Yesterday’s BBC Midlands News portrayed a rather perplexed Birmingham City fan standing outside St. Andrews expressing his uncertainty about what was happening to his club. Despite the ‘business as usual’ reassurances from the club following the conviction of owner Carson Yeung for money laundering, his perplexity is understandable.
According to the Financial Times, Yeung sold a stake in the club three weeks ago to a mystery Chinese company whose registered address is a government dormitory. It’s not far off having a company registered at a Salvation Army hostel.
Yesterday’s BBC Midlands News portrayed a rather perplexed Birmingham City fan standing outside St. Andrews expressing his uncertainty about what was happening to his club. Despite the ‘business as usual’ reassurances from the club following the conviction of owner Carson Yeung for money laundering, his perplexity is understandable.
According to the Financial Times, Yeung sold a stake in the club three weeks ago to a mystery Chinese company whose registered address is a government dormitory. It’s not far off having a company registered at a Salvation Army hostel.
Birmingham International Holdings Limited sold 12 per cent of the club to an advertising firm called Beijing Liangzhu Guoji Chuanmei Guanggao. In a Hong Kong stock exchange listing BIHL said that the snappily named company was engaged in the ‘provision of advertising business’ in China.
For a company in the advertising business, it has a low profile, but then a three-storey government housing complex is hardly Madison Avenue. The company was registered in April 2005, but there is no trace of subsequent activities online.
The Pink ‘Un tried to find out why the company did not exist at its registered address, or where it was operating from, but BIHL repeatedly refused to respond, citing confidentiality clauses. So much for transparency.
However, for its £3.5m the company does get the right to nominate two of the four directors of the board of Birmingham City, so perhaps the identity of those involved in the company will be revealed.