The Saints Takeover Thread

Saints a £200m target for Chinese company Lander according to Bloomberg

Southampton, the Premier League football club based on the south coast of England, is in exclusive talks to be taken over by Lander Sports Development Co. of China, according to people familiar with the situation.

Katharina Liebherr, the club’s Swiss owner, has been engaged in the talks for several weeks, said the people, who declined to be identified because an agreement has yet to be completed. The price could be as much as 200 million pounds ($246.2 million), they said.

The talks come amid a surge of investment in soccer by Chinese companies, spurred by President Xi Jinping’s stated desire to turn the nation into a force in the sport. A consortium led by Hong Kong-based GreaterChina Professional Services Ltd. on Wednesday outlined its plans for another Premier League club, Hull City, if it succeeds with a takeover bid.

A Southampton takeover would be the most significant Chinese acquisition in English soccer to date, following deals in which West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City were sold to Chinese investors.

A spokesman for Southampton said he was unaware of the talks. Lander declined to comment.


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Shit should have invested in Tena, this is going to cause much bedwetting in Stevesworld TM… naturally here at Papsweb we are born with plastic pants

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I, for one, welcome our new Chinese overlords

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If Pele was worth £12 to the Chinese then the club has surely got to be worth more than £200m

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Originally posted by @BTripz

If Pele was worth £12 to the Chiness then the club has surely got to be worth more than £200m

Imagine how much we’d worth if they’d paid £12m for him?

:lou_lol:

Yes, well, I’ll let the original post stand, without editing it, for posterity and to prove to my soon to be divorced wife that I can admit to being wrong on occasion!

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Adam Blackmore@ bigadamsport 50s51 seconds ago

So, the Bloomberg story on # saintsfc - when a highly regarded financial media company splashes this out, you have to take it seriously

The figure of 200M is fair according to my City friend, but it is not in interests of Lander to leak it - is KL starting a bidding war?

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

This article makes them sound like small time speculators, I’d be worried if this takeover talk is true…

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Its alright, I heard they’ll get nasty nic back to lead us the CL and PL title

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So anyway Bob, you do realise you’re walking on dangerous ground if you’re breaking your ‘takeover thread’ virginity !!

On your head be it, if the chinese turn out to be cunts.

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One question… are they billionaires, can they make us the next Man City and bring us trophies? If not then please do not let this takeover happen.

Of course what a profit that will be! Wow!

Can’t see Katharina selling without due diligence - don’t think she’d send us up the creek with spivs, she seems a bit more ethical than givemethemoneynowandiwillwalkawaylaughing.

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I seem quite ethical, but if my local Chinese offered enough dollar I would sell them my dog no questions asked. I prob wouldn’t eat there for a couple of weeks tho.

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Kat’s Chinese Takeaway would be gd thread title pls

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Should we not launch a Sotonian’s counter bid? I’m willing to chip in a few quid. :lou_surprised:

Originally posted by @lifeintheslowlane

Should we not lauch a Sotonian’s counter bid? I’m willing to chip in a few quid. :lou_surprised:

Agreed! I’m in! Should be easy! If portsmouth can find 2,000 people willing to stump up, then we can too, surely? Admittedly, they only had to find £1000 each to raise the £2m they needed, whereas we’re gonna need to find, erm… hold on… £100k each…

Actually, I’m out.

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You’d be out if it were £50 each, that’s 10 hours work for a BK fry cook.

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Has to be bs, sorry not buying it.

Maybe a look around to see how we manage things but other than that I can’t see Kat selling, an investment might be a different story

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Looks like there is some truth in this according to journo Adam Leitch.