In recent weeks I’ve written about the problems surrounding the ownership of Birmingham City FC. In this article I wanted to look at issues that are closer to home and affect the day to day running of the club; specifically the club’s poor credit rating and debt issues to local suppliers.
On Friday, Birmingham Sports Holdings made an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that they had issued just over a billion new shares in the company to repay debts to two third party lenders. An investigation into the two companies and their owners has shown that both companies are connected both to the elusive Mr King, Wang Yaohui.
Last week I wrote an article to demonstrate the convoluted nature of the ownership of Birmingham City Football Club, and also to show that what happens on the pitch doesn’t necessarily affect the amount of money the owners make off of it. In this follow-up piece I want to explain to people more about the Hong Kong stock listing and how Birmingham Sports Holdings is valued so highly.
It’s January, the transfer window is open and despite Blues having signed 12 players in the summer, it would appear that many fans are hungry for more. A lack of creativity and chances let alone goals has made it difficult for the club to succeed – and the question is are we likely to see another influx of players?
On Friday, I published a lengthy article outlining just how tangled a web the ownership of Birmingham City FC is. In this article I am concentrating on new shareholders in the club Oriental Rainbow Investments Ltd – and why their investment is indicative of issues the club faces.
The recent partial sale of Birmingham City to investment vehicle Oriental Rainbow Investments along with the recent share subscription completed by Birmingham Sports Holdings has complicated the question of who actually owns the club a little bit further. As the structure of the ownership of the club becomes more Byzantine, it’s become increasingly difficult for fans to understand.
On December 16, Birmingham City confirmed in a brief statement on bcfc.com that following an annual structural survey of St Andrew’s stadium, remedial work had been identified which meant that both the Kop and Tilton stands needed to be closed until further notice. Nearly three weeks later, nothing more has been said – so what’s going on?
A 2-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at St Andrew’s rounded off what has been a pretty miserable holiday period for Blues. Since beating Reading at the Madejski Stadium on December 9, Blues have lost five of six matches and have scored just three goals.
It’s another morning after the day before, and it’s another inquest into an inept Blues performance and shocking home defeat. A slew of individual errors ensured Blues fell behind by three goals in quick time to Derby on Tuesday evening, with the Rams completing a comprehensive 4-0 victory to move out of the bottom three.
The sale of 21.64% of Birmingham City plc was approved by shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting of Birmingham Sports Holdings yesterday morning in Hong Kong.
