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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Yeung makes offer for Birmingham | Yeung makes offer for Birmingham |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Hong Kong-based businessman Carson Yeung has made a £1-a-share cash offer for Birmingham City FC, which values the club at £81.51m, or £1 a share. | |
| Mr Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings bought a 29.9% stake in the club in June 2007, but stopped short of buying the rest. | Mr Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings bought a 29.9% stake in the club in June 2007, but stopped short of buying the rest. |
| It made a £3m deposit for the English Premier League club on Thursday. | It made a £3m deposit for the English Premier League club on Thursday. |
| Grandtop said that it had already received acceptances of its offer that would take its holding to 80%. | Grandtop said that it had already received acceptances of its offer that would take its holding to 80%. |
| In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Grandtop said it planned to "develop the club by investing in and strengthening the squad and infrastructure of the club over time". | In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Grandtop said it planned to "develop the club by investing in and strengthening the squad and infrastructure of the club over time". |
| It also said that the primary aim of ownership would be be supporting the club to "help it retain its Premier League status". | |
| Foreign owners | |
| It added that it planned to "significantly increase its global fan base", especially in Hong Kong and mainland China. | |
| "It is intended that the current first team manager, Alex McLeish, will continue in this role, supported by his existing backroom team," it added. | |
| Mr Yeung will add to the growing list of foreign club-owners in the English Premier League, which includes the Glazer family at Manchester United and Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, owner of Manchester City. | |
| Mr Yeung was criticised by the Birmingham board in 2007 for not completely buying out chairman David Gold and co-owner David Sullivan. | Mr Yeung was criticised by the Birmingham board in 2007 for not completely buying out chairman David Gold and co-owner David Sullivan. |
| The Hong Kong businessman had been set a deadline of 21 December 2007 to complete his buy-out, but the Blues released a statement to the Stock Exchange on 20 December 2007 to announce that discussions had been terminated. | The Hong Kong businessman had been set a deadline of 21 December 2007 to complete his buy-out, but the Blues released a statement to the Stock Exchange on 20 December 2007 to announce that discussions had been terminated. |