Jump to content

Rumours of takeover/investment interest


eling-saint

Recommended Posts

Interesting that some chinese buyers have got refused from the PL and have found their way to the football league instead.

 

It will be interesting to see if Reading allow their takeover after the same group got declined via the PL for Hull city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I recently noticed that on 11th November 2016, 5 days before 'Southampton Football Club Limited' took out a new charge on 16th November 2016, 'St Marys Stadium Limited' satisfied a charge dating back to the year 2000. The 'persons entitled' to the satisfied charge was 'St Marys SPV Limited' (what does SPV stand for..?). All three companies are owned by Katharina Liebherr. Does this add another piece to the 'possible takeover' jigsaw or is it just 'businesms as usual'?

Not necessarily a special purpose vehicle could be used for a number of reasons e.g. To ring fence some liabilities from the main Southampton accounts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
China’s Lander Sports Development Co. agreed to buy a stake in Southampton, the English Premier League team, in what could become one of the highest-profile Chinese acquisitions in English soccer.

 

The Chinese company signed an agreement with the club’s owner, Katharina Liebherr, according to a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange on Thursday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed but people familiar with the matter said late last year that Lander Sports may buy control for as much as 200 million pounds ($253 million).

 

For Lander Sports, investing in the Premier League would give it a seat in the richest and most-watched soccer league on the planet. Should the deal be completed, Southampton would join West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Birmingham City among teams sold to Chinese investors.

 

Lander Sports, based in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, builds stadiums across China, and has the rights to host the International Basketball Federation’s Stankovic Continental Cup, according to the company’s website.

 

Lander Sports shares have been suspended from trading since October.

 

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-26/china-s-lander-to-buy-stake-in-southampton-premier-league-team

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A quick google reveals some intriguing background to the Lander and their (possible) ties to Liebherr, Sports and Money.

 

To start with, this is a look at current Chinese investment in sport - mentioning Lander:

 

http://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/1935956/plenty-bold-forecasts-chinas-sporting-gold-rush-many-prospectors-are

 

Breakdown of Lander's profits/loss for recent years. (plus a small paragraph which shows similarities to the Liebherr family of businesses, i.e. large scale construction)

 

https://www.google.com/finance?cid=702915

 

or:

 

http://www.capitalcube.com/blog/index.php/lander-sports-development-co-ltd-000558-cn-earnings-analysis-q2-2016-by-the-numbers-september-7-2016/

 

 

Discussing Lander's (abortive) plan to offer sports broadcasting in Maccau

 

http://macaubusinessdaily.com/Business/New-Kid-Town-0

&

http://agbrief.com/news/sands-cotai-partners-lander-real-estate-sporting-events

(This appears to be a wedding or something too)

 

Finally... ...Swiss Links. And Curling:

 

http://en.ytsports.cn/news-2404.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone else get the feeling that this could be related to us expanding the stadium / the surrounding area?

 

My exact thoughts. We already have the academy build completed, investors money can not be used directly for player purchases, so surely the only 'asset' we hav that needs investment is the stadium and surrounding area? I for one like the sound of the 'Lander Sports Complex'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They won't be paying £200m for a minority stake, if that value from the article is true.

 

The Liebherr's have proven trustworthy til now and especially if they retain some sort of interest you would expect they know what they are doing.

 

But Asian investment in UK football has been disasterous until now so its right to be sceptical. Unless they put significant sums of money in and retain the current leadership structure of the club, then I would be very cautious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Bloomberg guy who broke this seems to be insinuating that the Property (building towns/cities) development world in China is so competitive at the moment- that this would allow them to differentiate themselves by building top end sports facilities as well.

 

So it seems more of a cooperative agreement, and i would guess a minority stake, than a buy a majority stake and try and run a football club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Couldnt get it to load, but found it OS :

 

"I am writing to you in relation to an announcement made in China today about Southampton Football Club and Lander Holding.

 

Please understand that I can only make limited comments regarding this process but I can assure you that any steps we do take will be in the best interests of the club. A potential partnership would need to clear multiple approvals and fulfil strict criteria before being confirmed.

 

The Premier League is increasingly competitive; we need to keep moving forward and look to new markets for commercial growth, innovation and to share our journey. Together we have had many years of progression and success, and ensuring this continues is the main focus of any possible partnership.

 

I cannot thank you enough for the continued support you give Southampton Football Club, and it makes me so proud to think we will soon be experiencing a major final together at Wembley. I hope you enjoy what will be a brilliant day for our club and look forward to a successful future together.

 

We March On

 

Katharina Liebherr"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...