Chinese buyout resurfaces

Can't see another thread so apologies if I'm late to the party.

Not the whole story here but enough of it to get the gist.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/chinese-make-190m-bid-for-southampton-w0krx2nhf

I've read the paper now and it seems to suggest it's all but done.

 

£190M seems a bit of a bargain considering that independent sources have valued Saints at £250M+. Or is this not a 100% buyout, but rather a controlling interest.?

EDIT: Incidentally, there was another thread, due to the earlier offer, but it has gone off the first forum page: http://www.not606.com/threads/saints-in-takeover-talks-with-chinese-group.338503/

 

Definitely a 100% buyout with Katherine reduced to a minority shareholder. Ralph and Gareth to remain for 'continuity' but new board member(s) will be appointed.

I agree about the valuation - would have thought £200m minimum. Any less and it's a Chinese takeaway (sorry!).

 

Mods - Makes sense to merge this with old thread.

That's a shame. I was keen for an investment as opposed to a full on take over! I imagine the board members will have their own people they wants to bring in and the likes of Ralph, Gareth Rodgers and even staff such as Les Reed will move on soon enough. Shame.

 

Any chance of doing a copy and paste, or doing a quick type of important bits.?

 

If Kat will/would remain a shareholder then it can't be a 100% buyout.

If the club is valued at £250m then £190m would buy around 75%. Which isn't too far from the 85% that was rumoured before.

 

The article says 100% buyout.

Southampton look set to become the second Premier League club to pass into Chinese ownership after receiving an improved offer from Lander Sports Development to buy a 100 per cent stake in the club for £190 million. The Chinese property development company has proposed a phased takeover in which it would initially buy into the club before going on to take full control.

Katharina Liebherr, the club’s owner, rejected an offer of £180 million in January, as revealed by The Times, but Lander’s improved bid is much closer to her valuation and negotiations are believed to be at an advanced stage. The sale is being handled by the Zurich office of the investment bank UBS, which has been.....(need subscription to see more)

 

I wouldn't be too worried about changes. Liebherr has already said that she won't sell to just anyone. The club has to go to the right people who will take it to the next step. And besides, she will remain a shareholder, so she'll have a say. Minority can mean 49% after all.

 

I don't have access to the full article so have just gone from what others have said - which was that it's a 100% takeover.

Whilst it is reassuring that Kat won't sell to just anybody, there is no guarantee that things change or Kat misjudged these buyers. I really hope they just invest into an already successful model rather than make wholesale changes, guess we will just have to wait and see!

 

Yep. I do share your concerns. Anything that de-rails the present progress of Saints would be a sporting tragedy. Thoughts of Venkys or [horror of horrors] Sisu lookalikes are enough to make one foam at the mouth. But Katharina obviously decided some time back that she's taken us as far as she's prepared to finance. Unless we move to richer owners there will be no regular EL and CL qualifying that Cortese tempted us with, while back in the lower leagues. I think that dream may have died a bit along with Marcus. But Saints are an efficient model. Significantly more money will make a big difference. Permanently leap-frogging Everton would be an excellent first step.

 

I shall walk round the house for the rest of the day dragging my blankie.

 

I'd imagine this is probably another intentional leak.

 

Southampton look set to become the second Premier League club to pass into Chinese ownership after receiving an improved offer from Lander Sports Development to buy a 100 per cent stake in the club for £190 million. The Chinese property development company has proposed a phased takeover in which it would initially buy into the club before going on to take full control.

Katharina Liebherr, the club’s owner, rejected an offer of £180 million in January, as revealed by The Times, but Lander’s improved bid is much closer to her valuation and negotiations are believed to be at an advanced stage. The sale is being handled by the Zurich office of the investment bank UBS, which has been retained by Liebherr since she inherited Southampton after the death of her father, Markus, in 2010.

Liebherr intends to keep some of her shares in the short term to provide continuity before selling up completely if Lander’s promises of additional investment materialise and the buy-out goes well. Lander and Southampton have been talking for more than a year, although a six-week period of exclusive negotiations ended in January without an agreement.

Lander appears to be happy for Liebherr to stay on as a minority shareholder and is not planning any significant changes at the club if it secures a majority stake. The chairman, Ralph Krueger, and chief executive, Gareth Rogers, are likely to remain in place, although Lander will seek representation on the board.

Liebherr’s willingness to sell stems from her belief that Southampton require additional investment to cement their position as a top-ten Premier League club and a desire to spread her assets across a wider portfolio. The Liebherrs’ wealth was reported to be £3 billion after Markus’s death, although that figure is understood to have referred to the entire family’s assets rather than the trust that Katharina inherited.

Southampton posted healthy financial results for the year ending 2015-16 last week, with post-tax profits of £4.9 million and an increased turnover of £124.3 million, although the club retains debts of almost £50 million, a factor that is believed to have played a part in the protracted negotiations.

Lander is seeking to become the second Chinese owner in the Premier League after Guochuan Lai’s takeover of West Bromwich Albion last year.

 

Thanks DTLW.

I wonder if that means that Katharina will receive further monies eventually when her stake is eventually bought out. Meaning that the buyout is 100%, but that it will be phased in terms of payment, i.e. £190M initially.

 

Gonna be an interesting Summer...

 

When do we ever get a peaceful summer?

The only thing we can do is soldier on and hope for the best. I'd love a major investment as long as we don't lose who we are. This is why I am wary of an Asian takeover...the same as I would be wary of an American one. I'm just afraid that they don't get us....they will have a different world view. Much prefer a takeover by a Western European buyer....but it is what it is. So I hope to be proved wrong and everything is hunky-dory....and I'll try to forget Cardiff.

 

But I'm not sure this would be a "move to richer owners". From what I've read they aren't an extremely wealthy organisation and we would be one of their major assets. Could be wrong but that's how it seems looking in from the outside.

 

I might look up what sort of size and success Lander Sports Development are about.

EDIT: First page of looking up things: http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=20359612

1] They're not pip-squeek
2] Another company or companies were preparing a bid of £250M. Or could be the same company or companies at a different level.
3] Look down at the bottom in Merger/Acquisitions of Jan 26th 2017.

 

From the research I've done they don't seem don't seem to be that large a player. But there seems to be very little information out there without looking into accounts etc which I can't really be bothered to do!

 

Look at the Bloomberg page I came up with straight away. You don't have to go into any detail. Just look at the sort of transactions they get involved with. You don't do this stuff out the back of a garden shed.