Takeover remains on course
Carson Yeung hopes to gain control of Blues by the end of October/beginning of November.
The time of the Grandtop International Holdings EGM has again been changed again, to September 29.
Shareholders will be asked to agree to a new rights issue. But this does not affect the buy out. Yeung has already secured a £57 million bridging loan to finance his purchase of Blues.
Mindful of the sorry state of affairs in 2007 when Yeung was unable to purchase any more than 29.9 per cent of the club, his camp have been quick to stress that there are no problems this time.
It is because of procedural matters not due to any financial niggle that the takeover has been delayed, they said.
Blues current directors had been working to a timetable of the first week in October as the changeover date.
They viewed Bolton Wanderers on September 26 as their last St Andrew's match, and were making plans for farewells.
Possibly, they could still be around for Sunderland and Steve Bruce's visit on October 24 now.
The EGM was to be held on September 16, then put back to October 5. Another alteration was announced today, to September 29.
The plan is to issue 50 per cent more shares in Grandtop, the Yeung takeover vehicle.
Yeung has got the bridging loan from Kingston Securities, who will take a 29.9 per cent stake in Grandtop.
Once the formal offer documents to all Blues shareholders is sent out, and the EGM has passed, things should accelerate.
David Sullivan, David Gold and Ralph Gold have given an undertaking to sell their shareholding in Blues, which totals almost 50 per cent.
A spokesman for Yeung said: "We were expecting originally for the takeover to happen in early to mid-October and we should be near to completing the deal by the original timing.
"The deal won't change. The timing may slightly, but that is all."
At Grandtop's AGM, it was announced that Steve McManaman (pictured here with Yeung at St Andrew's) was re-elected as an executive director.
But former China star Fan Zhiyi has stood down.
Grandtop said that he had 'retired by rotation' as an executive director and did no offer himself for re-election due to personal reasons.
Fan Zhiyi said that there was no disagreement between him and the board and no matter that needed to be brought to the attention of the Stock Exchange.
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Colin Tattum - Mail man Colin Tattum’s view of what’s going on at Birmingham City FC.
Thats all well and good colin but you miss some serious points in this piece. What are your thoughts on the A380 that landed at BHX yesterday and where exactly have the thousands of restricted view seats come from for the Vile game?
oh and this may be a random comment but my pig of the day is Martine Mccutcheon
Hi Tatts, Unusually for you there doesn't seem to be any more information in your blog than the nationals are reporting. Did you get this from a press release? Have you managed to strike up a rapport yet with Yeung's team or are you keeping your distance until the takeover is completed?
Hi John,
No, I have spoken to the Yeung camp and the change of the EGM for a second time is new. I was just reiterating what I wrote in Wednesday's Birmingham Mail, and taking it on a little further with new information. Yeung's people made a statement to the HK Stock Exchange then made a comment via a spokesman after I contacted them and pointed out that, because of what happened in 2007, should the delay be viewed as a concern and were there any serious problems.
http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/birmingham-city-fc/birmingham-city-fc-news/2009/09/09/birmingham-city-carson-yeung-takeover-hits-a-snag-97319-24644237/
Tatts, thanks for the reply. Good to see that Yeung's team are talking to you, that bodes well for the future. It looks like all systems go for the takeover. I for one can't wait to see what plans they have for the club.
I think Thongs makes an excellent point about Martin McCutcheon.
I would also like to know why no one responded to my joke about the A380 and getting to Torquay. Clearly no one's ever been to Plainmoor.
Oh, and Tatts, it's my Stag Do this weekend, so I'm getting up really early on Sunday morning to get back for the Villa game. My report may not be great due to inebriation/lack of sleep. Maybe you'll want to have a god at doing your own this week?
It seems they are even more keen than us to get in there.
Good work