Lander Sports Development

Reuters are reporting that the controlling shareholder of Lander Sports Development Co Ltd, Jisheng Gao, has sold a 29% stake in his company for the equivalent of £145m.

What does it all mean? I'm not sure but worth flagging as I'm sure it could rear its head down the line...

DTLW

(A reminder that Lander are the company who purchased 80% of the club back in August 2017: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40928467)

 

Here's the link to that particular announcement: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brief-lander-sports-developments-controlling-115308103.html

There's a document linked, in Chinese, which I've run through a translation tool. It says that 29% of the shares have been sold to 'Mr Fan Mingke' (allowing for translation confusion, this may not be the actual name) and reports that Gao now owns only c. 24% of Lander Sports Development.

As such, the announcement confirms that Fan Mingke is now the new controlling shareholder.

 

Does that mean in short, We have a new owner in Fan Mingke, Potentially that could either be seen as good or bad.. Jees.

 

Apparently this Fan Mingke is a Pompey fan.









Nah, I'm just kidding.

 

According to South China Morning Post, Gao used his personal wealth to buy the club, rather than use his company's funds.

https://www.scmp.com/business/banki...oon-gao-jisheng-buys-southampton-seat-planets

 

It means a couple things at the very least:

- The valuation of LSD Co based on this sale is about £500m.
- The per-share valuation is 3.4 Yuan in this sale, which means that the value of the company's shares has plummeted...that's less than half of what they were worth at the time of the sale, which was already down 29% over the few months previous: https://www.scmp.com/business/banki...oon-gao-jisheng-buys-southampton-seat-planets

It also likely means that, if much of Gao's wealth is tied up in that company, he's lost a large portion of his net worth in the past year and a half.

 

Given you a 'not really a like' like.

Good old Gao. Transparent as ever.

 

I had no idea about the financial state of his holdings until now, beyond my own speculation that our actions did not reflect someone flush with cash. Now, the indications are that we were purchased separate from LSD Co, but if most of his wealth is tied up in that entity, it'd explain a lot. Whether the club was assigned any debt in the purchase is something we might not know until at least the 17-18 books, but even if not it's hard to finance a £200m purchase at a time when your biggest asset is seeing its value crater, and he might be in need of cash.

Edit: this apparently represents a 10% premium...the company was down to barely 3 Yuan/share prior to this purchase. It has not been a good few years for LSD Co:

https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/chart/000558.SZ

It has lost about two-thirds of its value since takeover talks started, and even that's down significantly from peak.

 

SaintsWeb user Nordic Saint said this about the financial situation...


"Yes, he's been selling off his shares for some time now in order to raise cash, presumably to pay back the loan he took out to pay Kat.


"On a positive note, it's given the first boost to Lander Sports share price for a long time. They've been in decline for several years. Investors clearly had little faith in Gao as the owner and expect to see some improvement now he has given up control of the company. The sale also means Gao should have enough money now to avoid debtors' prison, which, bearing in mind the bank he borrowed the money from is partly owned by the Chinese government, would not have been conducive to his health."

 

I'll disagree on one thing: the reason shares shot up isn't increased confidence, it's because share prices will pretty much always rise if a large tranche is sold at a premium, and generally to that level. After all, you wouldn't sell at 3.1 when some else has demonstrated a willingness to buy at 3.5.

This might help Gao pay off the loan, but it lays bare how bad our situation could be: if we get relegated, we are in so much pain. If he's having difficulty with the loan payments, he assuredly cannot inject money if we're in the Championship to cover losses, and the value of the club will quickly become less than he owes. This may be part of the impetus behind our attempts to clear wages: if we go down with a £100m wage bill, administration becomes a real consideration within two years.

Thanks again to Katharina Liebherr, who while preaching the financial stability of the club, sold us to someone who is a couple bad months of football from potentially going bankrupt.

 

I’m pretending I never read this .

 

Perhaps he wants to buy us a £145 million striker #hopefulface

 

When do we get 17/18 accounts, this Summer?

 

Toby Steele claimed in the recent fans forum that no debt was added to the club when Gao took over or subsequently.

China is in a lot of debt and the government has been propping it up in the short term following the stock market crash.

If I had to speculate I would suggest that the club is being used to get Mr. Gao’s money free from the grip of China and ultimately he will look to sell his stake in the club.
Can he find a buyer? That could prove a challenge, but we may even see Kat buying back into the club.

Ultimately we won’t be seeing any additional funds pumped into the club, but I think we’ve all realised that now.

 

As we know nothing of Gao's personal wealth before (or after for that matter) the purchase of the club, it is all speculation.

If he bought us with personal wealth, then he could just be releasing his cash as his supplies have dwindled. It could also mean that we are his only/main business so he will invest (in time and maybe money) in making us grow. He could also be trying to get his money out of China as he needs it in Europe with us.

I dont see it as a bad thing at all. Then again I am quite a positive person and don't believe any conspiracy theories...sometimes things are just as they seem and people are being upfront.

 

Double agent Redkrapp?

 

With hindsight and after seeing him on I'm a Celebrity, I think he is too stupid to have meant it









or am I going soft in old age.

 

I doubt Redknapp meant to get us relegated, but admitted he knew he'd made a mistake even when being presented at the press conference. Not going to raise team spirit having that Bassett hound of a face in the building.

 

Yep to be fair he always referred to us as "they" or "them" rather than "us"

 

Too soft and forgiving, the pair of you!