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The Beginning of the End
The potential sale of Birmingham City is heating up nicely now with the Birmingham Mail printing a front page splash on the story on Tuesday before Birmingham International Holdings made an announcement to the Stock Exchange. BIH have confirmed that they have entered into serious talks with two bidders although there is no word on who they are or what figures for the sale of the club are being announced. So what now?
At the moment the talk is all about who the bidders are – Colin Tattum revealed yesterday that there were consortiums believed to be from Thailand and India along with a third mystery consortium in addition to the bid fronted by Solihull-based Gianni Paladini. With the parties involved having signed non-disclosure agreement it would be most unlikely that anyone seriously interested will now break cover and discuss their interests in the club in the manner that Paladini did and I would suspect that anyone who did know any of the consortium’s identities will be keeping things quiet in order not to endanger any potential takeover.
As I stated yesterday this announcement from BIH is the first concrete evidence from the club or the holding company that negotiations are ongoing with any party and hopefully is the start of the process that will see the end of Carson’s reign. Whilst the last few months have been painful I personally am still thankful that Blues won a trophy under Carson and got to go on a European campaign; for all the mistakes Carson made one cannot fault him for giving Blues the tools to win one trophy in our lifetimes – for this we should be appreciative.
So what happens next? If things go well the next announcement I’d expect is for one bidder to be given a period of exclusivity after negotiations to make a bid for the club. No doubt Mr Pannu will be looking to see which bid is most favourable for BIH, for BCFC and for Carson and with Carson’s court cases ticking on will be looking to wrap something up as quickly as possible for his boss and friend. If a bid is received which is favourable then an announcement will be made to the HKSE giving details of an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) which will outline what the bid is, what it’s worth to shareholders and seek to ratify approval. That announcement should give us at least an outline of what the bid is worth and from there once shareholder approval is gained the sale can proceed. Of course, this will all take time and I think a timeframe of completion in the new year would be a reasonable estimate at this moment in time.
What’s also good news is that Carson’s trial is almost immaterial now; any verdict shouldn’t be an impediment to the sale. Carson may be the owner of the shares but the real power is now with Peter Pannu as he is the one who will sort out the sale of the club in his role as BIH CEO and he will be the one who will do what is necessary to push through ratification by shareholders. The non-release of accounts by BIH is also immaterial as it’s not the parent company that is being sold but the subsidiary – and the accounts for BCFC have been released and no doubt the books will be up to date and in order thanks to the sterling efforts of the staff at St Andrews.
There is still some way to go but the hope is that the process has now properly begun after a period of rumour and speculation. It’s now down to Peter Pannu to finish the deal.
Tags: BIH, Carson Yeung, HK, Peter Pannu, Sale
61 Responses to “The Beginning of the End”
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I’m in agreement on Carson Yeung. I have never joined in with the vitriol some Blues fans show towards him – having said that I’m glad he is about to be deposed as our ‘owner’. His situation is hurting us as a club, but it’s important to acknowledge that, with us at least, he has been guilty of naivety only – he gambled and chased the dream – he lost.
I’d settle for solid, maybe even hard headed owners now who will steer us upwards again – whilst the Cup win was fantastic the aftermath has been a feckin nightmare.
Bye carson – good luck.
Couldn’t agree with you more Motozulu.
The big loser here is Carsen Yeung. He paid twice what the club was worth. Lent the club money he won’t get back and will probably lose his house.
He hardly missed a match when he was allowed to travel (a round trip from China and back each time) and was by all accounts a football nut.
We won a cup and played in Europe.
Now it’s time to go.
He paid 3 times what the club was worth not 2 times.
I thought something like this would take only 6/8 weeks for it too be done mayor?
Mickey – as I’ve consistently said, it will take 6 weeks or so from a bid being accepted. A bid has not been accepted for the club… so it’s going to take longer than 6 weeks.
Any idea if LC is partially responsible for the sale, or is it a case of the inevitable? Personally I don’t hate Carson, not a major fan though.
I still wonder why Paladini broke his cover and publicly announced his bid, I mean, wouldn’t anyone with half a mind wait to see who was going to join in the chase and then try to see if his consortium had any ace cards to play? But either way, what’s done is done, and all we do now is hope that PP manages a sale that has the fans interests at heart. For what has happened under CY, I agree that it should be recognised. Once again, BCFC is to be owned by another, and it does make me nervous. Why? ..well, probably because we’re more than likely to have an over-seas owner(s) again, and I just can’t help but think of them planting an arsehole right in the main office at St Andrews.
Like you said almajir, it is the beginning of the end of the CY and BIHL regime, ..so change is going to come this way.
I imagine Paladini broke cover because he knew his bid wouldn’t be accepted. Either that, or he is rather hopeless at business matters.
Maybe we should thank paladini for opening his mouth cus it looked to stir some intrest in to the club imo
there has been interest for a while, it’s just brought it a bit more out into the open
I find it hard to hate Carson Yeung, so I don’t. He spent relatively big (we broke our transfer record twice on Zigic & Foster), and the players and manager didn’t deliver on the pitch.
They had no plan B for relegation. There was only plan A – Don’t Get Relegated. I get the feeling that what has happened to Blues could’ve happened to at least 6-7 Prem teams if they had been the ones to go down.
Gambled and lost. That’s all there is to it.
Heskey is our transfer record, from 2004.
Neither Zigic nor Foster broke this record.
do you think peter pannu has a conflict of interests in his role as head of BIHL and BCFC?, would the best deal for BIHL neccessarily be the best deal for BCFC and vice versa?
Carson is a dreamer who sadly tried , & failed to box above his weight as a Football Club Owner.
But your right Almajir , on his watch BCFC acheived something none of us would have thought possible , winning a Major Trophy..so for that alone we should all respect his contribution.
Just hope now that Pannu can now organise an orderly & dignified retreat , which will ultimately look after the longer term interests of the football club..
I’m quite excited about the takeover; new owners, some cash and no more delayed accounts/complete shambles that is BIHL.
Under CY we won the Carling Cup, for which I am eternally grateful. However he has dragged us down to the level where we have no money, no future and no chance of promotion; the ginger one asides, the financial mess is his fault and no one elses.
KRO
Good Bye CY and do you all honestly think that the cup win was down to the parasite?!!!
I do have respect for PP tough he has had to work in some difficult times with his hands tied and had to make some very unpopular decisions but all in all he has kept the club going!
But the cup win you cant put down to the board sorry!!!!!
Parasite………….. Someone that will lose up to 80 million, hardly a parasite…. If you think a football club with gates of 13000 is a cash cow you are completely deluded, or they never let you use anything sharp where you are!
Carson, I think is a decent guy. His problem was that his past just caught up with him. Hopefully the bid from India is not the Venky’s poor relations.
Almajir, !!.
Firstly, thank you for clearly outlining the way the possible sale will be implimented, and a [ possible ] timescale for it to happen, — Though there is a long way to go yet, !!. We are assured things are underway at last, ?.
Secondly, It is good that we reckonise that Carson Yueng, was well meaning in his intentions, though as has been pointed out, rather nieve in his purchase price and his unfotunate dealings that have led to his impending court case, !!.
Keep up the good work, mate.
Almajir, am I right in thinking that Carson has to sell before his impending trial concludes in case he is found guilty? Sorry if you have already answered this kind of question but If he is imprisoned, does this mean he has no control over the sale?
KRO.
As I said in the article, the verdict is immaterial now. I think a quick sale may aid his situation but I don’t think it will affect things one way or another.
I have this horrible vision. New owners installed and their first announcement is they will make £40 million available for new players!
Carson Yeung his heart was in the right place and he splashed the cash when he could , unfortunate circumstances have curtailed his dream for the real Brummies in this Great City called Birmingham to which our beloved club carries the name.You will be remembered for being in charge when we lifted the cup , beating the big time charlies Arsenal -thanks for trying Carson. –Alan 100% Brummie
Agreed Carson should bask in some of the glory from the Wembley win..
But according to Ben Foster when asked what his greatest footballing moment is,
he obviously chose the League Cup win , but gave a lot of the credit to Steven Carr
& his contribution as the Birmingham City on field leader…
“Without a doubt, the Carling Cup final in 2011. Birmingham City beating Arsenal. I wanted to cry in the post-match interview, I was so happy. It was up there with the birth of my kids.
We were like 8-1 with the bookmakers to win in 90 minutes. Then, doing so in the 89th minute – with an assist – as soon as the whistle went, we all just sprinted down the other end of the pitch to start the party.
But I had a feeling it could happen. We were in the tunnel before the game. At Wembley, the changing-room doors face each other. Just before you line-up, you can see into the opposition’s dressing-room..
Our skipper, Steven Carr, is in front of me as we are waiting to go out. We can see Arsenal, not talking to each other. On the other hand, we are geeing up one another, shouting: ‘Come on,’ ‘This is it,’ or whatever and Carr just turned around and said: ‘Just take a look at them, will you ?’
They might have good players, but they ain’t got what we have in this dressing-room.’
It was class. It gives me goose-bumps now just thinking about it. He’s one of the best captains anyone could play for. Stevie Carr is a leader of men.”
Its exactly that attitude & desire we need to rediscover , & appoint real leaders of men..
on & off the field..!!
I just got goose bumps reading that. What a proud day and nice to hear little insights of gold like that from within the camp. There is an Escape To Victory feel about that little speech!
Here here!
Anyone thought of what might happen if Carson gets acquitted and his assetts released? Might he then decide not to sell? Good or bad situation?
As I said in the article, IMO the trial is immaterial as he knows he needs to sell.
Can I urge all the stayaway fans to get back down to St Andrews and show our prospective new owners the strength of feeling and passion we have for our club.
God help us if new owners give the club money to buy new players and LC is in charge to recruit the best of the rest for our Blues.
Our new formation will probably be 1-9-1 as we buy more and more ageing midfielders.
Hoping for a complete clear out and start all over again.
Carson was – is – and always will be a chancer who did what he always does -gambled with something that does not matter to him other than financially – To credit him with The wembley win and Europe is laughable – we had someone with us who has very rarely visited Stans over the decades and that was LADY LUCK !!!!! and as for investment he got conned with Zigic and we never broke our record with Foster as we only paid 4 million the rest were add ons which were to be paid this year but we offloaded him in time !!!! all in all this can only be good news for Blues – WE DONT CARE ABOUT CARSON !!!!!!!!!
comment edited – please be careful with your words as it can be construed as libel
Change your name to Deluded in Tamworth!
Am I alone in seeing the Steve Bruce era as some kind of high-water mark for the Blues? It was perhaps a case of not realising that that was possibly as good as it ever gets for a club like ours.
If I were a new owner, I would get Birmingham Ladies part and parcel of the club and possibly even playing at the ground. I would also splash the cash on our academy set-up. I would sack Fazackerley and McDermott and bring in a “wise head” to help LC, or possibly even dump him too.
I think getting the ladies team down stans would be a good idea, as it brings all the Birmingham city teams together and having a winning ladies team doing well may rub off the mens!
That would be one hell of a win bonus
Totally agree. I’ve often thought a smart move for the Blues would be to have the women’s game at St Andrews before the mens – create a family day out atmosphere. Not sure about the logistics inside the changing rooms however….
Nice thought to get Birmingham Ladies more involved, however, down at the DCS stadium in Stratford, blues ladies often pull in an average of 400. I went on Sunday to the last match against Arsenal and there was about 715 …a record crowd I was told. But, I was glad I went down there to be honest, I seen some fantastic football. Sure they deserve the ground at some point though.
Quite right DoctorD, I dont know if Fazackerly or McDermott have been in the dugout during games,but I have never seen them show any enthusiasm or appear at Lee Clarks side during games. Clark would probably have done better to have some younger coaches with new ideas,than those to has beens !
tamuffblue you really are so full of hatred that you can’t see that CY did his very best for BCFC. Would you gamble your house and more for the club; I don’t think so. He tried to buy a team and it did win us a Cup, but unfortunately we were relegated and his gamble has left him in a far worse place than before he bought the club. He was extremely naive but he hasn’t ripped the club off; he has ripped himself off and we unfortunately have to go down with him. So although he was very foolish, his heart was in the right place and the club at least, when it’s sold can move forward.
“Am I alone in seeing the Steve Bruce era as some kind of high-water mark for the Blues? It was perhaps a case of not realising that that was possibly as good as it ever gets for a club like ours.”
Do you mean Alex McLeish?
I’d be inclined to agree with the comment about the Steve Bruce era as opposed to Eck. Although Eck won us the trophy under Bruce we had an average of 29k in one season, awesome atmosphere at all games, premier league security and there was a real atmosphere at the club. They were good times to be down at fortress Stans.
Before the excitement all gets too much, lets see just who these far away consortiums are! What do they want to achieve from buying the club, a profitable sale later or just to raise awareness of their names? In the not too distant past we have seen a trail of new owner disasters, Coventry, Southampton ( went bust before they came back ), Portsmouth, Leeds, even Liverpool to a lesser degree etc etc
However it cannot be any worse than it is now and look at out history of recent owners, scrap metal dealers, porn barons, dodgy clothing manufacturers and poor old ‘ I saw you coming ‘ Carson!
Has any one thought what happens if the bid, which hasn’t yet been made, is not up to the value that CY wants ( same as Paladini). Does that mean no sale?
AR – the wembley team was not bought by him – just added Zigic ?????? and Foster look at since Bentley – derbyshire – hleb and yes I do hate this man and his cohorts who have DRAGGED my club down to the gutter ???? and by the looks of the attendances I am not alone in thinking that this man has ruined what shouldhave been a golden era for my club
The Ginger Sweaty Sock spent the money and the board sanctioned it. The Sweaty is to blame for spending what we could npt afford.
I think for a club like ours. We need to follow the way the Baggies are run. They too were a yo yo club up until recently. The difference this time is we wont be bouncing back anytime soon.
I think we will accept the highest bid regardless. They are just trying to create competition to hopefully hike the price up.
As for CY. He was not a ‘fit and proper person’ to take us on really and got suckered by the cockney barrow boys paying way over the odds. His business plan was flawed. I dont think he really had the money. There was no plan B. Let us not forget his mis management nearly sent us into oblivion mortgaging our club with what we could not afford.
Everybody forgets that post relegation we were treated to some shocking mushroom management as fans by our current owners.i.e kept us in the dark and fed us $h1t
We have paid for that cup with relegation from the premier league and near financial meltdown
The other interesting point is where does this leave Lee Clark if this all goes thorugh? I can’t see any new owners willing to back a comparative rookie like Lee Clark ,especially after a multi-million investment (and given his record with Blues so far). Might work out well for all parties, Lee Clark could save face when leaving St Andrews as he can claim “the new owners wanted their own man” (rather than the real reason – I just wasn’t up to the job…)
The flip side, What if Blues had managed to stay up and avoid relegation? Carsens impending court appearance would have stayed along with the freezing of assets. However we would still have had premiiership monies coming in, players would have stayed so Eck would still have tried to enhance the team. Would we have done any better in Europe? I for one thank Carsen for the cup and euro adventure but it is time for a change.
Tata was whispered to me several months ago about an interest in BCFC…who knows they brought Land Rover and the Jaguar.
For about the billionth time, it’s not Tata. Tata is a rumour that has done the rounds for an age and has repeatedly been been refuted. It’s not them.
Obviously if it goes, it will be for the highest bid. Lee Clark will be hot on Carson’s heels as well. Maybe at a time like this we need to start being positive, building up the atmosphere and making our support a valuable asset worth spending for.
Maybe it’s time to be looking beyond Carson& Clark to a real push for promotion and a return to Fortress Stans. To be there….
I would like to thank peter pannu for what he has done and for appointing ch as manager as under him i saw some of the best football ever seen at st andrews and if the new owners can get ch back i will be very happy. k.r.o.
Interesting stuff reading about the appreciation we should have for CY. Not from this call sign, I tell you that. Why is it only now that a takeover is in sight and the bloke hasn’t flushed our in down the pan that I’m reading such extensions of gratitude. The ONLY person from Yeungs reign I have an ounce of appreciation for is Peter Pannu. Maybe one day we’ll all learn about what HE has done to an ailing beast. No one else has cared. When the dream went and the money dried only one man still cared.
Whoever comes in I’m calling for stability and I’d much prefer to give all credit to the players who beat the odds on the day in not just the final.
Don’he get it myself mate, it’s like saying Jimmy Saville did great charity work ffs. You have to look at the motivation behind the actions.
……and if he is found guilty for laundering money then he had no business buying a football club for his own dream, jeopardising its existence in the process. These are the sort of people who have no place in football. Our football clubs are precious and we must be careful about who’s hands they are in.
Couldn’t agree more mate, Yeung is nothing more than a fantasist who gambled other peoples money (maybe even dirty money) and Blues future on an ego trip. Nobody knew anything about him when he took over, but we all buried our heads in the sand and thought that anyone who had paid so much for the club must have serious funds backing him. Well it looks like his “backers” have hung him out to dry for whatever reason. I just hope Pannu has BCFC as his priority in this takeover and not Yeung.
You know what ? There aint going to be a sale, this is all part of another silly game being played out by these owners. The interested “parties” might make formal offers (If they can borrow enough money to get a mortgage) but we will come back with a statement claiming that we were unable to agree terms for the sale of the club.
Carson looks like he has tried to sell up appeases the dwindling support and Mr Pannu continues to keep quiet. Meanwhile crazy clark and his ridiculous sidekick continue to do an impression of captain Smith on the Titanic. God help us…….The worst is yet to come.
Blimey Rupert, do you want the valium or the razorblade?
Arrest warrant issued for Vijay Mallya over multiple bounced cheques of over £1m.
http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/8160657/Arrest-warrant-issued-for-Mallya
Carson 2?
Forgive me for not seeing the relevance here…
We don’t know who the Indian bidders are, so why worry about something like this?
Can’t help thinking the respective postings of Rupert and the unfortunately named Think of the children are among the most serious examples of jumping the gun I have ever seen…