not straightforward.

He has made it clear it is not simply a matter of accepting the highest bid, but rather assessing who is involved in the different consortiums, where the money is coming from, how much is being borrowed, and how much cash will be available for players and the crucial new stadium.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpo....3

by **GRAHAM01** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:00 pm

Lee J wrote:why is there no british bidders? Where are all the british tycoons when we need them. fk the foreigners.

come on Dragons, where are you?

there all out!!

by **kopite_1232002** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:01 pm

Lee J wrote:why is there no british bidders? Where are all the british tycoons when we need them. fk the foreigners.

come on Dragons, where are you?

there all multi millionaires . to own a pl club now you need a multi billionaire.

would be nice if there was a scouser out there with silly money, but there isnt many a night iv lay in bed the last 3 years wishing i had the money to put into lfc and what i would do . silly really

by **zarababe** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:01 pm

Ciggy wrote:
devaney wrote:What however followed was a leverage process that has endangered the very existence of LFC. On that basis let's never use the phrase we'll cross that bridge when we come to it because it will be too late!

If you read what I said properly I said to Lakes lets cross that bridge when we come to it about Human Rights protestors running on the pitch, not about the actual take over.

People only have to check the labels on their clothes and things in the house to see where they are made nearly everything is made in China, should we boycott everything made in China we would have nothing left.
im not clued up on their human rights, but the sharia law in the middle east is of the dinosaur ages in some parts, no ones complaining about Citys owner.

Birminghams owner is from China no ones complaining about the human rights and him, our current owner Hicks was behind George Bush getting into power look at the devistation that horrible b@stard has caused in the Middle East and our soliders being killed because HE decided to invade Iraq.

Who is clean these days in business/money? Hicks didnt get rich helping old ladies cross the road this b@stard hasnt cared who he has hurt/hurts in the process of earning a quick buck, the same goes for Abramovich he earned his money from erm "U know what"

This Ambani fella whos interested look at the poor people in India, Mumbai and the likes, we could go on and on about it all day we just have to wait and see how it pans out before we get panic stricken over China's, India, Saudi Arabia's Human Right.

There is no 'clean' money anywhere. Someone, somewhere, had to suffer for it.

top post girl .. bet all these are wearing tops, jeanz and even posting with electronic bits 'Made In China' :rasp

Bring on the Red Revolution I say.. it's got to be better then then the destroyers.. the American rampage.. now there's a surprise!

I think we should all Bombard our Chairman to make the right decision and threatent H&G with a life-time of stalking if they don't do the right thing :angry:

by **Reg** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:03 pm

Ciggy wrote:
lakes10 wrote:ok say they do take over, i am the only one that is uncomfortable that this bid might be back by the Chinese government?

Do we want to open that can of worms? If we do we will be going around in circles all day.

The USA 65 years ago this week, dropped TWO atomic bombs on Japan and neutralised 60,000 Japanese (mainly civilians) in one go. And lets not go there with Iraq and Afghanistan and sweat shops.

And Britians Human Rights, protects terrorists, Peadofiles and murderers.

Guys lets be clinical here. Why do you think the Chinese are buying LFC when they have a 1.5 BILLION people home market?

They want to learn the model from the inside.

They want to learn how the best league in the world operates, how the top clubs operate, how teh media operates, how teh media rights are handled.

They want to learn how UEFA works, how CL works, how clubs prepare differently for cups compared to leagues, how teh media rights are handled.

In 5-7 years time they will create their own leagues, their own CL then their league will be the big money spinner and the EPL will revert to equal status with the other european leagues.

The Chineses aren´t buying LFC because they like Torres or Gerrard, or because they like our city.... they´re here to learn, suck us dry then go back and replicate it back home. Can you imagine with a 1.5 BILLION people market!

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