Article Taxonomy: Takeovers

Articles on football club takeovers and related issues

Six bidders for Liverpool?

by

As many as six potential investors may have submitted bids for Liverpool.  Three of them are thought to be Kenny Huang, the Rhone Group and the Syrian-led consortium of Yahya Kirdi.  The board will name a preferred bidder by the end of next week.


Meanwhile, RBS have issued a statement to wire services denying that they have held talks with any bidder for the club which would include Kenny Huang who is reported to have claimed that he had started direct discussions with the bank.

Huang in backdoor bid for Liverpool

by

Chinese tycoon Kenny Huang is reported to have launched a backdoor bid for Liverpool by going straight to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) rather than the American owners.   It increasingly looks as if the Syrian fronted bid we reported on yesterday is a diversionary tactic by George Gillett to at least delay the Huang bid.

Could Egg save Owls?

by

Sheffield Wednesday issued a heartfelt plea a couple of days ago for serious investors who could commit £5m immediately to the financially troubled club.  The Owls have had a number of approaches, including one from Club 9 Sports LLC in the United States, but none of them appears to have offered the money the club needs.


Now reports are circulating that Eggert Magnusson, part of the consortium that owned West Ham, and popularly known as ‘The Egg’ may be prepared to invest in the clujb.

Is Syrian bid for Liverpool serious?

by

Former Syrian international footballer Yahya Kirdi has once again emerged as a bidder for Liverpool.  He was reported to be engaged in talks to acquire the club in April in discussions that were brokered by Andy Lynch, a Celtic footballer in the 1970s.  These discussions came to nothing, but now he is reported to be George Gillett’s preferred bidder and engaged in serious talks.

Management buy out at Charlton

by

Cash strapped Charlton Athletic has been the subject of a management buy out by chairman Richard Murray.  He has taken sole control of Charlton. New money has been injected into the club to reduce its debt burden, thus making it more attractive to new investors who are being actively sought.

Murray said: ‘This has been a critical time for the club. Our future was uncertain, and financially this was potentially one of our darkest hours.

New pressure on Liverpool owners

by

Whatever the new management team at Liverpool can achieve to restore the club’s fortunes is going to be constrained both financially and in terms of stability as long as the ownership question is not resolved.   The general view is that Tom Hicks and George Gillett have set too high an asking price, given that any new owner would be expected to fund a new stadium in Stanley Park.  Indeed, that is essential if the club is to progress.

AS Roma put up for sale

by

AS Roma has officially been put up for sale.   As part of a broader deal to settle their debts with the UniCredit bank the Sensi family have transferred their 67 per cent stake in the club to a new company which then be put up for sale by the bank.   Ironically, the chief executive of UniCredit, Alessandro Profumo, is a keen fan of Inter Milan.

Rangers taken off the market

by

We upset some Rangers fans by suggesting that the bid by the Andrew Elllis consortium was going nowhere, but now the club has been taken off the market.   The Ellis bid was frequently talked up, but seemed to be more about publicity than substance.

Deepdale deal near

by

It looks as if leisure tycoon Trevor Hemmings is close to securing control of Preston North End.  He now has just over 68 per cent of the shares and only needs 7 per cent more to delist the club and take it off the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).    London-based shareholder and fan Paul Wilkinson who owns a 12 per cent block of shares has accepted his 5p a share offer.

Rangers bid close to collapse

by

Although Radio 5 carried a report earlier this morning that the takeover bid for Rangers by Andrew Ellis might be nearing completion, the view north of the border is that the whole deal could be close to collapse with Ellis unable to come up with the required funds.