Bummer, my favorite EPL Football (soccer) team, Liverpool, was just bought out by the Chinese government (actually, a Chinese business tycoon (with help/funding from the Chinese
government to ultimately outbid his competitors.))
I almost bought a couple of their polo shirts online a couple of weeks ago and was planning to buy them soon. I won't know. They were a very good squad, made up of almost 100% Anglos. I think those days are now numbered. Soon, the Chinese will own us all.
Liverpool set out to be bought by Chinese government</font>
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/liverpool/7927305/Liverpool-set-to-be-bought-out-by-Chinese-government.html<div ="story"><h2>
Liverpool could effectively come under the control of the Chinese
government
after it emerged last night that the bid for the club from sports
entrepreneur Kenneth Huang has the backing of China Investment
Corporation,
the sovereign wealth fund to the communist state.
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By Paul Kelso and Rory Smith
Published: 6:25AM BST 05 Aug 2010
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On a day which also saw Syrian businessman Yahya Kirdi step up his
interest
in the club, Huang publicly confirmed that he is interested in
assuming
control at Anfield.
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If Huang took over, it would mean that China's government would have a
stake
in the Premier League, one of the world's most high-profile commercial
arenas.
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Liverpool would become the second foreign state-owned club in the English top
flight,
following Manchester City's takeover by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi.
Were a deal to be completed - and it was reported last night that CIC
had
traded $558 million of shares since July 19 in readiness to pay off
Liverpool's debt - Huang would be subject to the Premier League's new
Owners
and Directors Test, which has replaced the Fit and Proper Persons
Test.
There are no indications that Huang would fail the new test's criteria,
which
objectively assesses a potential buyer's finances.
The moral question of the Chinese government's involvement, however,
would not
be under scrutiny.
CIC, which was set up in 2007 to be responsible for managing part of
China's
foreign exchange reserves and also has a stake in Canary Wharf, has
assets
of around $332 billion to spend abroad and has stockpiled around
$2 trillion
of currency.
Its management and board are directly answerable to the country's
communist
government and its board of directors is influenced by the Ministry of
Finance.
Huang, considered a serious bidder by Liverpool's chairman Martin
Broughton,
has made his interest public in recent days and a statement yesterday
confirmed his intentions, though he has not made a formal bid.
"Mr Huang would like to emphasise that he has registered interest in
investing
in Liverpool FC but has made no formal bid," the statement said. "There has
been much speculation from a wide array of people, many of whom have
little
knowledge of the facts."
While Huang clarified his role, Kirdi, who has links to co-owner George
Gillett's son, Travis, said he was in "advanced negotiations" with
Gillett
and Tom Hicks.
Sources at Liverpool have previously dismissed Kirdi as a serious
bidder, but
the Americans are understood to believe his consortium offers a real
option.
In a statement, Kirdi said he had reached agreement on a price with the
Americans and that a formal purchase agreement is being prepared. He
said he
had promised to clear the club's debt and finance the new ground in
Stanley
Park.
"I want to build Liverpool," he said. "Everybody who wants to come into
Liverpool wants to take the money and go outside.
"I have a new plan [for the stadium] which I have given George Gillett.
This
one is not only a stadium but also a stadium with a hotel and shopping
centre."
While the American owners believe Kirdi's bid has substance and
Broughton will
be obliged to consider it their confidence is not shared by RBS or
some
within the sale process.
This may explain why Kirdi referred to negotiations with the American
owners,
rather than with Broughton.
The Rhone Group, New York-based investors, are also thought to be among
the
bidders, though they have not commented publicly on their intentions.
One of the few certainties to emerge on another breathless day on
Merseyside
is that the position of Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, will not
be
under threat, regardless of who takes charge.
It was reported last night that under the Chinese takeover, Hodgson
would be
given a transfer fund of around £150 million to spend on a clutch of
high-profile players.
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