And while I had serious doubts that it was going to happen, I at least called it correctly in saying it wouldn’t be the Rui Kang Group, but would be a third party that we knew nothing about.
Facts that must have really wound the media up, as not one of them called the outcome correctly.
Indeed, if you read Lerner’s farewell note, it seems he’s taken great delight out of saying how far off the mark the media has been.
Even though many fans have been doing some digging into our new owner’s background, not a lot of useful information has been found. Not the sort of information that us fans are most interested in, anyway.
Hence it’s difficult to really make a judgement on what to think.
The main questions I’m asking are quite simply “how much money is the bloke actually worth?” and more importantly, “how much is he willing to invest?”
Now earlier reports that I read were suggesting that Dr Tony Jiantong Xia was the CEO of the Recon group, which had me wondering how any company CEO could front up £62 million and promise investment?
Granted, CEO’s of big companies earn mega money, but on this scale?
I was immediately suspicious.
So imagine my delight when I discovered that he’s not only the CEO, but he actually owns the Recon group.
Look at the wording below;
“Recon Group is a privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in five publicly listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges and many other private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries…..
Dr. Tony Jiantong Xia is the Chairman/CEO and owner of Recon Group.”
This casts an entirely different light on the matter, as the actual owner of a group that has controlling interests in any number of companies that employ 35,000 surely has to be seriously rich?
I had to look up the word “Glutamic” (mentioned in the link) to see what it meant, but I should have been able to work it out.
It’s related to Monosodium Glutamate, a flavour enhancer that’s frowned upon in the west, but no doubt very popular in China.
And any company that’s the biggest in it’s field in China has to be worth serious money simply because the market is so large.
And that’s before we look at Recon’s other areas.
All of which raises another question.
No doubt we’ve all heard that China, led by massive footy fan and President, Xi Jinping, are looking to make a major push into turning the country into a footy superpower.
And given that it seems Dr Xia was fast-tracked/sponsored/favoured by the Chinese government, where you would expect that he sort of owes them, does that mean he might have bought the club under “guidance” from the government?
That’s very speculative on my part, but we all know how these things work.
What I’m getting at is, I’m wondering if we have another “Roman Abramovich” class owner on our hands?
Not that I’m for one minute suggesting that the source of his money is dubious, a la Abramovich.
But it seems that Dr Xia was fast-tracked into heading companies involved in urbanising Chinese people, something which was necessary for China’s economic growth and pretty much a guaranteed money-spinner.
Hence what I mean is Dr Xia might have comparable wealth to Abramovich.
Imagine a massively wealthy owner, that has the “unofficial” backing of the Chinese government.
That can only be seriously good news, if my guesswork is anywhere near the mark.
Of course, I might be miles off the mark and the simple fact is that buying an asset outside China makes very good business sense, in that the Chinese economy could seriously explode in a bad way.
See here if you’re remotely interested in business talk. The article even hints that things are being driven “from the top”, which goes back to what I was suggesting.
Anyway, Dr Xia is apparently a massive Villa fan and has been for years.
Hmm, so was Lerner, wasn’t he?.
Would a fan of the club really walk away for years and leave us in this state though? Not a chance.
So while I’m very dubious about that sort of talk, it’s good that Xia does have a genuine liking for the game, with him having been a pretty useful striker in his day.
Apparently.
That said, I’m happy to feel optimistic about this deal, as there is plenty of upside.
At the end of the day, Lerner has gone and that alone has to be a good thing, as we were on a serious path of decline under his tenure.
But the proof will be in the pudding.
While I love all the talk about infrastructure and turning us into the biggest club in China (the thought of that latter point is mouth-watering in itself), at the moment I’m not in the slightest bit interested.
A genuine investor will have a strong belief in what he’s doing and will pump money in, where it’s needed.
And we all know the utmost priority has to be the squad. Everything else can wait, in my opinion.
We have to concentrate on getting the Villa back into the Premier league and back on the world stage as quickly as is possible.
And if Dr Xia is as good a businessman as is suggested, he’ll know this.
Which is where I’d expect a serious spending spree in this coming window.
If it doesn’t come, it won’t take me long to conclude any bright future will have truly gone out of the er, window.
And then we have all the manager, player and board member type subjects to talk about!
There was I thinking it was going to be a boring summer, Villa-wise.
Oops, I nearly forgot the poll.
Here you go;
http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aston-villa-budget-recruitment-promotion-11357134
Ambiguous at best.
If our new owner is as ruthless in business as has been suggested then it’s more than possible that he’ll change managers to suit where Villa are and the targets he sets (I know football doesn’t work like that!) What I’m trying to say is he may well bring in a Di Matteo to ‘do a job’ that is get us promoted but with no intention of him being the long term answer.
It will be interesting to see what sort of contract the new manager is offered.
High risk strategy but not impossible?
Agh – bl***y iPad – should have been ‘Hitchens 60’
Freudian slip, old chap?
Perhaps you were being delightfully distracted…
69 is such a mouthful.
Ah – if only it were so but alas ……………
Just hope this bloke aint the new michael knighton of man united fame.(rememver him) Keepy ups in front of stretford end and in the end didnt have a pot to p/×s in. Can just see dr xia doing keepy ups in front of the holte, stops shouts supplise evely body (chinese humour) rips his face mask off and there stands deadly doug as our new owner. Now that would be typical villa????????????
“And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids”
Talking of Deadly – he’s been remarkably quiet in the last few days; normally always available for a quote to local TV/radio/press whenever there’s any news around VP.
Not heard anything from him this week. Very odd…
Getting in practice for next season…
狗屎上城
It’s going to be Di Matteo utv
B’ham Mail quoting new owner as saying it’s between DiMatteo and ‘one other’ – and that they’ll appoint within ‘2 weeks’…
Over the last 18 months there have been many people on here saying that Lerner didn’t want to sell, he was asset stripping the club and that he was looking for around £150 million. Well, he sold for £60 million, a snip for a club the size and potential of ours, for that I think we should be grateful, and maybe some on here will accept they do spout some old bollox sometimes!
Thank you very much for the Relegation, thank you very much, thank
You Very very very much
Thank you very much for Mcleish and Lescott , thank you very very very
Much.
another 18 months and he would have got F all
i wonder if the prepossessed shutting of the upper stands will still remain now. plus the job reductions of those serving them punters, seemed a silly cost cutting mistake, new owners will show some ambition, that will bring back them fans for sure especially after the misery of last season and beyond.
just saw a item saying spanish clubs will be fined for empty seats on tv games, this should reduce prices if brought to uk,
proposed not prepossessed lmao
Article about the new owner and his companies in the FT today, based on research in China, HK and here was not particularly reassuring. If Tony Xia did all that city building and moving of people that Hollis describes, it was not with the resources of the Recon group. He may of course have other and much bigger companies who are not part of this deal.
The most interesting thing Mr Xia actually said in his interview concerned ideas for the Aston area of Birmingham. Personally I would very much like to see that altered from the grip of the current locals.
Still – it is only talk for the moment.
OLL – setting aside media reports for the moment would be interested in your personal take on this deal. Hollis is no mug and is very experienced in selling / restructuring businesses. One would have thought he would have researched Tony Xias credentials and satisfied himself as to his ability to deliver.
H60 I imagine that for the word ‘Final’ to be used to describe the take-over it means that Tony Xia has arranged the deposit of the asking price, which is supposed to be nearer £100M all-in than 60M, into an escrow account in the UK. or US.
Xia still has to pass the ‘fit and proper person’ test. If he passes the money will go to Lerner, but if he fails the money is returned to him less an agreed penalty.
So Hollis will have done at least as much research as to know the buyer has put up the cash to fund the deal. Beyond that is is difficult to know with anyone in China how much their net worth is – and how much is borrowed from not just tier-one banks but the maze of secondary finance houses.
The article I referred to in the FT, and which DSVilla has tried to copy in, says calls to 2 companies supposed to be involved in the deal went unanswered, and the Recon group has not published audited accounts for its past year.
What we know so far is the public companies in which Recon group is a significant shareholder do publish accounts and they are losing money. The holding company has not published accounts. Other business Hollis has been told that Xia has done is not transparent. It is much too soon to ring the alarm bell – but it is odd.
Talking to friend of mine this afternoon who’s done a lot of business in China over the last 15 years, he reminded me that it’s almost impossible to seperate ‘corporate’ from ‘government’ or ‘party’ over there, at least as far as any of the major business conglomerates and ‘entrepreneurs’ are concerned: none of the big companies do anything significant in terms of investment – especially foreign investment – without at least the tacit approval/permission of central government.
The piece about Xia in the B’ham Mail [& I think also Hollis’ interview] mentioned that apparently this guy is ‘responsible for’ the Birds Nest Olympic stadium in Beijing: whatever that means exactly, I’d suggest that he wouldn’t be in that position without some very firm government/party connections?
OLL – would it be stretching a point to suggest that Dr Xia is a front for investment by the Chinese Government in pursuit of their ‘global’ football strategy. That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing given that Man City are, in truth, owned in a very similar way.
Notwithstanding, after the initial euphoria a few doubts are starting to creep in.
I just hope Hollis hasn’t made a very big mistake and as I have no faith in the ‘fit and proper test’ I suppose only time will tell.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e008f2-1da2-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html#axzz4986OuWS3
I really don’t like the look of this.
DS you can’t read it unless you subscribe so any chance of a cut and paste mate??
OK will have a go
Tony Xia trained as a landscape architect and runs a large, lossmaking, producer of monosodium glutamate, as well as an eclectic mix of Chinese companies involved in everything from smart city design to small personal loans.
Now the 39-year-old Chinese businessman is on the brink of owning one of England’s most storied football clubs, the 142-year-old Aston Villa, one of the 12 founding members of the English football league.
The club, whose stadium stands in Aston, Birmingham, has just been relegated from the Premier League but has supporters including Prince William, Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, Tom Hanks, the Hollywood actor and occasionally David Cameron, the prime minister.
Mr Xia bought Aston Villa, for an undisclosed sum, from the American businessman Randy Lerner, who paid £62.2m in 2006 for the club. Since then, it has struggled financially, recording a £52m loss in 2012-13, a £3.9m loss in 2013-14 and a £27.3m loss in 2014-15. In the 12 months to May 2015, revenues fell from £116.9m to £115.7m while the club’s wage bill increased substantially.
(more to come DS)
Mr Xia’s first move after his planned acquisition was announced, was to tweet a picture of Forrest Gump, the dim-witted but athletically gifted film character of the 1990s, at Mr Cameron.
“Go Villa Go! We will be back,” he wrote on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
A statement on the Aston Villa website says Mr Xia played as a striker while at university. “He became a fan of Aston Villa many years ago and is delighted at the opportunity to become the new owner,” it said.
“Dr Xia’s immediate objective is to return Aston Villa to the Premier League and plans to make Aston Villa the most famous football club in China with a huge fan base.”
Mr Xia is the head of Recon Group, a holding company based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou and in Beijing with a mix of investments.
Recon declined to answer questions or make Mr Xia available for an interview, and he does not appear to have published an annual report or audited financial statements.
The genesis of Recon Group appears to have taken place during the six years Mr Xia spent at western universities, including Harvard, where he studied design and landscape architecture in the 1990s.
In 1996, Mr Xia’s XWHO subsidiary bought into a company created in the 1960s by his Harvard University adviser, Charles Harris. The company was subsequently renamed the Recon Group by Mr Xia, who brought its services to China, according to a statement on XWHO’s website.
Mr Harris could not be reached for comment. In one interview with a Chinese publication, Mr Xia referred to Mr Harris as his “adoptive father”.
Cheers DS nice one but I’m still none the wiser to whether this turn of events is good bad or indifferent.
The fat Spanish waiter/painter and decorator Rafael Benitez says he might stay at Newcastle with the right funds to take them back up so Villa should try to poach him as there’s up to 50 million pounds to spend on players. I’ve heard Brummie Garry Cook who had an interesting time at Man City is joining Villa as chief-executive.
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/05/19/new-aston-villa-owner-tony-xia-hints-at-more-academy-graduates-i/
Interesting how he claims 6-7 new players and then bringing up academy players.
There’s an article mentioning renaming VP to Lotus VP ????. Come to think of it Lerner alluded to something about using the stadium as a source of income in his leaving message.
The biggest investment Xia has appears to be in a loss-making business. I can’t see where the funding is coming from. Of course it could be something as simple as the scarcity of information available. I have always worried that Lerner, for all his faults, was at least honest and well intentioned, but that our next owner may simply see us as an opportunity to make money.
The price the club has been sold for brings it into the realms of some convincing conman drumming up funds looking for a quick return.
I keep trying to look at this positively but I have always had this feeling of doom about our next owner.
Fair enough DSV.
Reading Hollis’ statements, and having seen the interview with Xia on tonight’s “Midlands Today”, it seems that the £60m quoted deal is only part of the story – Hollis implied that the total cost could be over £100m, but declined to give any more detailed explanation of the transaction.
I believe the price goes up if we get promotion next season. Plus he is probably adding in advisors costs.
Very worrying the £40m on players will come from parachute payment. Sounds very dodgy imo
So the alternative is to put ‘that’ £40m into one pocket, and find £40m from another pocket?
They need to spend it on players, not on paying managers/coaches/PR people – what difference does it make ‘which’ £40m it is?
Instead that money would go to wages, marketing or something else. You do realize that money isn’t just extra funds out of nowhere. The players and staff have to get paid and the fans pay nowhere near enough to cover them. It’ll go other places. So as Ardent said, what does it matter if that 40m goes to players instead of his own 40m?
The natural scepticism of Villa fans after years of fading glory and lost hope is floating to the surface already – including me 🙂
Do you think Chelsea and Manc City fans have the same misgivings – not to mention Manure and Liverpool!
Either Hollis has done proper due dilligence or he’s had the wool pulled over his eyes real-big-time, then gone widely on the record saying how sound it all is?
I don’t believe he’s a fool, so until I see something really ‘odd’, I’ll assume that this deal is straight…
H60, to answer your earlier question about being a Front.
The Chinese government has to divert its people’s attention, a requirement of many governments ever since Rome”s Bread and Circuses. Sport is much preferable to war. China lags in its football standard, though how much behind the performance of the current Villa squad they are is very debatable. So a grand plan to send Chinese players to play in Europe to improve their standard, and use Villa as a nursery? Entirely possible in my view.
A Front for money? I do not want to go into detail but the Yuan may be heading for a sharp devaluation. Convert to Sterling, buy a football club before the devaluation and you have protected some capital. Also unlike here where you can hold bank accounts in foreign currencies or move as much money as you have got out of or into UK, China has a restriction of 50K Dollars or equivalent per individual just to move the money offshore without buying any assets. Buy assets and there is either no restriction or a much less onerous restriction.
Those are a couple of kites that might fly – we will see what happens.
Interesting this – I didn’t realise that there’s been Chinese investment in so many clubs already…
[& Xia promising to move to B’ham with his family?]
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/may/19/tony-xia-revamp-aston-villa-top-three-world-owner
Reading between the lines concerning the new manager, I found this quote from Xia’s interview interesting;
“We have a searching team working on the manager,” said Xia. “Roberto was one of the choices from the start.
“We have another very good choice. We will get the right one in two weeks and we’ll announce it then.”
He refers to RdM being one choice, but there being also being a very good choice tells me he’s not the favourite at all. Now combine that with the following photo;
http://7500toholte.sbnation.com/2016/5/18/11703756/picture-confirms-wyness-involvement-with-new-villa-board
I might be stretching a little here but with Wyness being involved closely with Xia and having a long term relationship with Moyes from their Everton days, could we be about to get the man most of us want? I’ll temper my optimism by saying that the photo also suggests Cook (Garry?) is coming on board, could we be getting Sven….nooooo! 😉
Didn’t Cook leave Citeh under a cloud????
Yeah, I think he fell out with Onuoha, something unsavoury involving his mum if I remember.