China’s resource-grab has made headlines here before, but now it seems to be after resources of a different sort.
Relegation-fodder football players.
Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung has made a £81.5m offer for Birmingham City FC, via his Grandtop International Holdings. Yeung already holds a 29.9 per cent stake in the club, bought in 2007, when he also attempted to take over the company.
His reasoning for the renewed undertaking?
The possibility of English football expanding in China, and what with the recently-agreed Premiership distribution deal with Guangdong TV, he may have a case. It’s still a bit of a gamble, however, given that the Blues have only just made it back into the Premier League for the 2009/2010 season.
Here’s a bit more detail from Grandtop’s RNS announcement:
The Grandtop Directors have significant business experience and connections in Hong Kong and the PRC and they believe that, with their support and through their connections and expertise in developing business in the region, Birmingham City will be able to significantly increase its global fan base, promote and enhance its brand and develop new merchandising and related revenues, which in turn will provide a source of sustainable financing to help support the Club in consistently competing at the highest levels in domestic and European football.
The Grandtop Directors intend to develop the Club by investing in and strengthening the squad and infrastructure of the Club over time.
Football is widely followed in the PRC with television viewing figures over recent years increasing significantly. The Premier League’s profile in China continues to grow with events such as the Barclays Asia Trophy being held in or around China since 2003, in which three Premier League clubs compete alongside a local team. The Premier League recognises that the development of the football game in the PRC is critical to football’s future as the world’s sport of choice. It was announced in July 2009 that Premier League matches for the forthecoming 2009/2010 season will be broadcast in China on free to air state broadcaster Guandong TV, exposing the Premier League to a significantly sized television audience in China.
Incidentally, we may not know how to say “we are the Blues” in Cantonese or Mandarin, but this appears to be how you write the word ‘Birmingham’:
Related links:
Birmingham City in the red – FT