The 2016 Takeover Thread

[bobzy]

9 minutes ago, Davkaus said:

Why would someone who was a Villa fan for years have been looking at other English clubs?  

Potentially due to marketing for their group or (unlikely) profitability?

 

Irrespective of being a Villa fan, Manchester United, for example, have much, much bigger global appeal (I'm not saying he was looking at Man Utd).

[dont_do_it_doug.]

20 minutes ago, mjmooney said:

Yeah, I accept that that's the way it is. I understand that it's not going to change, and that you can't go back. But I don't have to like it. 

True and it's a shame you feel that way. 

Please take this in the way it's presented - if you went to the games regularly you'd feel differently about it. The atmosphere is still the same. The ebb and flow of it, the piss and the pleasure. On the pitch, it's still 11 men vs 11. All thoughts of FFP, Chinese billions and Russian Oligarchs flies out the window the second you step onto the terrace. 

It's still the beautiful game. 

[GENTLEMAN]

Interesting article. Dr Tone has links to the Chinese president. 

Quote

 

A 40-year-old businessman from East China’s Zhejiang, Tony Xia Jiantong, has beaten other more flamboyant Chinese tycoons to become the first mainland resident to buy a major soccer club in the UK, after paying 60 million pounds (HK$683.46 million) to acquire a 100 per cent stake in Championship-league side Aston Villa.

Few details apart from the headline buyout figure have been made public, as the spotlight shifts onto Xia and his network of companies.

“It seems more entrepreneurs are following this path -- accumulating wealth through capital markets speculation, scoring political points, and finally making their business bigger and unchallengeable,” said a Shanghai-based analyst with a state-owned mutual fund.

Many entrepreneurs are eyeing overseas soccer clubs, after President Xi Jinping expressed a personal passion for the game and announced his ambition to make the country a global powerhouse in the sport.

Xia make a splash on December 1 when a listed company he controls called Lotus Health Industry Holding Group named Xi Yinping, cousin of President Xi Jinping, as an independent director.

The nomination by the board was dropped one day later, after sparking online debate and pushing the company’s Shanghai-listed shares up by their 10 per cent limit.

Chinese businessman Tony Xia agrees to buy Aston Villa for reported £60 million

Lotus Health’s annual report issued in April showed a net loss of 508 million yuan (HK$603.1 million) after revenue declined 11.41 per cent on year to 1.78 billion yuan (HK$2.11 billion). The company’s shares trade at a price-earnings ratio above 120 times on Shanghai Stock Exchange, or about 10 times the market average.

According to the announcement made by Aston Villa on its official website, Xia has bought the team with privately-held Recon Group, which Xia controls.

Recon Group also owns a controlling interest in five publicly-listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges, in addition to several private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries, the announcement said.

The official website of Recon Group describes itself as a multinational conglomerate operating in six core business sectors, ranging from new energy to smart city technologies.

Teamax, the smart city tech arm held by the Group, went public in Shenzhen last January through a reverse takeover of a company producing shampoo called Soffto.

Early last year, Chinese property tycoon Wang Jianlin bought a 20 per cent share of Spanish powerhouse Madrid Athletico for 45 million euros (HK$348.65 million).

The biggest acquisition of a foreign football club by a Chinese company occurred in December last year, when a consortium led by state-backed China Media Capital took a US$400 million stake in the owner of Villa’s far larger and wealthier rival, Manchester City.

 

 

[Mark Albrighton]

I for one, welcome our...oh that one's been done.

The Chinese. A great...oh damn it, that one too.

While I'm thinking of a Chinese related gag, I'll say that I'm cautiously optimistic that this is a good thing. Happy that Randy has gone which was the main priority. 

Hopefully The Chinese Way will move us up a level or (forty) two.

[JPAngel]

Quote

Roberto Di Matteo heads the shortlist for Aston Villa job but is not the only candidate
By Mark Ashenden
Last Updated: 19/05/16 12:01pm
 
Roberto Di Matteo is one of the favourites for the Aston Villa manager's job but it is not a one-horse race, according to Sky sources.

It was revealed that Randy Lerner sold the club to the Recon Group, owned by Chinese businessman Dr Tony Jiantong Xia, on Wednesday with the deal awaiting ratification from the Premier League and Football League.

It is understood Di Matteo, who stepped down at Schalke a year ago after a seven-month spell at the German club, will hold talks with the new Villa owner, but not until next week.

Di Matteo led Chelsea to the UEFA Champions League in 2012, stepping up from his role as assistant manager to replace Andre Villas-Boas, only to leave six months later following a 3-0 Champions League defeat by Juventus.

Representatives of Xia held discussions in New York following the conclusion of takeover negotiations and are known to be interested in a number of candidates led by Burnley boss Sean Dyche and ex-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

David Moyes is also a candidate, although it is believed that the former Manchester United and Everton manager will not fancy working in the Championship.

Ex-Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson is also in the frame, although many of his supporters at Aston Villa - including David Bernstein and Adrian Bevington - have now left the club.

SSNHQ also understands that Damien Comolli was initially touted as a possible technical director but the former director of football at Liverpool is not aware of interest and has had no contact with the Chinese consortium.

It is estimated that Dr Xia will pay between £60m and £70m for the club which New York-based investor Lerner bought 10 years ago and has been trying to sell since 2014.

Chinese consortium purchase Aston Villa
In a "farewell statement" on the Villa website, Lerner said: "Tony's excitement to develop Villa Park shone through. I remain convinced that this is a crucial part of the club's future as it provides a critical, long-term second source of revenue and therefore sustainability for the club."

Villa were relegated to the Championship after finishing bottom of the Premier League this season.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/10287710/roberto-di-matteo-heads-the-shortlist-for-aston-villa-job-but-is-not-the-only-candidate?

Interesting bit about Comoli in this piece by SSN...

Edited May 19, 2016 by JPAngel

[markavfc40]

3 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I'm not condemning him, but I'm massively uncomfortable with this. I see our government closing down the British steel industry in the rush to suck up to a country that seems to be gearing up to control the world economy. Now I see the Chinese have decided to dominate world football. Well, fine, I lost interest in world football many years ago. The money aspect of the game, the Sky hegemony, ticket prices out of reach of the average punter, players' wages that are frankly disgusting, English clubs owned by Arab sheikhs and Russian oligarchs. It stinks. All I had was Aston Villa, Birmingham's proudest. I thought we were better than that. This is the club whose players refused to salute Hitler. We knew that the worst thing that could happen wasn't playing in the third division, it was losing the soul of the club. That process has sadly been accelerating since the birth of the Premier League. All I see on this thread is hysteria about money. Money, and shut your eyes to everything else. Rename Villa Park? Sure, think of the money. This used to be Aston Villa. Now it it seems it's just another PLC. I'm not celebrating this morning, I'm sad, very sad. I'm not saying I'm walking away from it all, I'll follow what happens with interest, and no doubt I'll be pleased if we can start winning games, but it's not MY Aston Villa any more. 

I have a  lot of time for posts like this mate. Straight from the heart and I can feel it. I don’t go as far back as you Mike but I go back to the early 80’s when the game, above what happens on the pitch, was way different to what it is now. The game has changed massively in that regard and much of it not for the better.

We are where we are though. As fans we have no real control over who owns us and in fact that has always been the case. What we do have control over though is the one thing that most concerns you. The soul of the club. That to me is us. I consider myself a part of that. That thing you can’t see or touch but that thing we feel. That thing that my old man had and that I have instilled in my children. That passion, that embracing of our great history, that thing I feel every time I walk into Villa Park. The stands have changed and been rebuilt over the years, numerous managers and players come and gone and a couple of owners, but that feeling remains. Win, lose or draw, dire performance or great ones, top flight or second tier, sure I’d rather be experiencing the positive side of all those but bottom line is this is my club and along with thousands of others, and the thousands who went before us, we are the soul of this football club and regardless of who owns us, what the stands are called or what the players earn this will always be OUR Aston Villa.

Edited May 19, 2016 by markavfc40

[hippo]

2 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

I have a  lot of time for posts like this mate. Straight from the heart and I can feel it. I don’t go as far back as you Mike but I go back to the early 80’s when the game, above what happens on the pitch, was way different to what it is now. The game has changed massively in that regard and much of it not for the better.

We are where we are though. As fans we have no real control of who owns us and in fact that has always been the case. What we do have control over though is the one thing that most concerns you. The soul of the club. That to me is us. I consider myself a part of that. That thing you can’t see or touch but that thing we feel. That thing that my old man had and that I have instilled in my children. That passion, that embracing of our great history, that thing I feel every time I walk into Villa Park. The stands have changed and been rebuilt over the years, numerous managers and players come and gone and a couple of owners, but that feeling remains. Win, lose or draw, dire performance or great ones, top flight or second tier, sure I’d rather be experiencing the positive side of all those but bottom line is this is my club and along with thousands of others, and the thousands who went before us, we are the soul of this football club and regardless of who owns us, what the stands are called or what the players earn this will always be OUR Aston Villa.

You can still go down there, have a mouldy pie, a bottle of beer that tastes like p*ss , then watch a load of useless tossers kick the ball about .....still the same old villa for me ! 

(not renewing next year though !!) 

 

[TheStagMan]

Chill out dude, you're in the south east, not the far east! [emoji6]

Don't be locationist!

[villa89]

1 hour ago, GENTLEMAN said:

Interesting article.

SSNHQ also understands that Damien Comolli was initially touted as a possible technical director but the former director of football at Liverpool is not aware of interest and has had no contact with the Chinese consortium.

There is a God. And he's possibly chinese. Comolli is a spoofer.

[Reivax_Villa]

time to tune into talksport lads 

[JPAngel]

3 minutes ago, Reivax_Villa said:

time to tune into talksport lads 

Why? Anything new?

[bobzy]

1 minute ago, JPAngel said:

Why? Anything new?

Just talking about our new owner.

[JPAngel]

Can someone spill the beans if there's anything decent on Talksport? I can get away with being on the forum at work but I think putting the radio on in the office is a step too far

[Lerner's Driver]

2 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Just talking about our new owner.

No doubt they'll provide some fascinating character analysis and some totally new insights.

I'd lay money on it if the Moose gets to contribute...

[bobzy]

1 minute ago, Lerner's Driver said:

No doubt they'll provide some fascinating character analysis and some totally new insights.

I'd lay money on it if the Moose gets to contribute...

Some Chinese football writer (lol) who has stated that Xia has basically come from nowhere in terms of footballing interest.  However, Chinese football (as a whole) can basically compete with absolutely anyone now and it sounds like Xia/his group can too.

Then some chat about how Villa just need to be sensible and get promoted - create a side like Leicester did etc.  Then discussion of why Pearson isn't the main contender and all chat is about RDM.  Basically it.

[Daweii]

Create a side like Leicester did.. They are an outlier in the league just like Blackburn were. As much as what they did this season was amazing momentum is also a hell of thing, they are as likely to get relegated next season as they are to successfully defend the title. I mean their team is a bunch of outcasts that managed to click for a season, it's yet to be seen if their model works in the long term. The current success trend seems to be to buy the league, yes they didn't do that but they are an anomaly not the norm. 

[KHV]

I'm not liking this takeover one bit. Alarm bells are ringing for me. Some really shitty and dodgy individuals seem to be involved in this. Not good at all

[jon_c]

The western press really have absolutely no idea about the inner workings of China. It must drive people like the Sky group mental. I don't think we'll ever really know the full extent of who owns who, and what amounts of money are involved. 

[Davkaus]

Has there been any mention of the debts we owe Lerner? the club's been sold for £65m-ish, how much do we still owe him?

[jon_c]

With new apparent mega rich owners, are the job losses still going ahead?