Liverpool FC Forum

by **Scottbot** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:35 pm

Scottbot wrote:Take this statement here and apply it to everything that has (and will be) been written on the subject in the last 48 hours.

Luckily for me i'm off to Turkey on Monday coz I don't think I can handle another 2 days glued to the SSN/Internet and this place!

I rest my case!!!! Can't keep up with any of this, I think it might be better to simply turn off the computer and turn off the TV.

Kenny Huang drafts CIC denial statement as confusion surrounds Liverpool’s Chinese bid

By Nick Harris

5 August 2010

Kenny Huang has prepared a draft statement denying that his bid for Liverpool is backed by the China Investment Corporation, sportingintelligence can now confirm. We reported on the likelihood of this earlier today.

The statement has not been formally released, and Huang’s PR agents at Hill & Knowlton in Hong Kong cannot confirm whether it will be released. But it is in circulation among the Chinese mainland media. It says:

.

STATEMENT FROM KENNETH HUANG REGARDING LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB

With reference to the recent media reports regarding Mr Huang’s investment interest in Liverpool Football Club, Mr Huang would like to emphasize that he is not able to offer any comment at this stage. Mr Huang would also like to deny that there is any involvement of Mainland China state-owned enterprises in his business dealings. If there is any related development, he will make a further announcement.

.

More details on Huang’s denial yesterday of any formal bid and on his business interests, can be found in here.

Sportingintelligence can also re-iterate that the Liverpool board have not yet had proof of funds from any potential bidders. Sources in China consistently maintain that CIC would be unlikely to invest in Liverpool.

It must be stressed: Kenny Huang may indeed have a backer or backers who will support an attempt by him to lead a Liverpool takeover. But hard evidence of those backers at this stage is impossible to find.

There are already suggestions that CIC and Huang are preparing to formally deny involvement as part of a convoluted strategy at trying to establish some confidentiality to the process. Again, at this stage, that is just hearsay in a confused situation.

LATE ADDITION TO STORY: The Financial Times is reporting that “a spokesperson for China Investment Corp, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, told the Financial Times on Thursday they had never heard of a plan to buy Liverpool or of Kenneth Huang, the man widely reported to be fronting a Chinese bid to buy the English Premier League club.”

by **burjennio** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:00 pm

Is that not the 2nd report from Sporting Intelligence that has tried to discredit Huang in the last few days? Im not saying that there is not accuracy to the claims but it seems to me that that particular news site seems to be promoting a negative picture of this Chinese bid alot more vigorously than any other news network

by **zarababe** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:07 pm

Benny The Noon wrote:Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani, Subrata Roy pitch for Liverpool Football Club ownership

The battle for Liverpool Football Club’s ownership became hotter on Thursday with Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Subrata Roy jumping into the fray to buy Liverpool.

Mukesh Ambani, who owns Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest company by market capitalization, and Subrata Roy who owns Sahara Group that sponsored the Indian cricket team, have submitted their bids to buy the team, popular tabloid The S*n reported.

The move comes nine months after their reported failure to buy a 51 percent stake in the Anfield outfit, which Ambani had denied.

Indian billionaires will now face the Chinese government in the battle to buy the Reds, joining at least four other interested buyers including Chinese sports tycoon Kenny Huang.

Huang, who is backed by the $332-billion Chinese Investment Corporation, held talks to buy Liverpool’s $286 million debt off Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia.

However, the report said Huang, who is backing the new Reds boss Roy Hodgson with a $180 million transfer kitty, has emerged as the favorite to replace unpopular Yank owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The Anfield auction is now wide open, the report said.

"Some potential buyers have declared their interest but haven't tabled a bid, whereas Ambani and Roy have put their money on the table. At this stage Liverpool are happy to let everyone compete against each other to squeeze out the best possible deal," the report quoted an unnamed insider as saying

Ambani, 53, was buoyed by the success as a franchise owner of a cricket team in India that played at the popular annual cricket tourney Indian Premier League. He is valued at around $19.86 billion and is rated India's richest man.

Ambani's fellow billionaire Roy, 62, is head of Sahara Group, a sprawling conglomerate worth more than $7.94 billion, who is also sponsoring the Indian hockey team. He won the franchise bid recently to own another cricket team that will play in the next year's Indian Premier League cricket tournament.

Hicks and Gillett valued Reds at $963.46 billion after Huang's interest emerged.

Meanwhile, new Reds boss Roy Hodgson insists he would be more disappointed if his old chairman Mohamed Fayed had not put the boot in when he left Fulham, the report said.

The report also quoted Fayed as saying that he will take Liverpool downhill to which Hodgson was quoted as saying: "His comments were pretty jocular. I'd have been disappointed if he said 'we didn't want him anyway'. It's more flattering than if he'd said 'who cares'."

Explains the 'severla bids' quote aka Broughton .... interesting times indeedy ..

..fancy a curry anyone.. or maybe a stir fry tickles yer taste buds

by **Roger Red Hat** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:09 pm

this is all making the media look like a bunch of tw@ts now.

by **Reg** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:10 pm

Kenny the Spiv strikes again.

Winds people up more than Purple Aki this fella !! :laugh:

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:13 pm

Financial Times -

China’s CIC denies interest in Liverpool FC
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing and Justine Lau in Hong Kong
Published: August 5 2010 14:21 | Last updated: August 5 2010 14:21
Chinese fans may lament the low calibre of their domestic men’s football teams, but that does not mean the Chinese government would consider buying debt-laden Liverpool Football Club.

A spokesperson for China Investment Corp, the country’s main sovereign wealth fund, told the Financial Times on Thursday they had never heard of a plan to buy Liverpool or of Kenneth Huang, the man widely reported to be fronting a Chinese bid to buy the English Premier League club.

UK media have reported that Mr Huang, owner of a small sports marketing company with an office in Beijing, is bidding for the club with backing from CIC.

But Mr Huang himself issued a statement on Wednesday night saying that although he has registered interest in investing in Liverpool, he has not made a formal bid.

“There has been much speculation and commentary from a wide array of people, many of whom have little knowledge of the facts,” Mr Huang said.

A person who has worked closely with CIC said there was “no way” the fund would get involved in such a high-profile, symbolic and potentially risky deal.

“Next they’ll say CIC is going to buy Playboy,” this person said.

A person close to Mr Huang told the Financial Times on Monday that his bid was backed by a “sovereign wealth fund from the Far East” but declined to name the fund.

There had been no suggestion internally at Liverpool that CIC was involved in Mr Huang’s bid, another person close to the situation said.

Portrayed in the UK press as a Chinese billionaire tycoon, Mr Huang runs QSL Sports Limited, a sports marketing company that is trying to develop a new basketball league in China and promote Little League (youth) baseball in a country where most people know nothing about the sport.

QSL’s website says the company is based out of Hong Kong and located at a prestigious address. However, when the Financial Times visited the office there was no sign of QSL and the management company of the building said no company by that name rented an office there.

A person who answered the phone at QSL in Hong Kong at first said the company was still at the address listed on the website, but when told that the management company of the building had denied this, then said the company had moved and its new address was a secret.

At QSL’s small office in central Beijing, company employees were still unpacking boxes having recently moved from a much smaller office. A staff member said the company employed around 15 people in Beijing but he had not heard about a plan to buy Liverpool FC.

After repeated questions to Mr Huang’s spokeswoman, the office addresses were removed from QSL’s website on Thursday afternoon.

An official biography of Mr Huang says he is an investor in a Chinese basketball team and in 1988 became the first Chinese college graduate from mainland China to work at the New York Stock Exchange, where he “started his career in public relations”.

He also founded an investment company called Rocket Capital with Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team, and has made a number of investments in Chinese companies. Mr Huang’s spokeswoman could not confirm whether he was still involved with Rocket Capital.

by **tubby** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:16 pm

This story has more twists than Home and Away

by **bigmick** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:17 pm

Feck me.

by **Redman in wales** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:18 pm

burjennio wrote:Is that not the 2nd report from Sporting Intelligence that has tried to discredit Huang in the last few days? Im not saying that there is not accuracy to the claims but it seems to me that that particular news site seems to be promoting a negative picture of this Chinese bid alot more vigorously than any other news network

no, sporting intelligence (S.I.) isn't trying to dscredit Huang at all.

S.I. is owned by the world press association, and it is where Huang has released his statements directly to.

The two statements from Huang have been sent from himself to S.I. - They quote Huang, they don't pubilicse rumour

by **Reg** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:42 pm

The media are desparate for a story and as Lee J said, they´re making monkeys of themselves.

Credit to Broughton quietly getting on his job and not getting dragged into the media circus.

I hear Hoover have offered Kenny the Spiv a job as a door-to-door salesman if his cunning plan to takeover Liverpool without any money falls through.

by **TheLad** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:45 pm

by **LFC2007** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:47 pm

SouthCoastShankly wrote:“Next they’ll say CIC is going to buy Playboy,” this person said.

QSL’s website says the company is based out of Hong Kong and located at a prestigious address. However, when the Financial Times visited the office there was no sign of QSL and the management company of the building said no company by that name rented an office there.

A person who answered the phone at QSL in Hong Kong at first said the company was still at the address listed on the website, but when told that the management company of the building had denied this, then said the company had moved and its new address was a secret.

by **jacdaniel** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:48 pm

This is turning into a mess.

All we the fans can do is wait and see what happens, if anything. And pray the board finally come through for us.

Im starting to think that someone totally different will end up buying the club.

by **Redman in wales** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:51 pm

jacdaniel wrote:Im starting to think that someone totally different will end up buying the club.

my monies on subersub

by **The Raven** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 4:58 pm

Right, ive given up with this lot.

Smoke and mirrors and people playing games. I dont want to know until the guy in on the back of the paper with a scarf and lorry load of cash for the new ground.

Liverpool FC Forum

TAKEOVER COMPLETE - H & G Finally Jibbed!

Who is online