Yeung to market Bimingham City in China
05/07/2007 |
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Carson Yeung, the Hong Kong businessman who's buying a stake in U.K. soccer club Birmingham City, said he aims to market the club in China.
``We have plans to expand our fan base in Hong Kong, China and the rest of Asia,'' Yeung said at a press briefing in Hong Kong today. He said he bought into the club because Birmingham is Britain's second-biggest city and has a large Chinese population.
Birmingham, promoted back to English soccer's Premiership at the end of last season, last week said its main shareholders agreed to sell as much as 29.9 percent of the club to a Hong Kong company partly owned by Yeung.
Yeung declined to comment on whether he'll make an offer for the rest of the club or on possible management changes. He said he has ``full confidence'' in team manager Steve Bruce.
Shares of Birmingham City Plc, which operates the club, gained 1 penny, or 2.4 percent, to 42 pence at 1:30 p.m. in London. They have risen 87 percent this year.
Investors including David Sullivan and brothers David and Ralph Gold have granted Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings Ltd. the right to buy. A full bid would be triggered if Yeung takes his stake to 30 percent.
By the beginning of the new season, which starts next month, as many as half the Premiership's 20 teams may be owned by foreign investors seeking a slice of soccer's richest league.
Sullivan and the Gold brothers have been in charge at the club since 1993, and secured promotion to the top division in 2002. Elite status lasted until relegation in 2006, followed by second place and promotion from the Championship this year.
Yeung said he has investments in energy, hotels and property. His interest in Birmingham comes as Manchester City Football Club last month agreed to be bought by former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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