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BIH – Unfounded and Defamatory
In a second announcement made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, BIH have confirmed a complaint was received by the HKSE with respect firstly to Trillion Trophy Asia being given an exclusivity agreement with respect to a takeover of BIH/BCFC and secondly to Victor Ma Shui-cheong and Panagiotis (Panos) Pavlakis retaining their roles as directors of BCFC.
The announcement is linked here.
EY go into great pains to confirm how they chose TTA; that they solicited and received seven “Indicative Non-Binding Offers” (INBOs) for either the club or for BIH – which was reported by this website here; that four of those bids were for the club alone and due to the fact that the sale of the club alone would mean that BIH would not have a sufficient level of operations to maintain their HKSE listing (as noted on here many, many, many times previously) that those bids could not be entertained.
They then go into further detail as to why TTA were chosen – because they were willing to stump up cash to keep BIH afloat immediately, without resorting to a convertible bond of any type like the other shortlisted firm wanted to – and secondly because TTA had experience in running a distressed company unlike the other bidder who was English who didn’t.
At no point do BIH actually name who TTA actually are – although we know from documents filed in the UK the identity of Paul Suen Cho Hung (as reported first on this website in August). The complaint – that TTA and EY knew each other previously and had worked with each before has some merit (again, this article on OP details a previous company that both worked together on) – however, if TTA were the only people to offer to put money up and to maintain the integrity of the listing it seems obvious to me that they were the right choice on merit also. We’ve seen from the way Carson et al ran BIH that continually relying on bonds and rights issues doesn’t work.
The allegations against Panos and Ma were shot down with a simple paragraph noting the improvement not just in on the pitch performance but off the field too at St Andrews, which neatly coincides with Panos’ rise to power at B9 and the downfall of Peter Pannu.
What should we infer from this?
For me, it raises questions – who made this complaint? Was it Peter Pannu, bitter at being shunted aside and removed from his roles in an attempt to get in his party for his slice of the cake? Was it a spurned bidder who felt that were left out improperly? Could it have even been Carson, who has been trying to get rid of EY since day one?
The second question is an extension of the first – what was the motive in making the complaint – what was the complainant hoping to achieve? For me it’s all about muddying the waters, rocking the boat again in an attempt to change the current status quo. It further reinforces my belief that there are people who are unhappy with the way things are going and who will do anything they can to get into the box seat, using any tactics necessary.
The sad thing is while these power games are being played out, the takeover just gets more and more messy and more and more protracted. Birmingham City FC is not a huge company by any means and this sort of deal should not take the length of time it has been; whether it’s been incompetence, negligence or downright greed that has caused the continual issues we’ve seen is difficult (and potentially libelous) to say so I’m not going to.
Suffice it to say, the road has gotten a little bit longer.
Tags: BIH, Ernst and Young, HKSE, Panagiotis Pavlakis, Paul Suen Cho, Trillion Trophy Asia, Victor Ma Shui Cheong
32 Responses to “BIH – Unfounded and Defamatory”
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“Keep right on to the end off the road , keep right on to the end ” …. Find me a bridge with this news and I will chuck the pair off them off .. Byeeeee. zzzzzz. Kro .. If it’s possible .
Sounds like pannu and Carson are very bitter people I love it that the bully pannu is getting a bit of his own medicine,do any of them pair actually think they could get anywhere near Birmingham let alone St. Andrews for the rest of there days I really don’t understand why they want all the hassle of trying to be in the box seat!it’s got to be sheer greed with pannu,that bloke should never work again in his life…maybe we should inform his future employers whatever he ends up doing in Hong Kong of his dodgy ways and hit him in his pocket where it hurts him the most.
Mickey, I think Dan’s article infers that there is uncertainty as to who made the complaint. Frustrated though we all are with the protracted saga of the potential takeover, it may not have been Messrs Carson or Yeung who made the complaint and we should therefore all be very careful and measured in our comments on the subject. AS Dan says, we cannot be seen to be engaging in libelous chatter and we must only deal in solid facts and not conjecture.
Correct Bazza.
It may well have been someone else.
Regardless of whether it is CY or PP who lodged the objection, they are not going to back down period, until CY’s appeal against his sentence because if he were cleared of all charges then it would be too late for him having anything to do with Blues if the club had already been sold. I would envisage he is going to contest everything & delay until the outcome of his appeal if he wants to keep hold of the club. If he fails with the appeal then he will have a decision to make but until then I think he will logically delay everything he can.
Am I right in thinking that once the club is sold E&Y are out of the picture?
Correct! E&Y are appointed administrators for BIHL. Once the club is sold it will not be owned by BIHL therefore the administrators will have no interest in the club. It is important to remember that they are administrators for BIHL & not the club.
Except they are Receivers We are not in administration.,
“WE” being BIHL of course.
Thanks for stating the obvious :-) kro
Given the previous question, not so obvious to all, Dave :)
It’s such a pity that all the legal wranglings have to take place in HK, i’m sure it would have been sorted out (or thrown out) by now if it were in the UK
How are you sure?
You seen what’s happened at Leeds recently?
You might be forgetting that LEEDS is owned also by a non- British entity.
Ken Bates is as British as they come, have a read about his seven year ownership of Leeds and why it’s a part of the problem.
Like you I know a lot about Leeds having very good friends who work on the playing side of the Club.
You have deflected criticism before and used Leeds and KEN BATES before as some kind of example of British people messing around with a clubs finances.
Ken Bates and the hate campaigns he’s endured are reminiscent of the Blues fans hatred/frustration with Gold and Sullivan.
Ken Bates bought Chelsea in 1982…..helped the Club fend off Property developers who tried to kick them out of Stamford Bridge…..he was their saviour…….By the end of his 20 years reign they were regularly in the top 6…..he sold it for $140 mill to the Russian and their 80 million debt was wiped and the used his 60 mill profit 2 years later to buy 50% of Leeds who were massively in debt and on their last legs…….they sold Elland Road and their training ground but still owed the taxman 1.2 million pounds………….Peter Ridsdale had all the players on long contracts and the club lost vital matches in Europe and they were going under.
Bates reckons he lost 30 million of his own money and maintains to this day he never took a wage.
In 2012 he sold the Club to GFH Capital who do not seem have any money to finance the Club.They are Non-British Almajir and employed a cowboy called MELISSIMO CELLINI who has sacked so many managers….he’s another joke who should go back to Sardinia….Leeds problems are not caused by Bates but by Non-British entities and the Football LEAGUE once again.
Read about Charlton and their Belgian owner….they are stuffed also and will go down for sure.
CHRIS G originally said….”.It’s such a pity that all the legal wranglings have to take place in HK, i’m sure it would have been sorted out (or thrown out) by now if it were in the UK”……and he was suggesting that overseas entities are the problem and he’s more than substantially correct.
Claiming Leeds problems are caused by BATES is nonsense.
GOLD & SULLIVAN used their windfall from CY to pay down West HAM’S debt by 50 million caused by the ICELANDICS……BATES did exactly the same at LEEDS from his Chelsea windfall..
Tell me where I’m wrong
You know what, I’m not going to bother. You’ve skipped over what happened with Bates at Leeds – the fact for about five years he bloody denied even owning the club is a great start…
It’s blatant your xenophobia makes you think English owners = good, foreign owners = bad; the truth is that is not true. Ask Blackpool fans (Oystons), Northampton fans (David Cardoza) – two examples off the top of my head.
When I think of the wonderful years with Sullivan,Gold.Brady and Brucie.Did I really appreciate those times?. Now we have this tangled mess which continues to strangulate us with no end in sight. How do you explain all this to the younger generation of blues fans. Men behaving badly with no interest in anything other than self gain.Todays latest nastiness centres as usual around individuals causing mayhem and instability- without the slightest interest in a football.
You have just described modern English football at the higher levels.
My instincts tell me this is unlikely to be CY or PP1 simply because of the court actions against them. Why would they run the risk of giving the prosecution the chance to tell the court that the HKSE ruled against a complaint they had made, meaning they in fact endorsed TTA by default, it would show how futile their argument was. I think my guess would be other bidder who may have a case and if they have I would want to know the basis of the complaint, or their complaint may be ruled futile also. Just don`t think imo that this is owt to do with those two.
Fair play to you for keeping tabs on this. For.the first time, I’m beginning to despair that the club will ever emerge from this mess. Curse the past owners.for selling to those clowns.
Tarantini,
Only mu opinion mate but it is far better that e&y do it this way as at least any new owners will know there will be no come back later on and indeed we would not want to get new owners then find a certain person taking more law suits against them after the receivers have gone. This way although it might take longer is far better than any quick fix, it will be a clean cut but we have to go through this process so don`t despair matey.
PS… Like Dan said above have you seen what is going on at Leeds.
Doesn’t change the facts, but early morning shag has put things in a better light. Thanks for the pep-talk KRO
It seems that E&Y have gone out of their way to protect the shareholders of BIH, who were members of the HKSE , but hold on isn’t that what the HKSE are supposed to do or the committee that represents them ,.?????????????
Regardless of who has made the allegations I think this is not good news for the club.
TTA will be pretty nervous about putting anymore money into the club while all these legal issues are going on and I suspect thats the motive for the allegations.They could possibly walk away from any deal.
Yet another bad news day.
Biggest twist of all and it could only happen to Blues- is that CY returns with loads of cash. That is more than possible in view of us ‘reading between the lines’ as to latest news.
almajir says:
November 7, 2015 at 2:54 pm
You know what, I’m not going to bother. You’ve skipped over what happened with Bates at Leeds – the fact for about five years he bloody denied even owning the club is a great start…
It’s blatant your xenophobia makes you think English owners = good, foreign owners = bad; the truth is that is not true. Ask Blackpool fans (Oystons), Northampton fans (David Cardoza) – two examples off the top of my head.
Almajir my fellow B
almajir says:
November 7, 2015 at 2:54 pm
You know what, I’m not going to bother. You’ve skipped over what happened with Bates at Leeds – the fact for about five years he bloody denied even owning the club is a great start…
It’s blatant your xenophobia makes you think English owners = good, foreign owners = bad; the truth is that is not true. Ask Blackpool fans (Oystons), Northampton fans (David Cardoza) – two examples off the top of my head.
Almajir my fellow Blue nose your only reply to me is calling me xenophobic which is a rally cheap shot…CHRIS G was frustrated at the overseas problem of our ownership problem and you fobbed him off by citing LEEDS problems.Bad example I say.Leeds problems were not caused by BATES.They were in trouble before he got there.
BLACKPOOL and NORTHAMPTON are another story that you’ve intoduced that were not part of the discussion.
You run a good website and quite frankly regarding Blues HK woes you’ve left the local Brum press for dead.
That’s where my agreement with you ends.
Dear jb from oz , I don’t care if blues owners come from Mars ,blues have had some bad English owners in the past and I have called them just the same , my family ,some are down under are miffed off with the time it is taking for this club to be sold , if TTA want to by blues tomorrow and keep on sorting BIHs problems out great , but if it was a car they was buying it would have lost 30% of the value the tax and mot would have run out before they received it , it seems that everybody in Hong Kong seems to be trying to slow down the sale of our club JB , and while the owners are not at the moment putting a lot of money into the club their will be doubts and worry by the fans , I for one was against the two years loan deal ,after three years of hell , but hey the team is on fire today and we love you JB keep right on .
I can’t believe how long this is taking,are the legal system constantly on a coffee break over there,this has been going on too long now and shows no sign of finishing inside 2 years unless someone wakes up over, it would not take this long in the UK and everyone knows that.
Another astute well written prose on the drama of St Andrews.
Keep up the good work and hopefully find a handsome rich prince to carry us over the threshold of our happy ending.