Birmingham City PLC has today confirmed that BIHL, the clubs parent company, have received a non-binding bid for a minority share in the club.
That as much we already know, but what is interesting is what Peter Pannu has confirmed to the official site.
Acting Chairman Peter Pannu “I can confirm that BIHL remains in advanced talks with a British Consortium with a very strong North-American investment fund.
However specific details cannot be disclosed at this moment in time due to non-disclosure agreements and HKSE regulations.”
The acting-chairman then went onto say that the legal representatives of each party still remain in advanced talks about moving forward with the deal.
So what is happening? Well it seems that although the statement yesterday didn`t give away much, the deal is actually in some form of advanced stage. Despite revelations that it seemed to be in its infancy. It appears that a preferred bidder has already been selected and whilst we wondered who it was, they were thrashing out a detailed legal agreement.
The reason the agreement is taking so long to go from ‘non-binding` to an actual agreement is probably due to the nature of the transition. BIHL cannot afford to let the whole amount of Birmingham PLC go in one transaction as they wish to stay listed on the HKSE.
What we do know now is who these people may be. Although Pannu may be referring to a ‘strong fund` in relation to the group being able to afford the club by their own interests, which would only go as far as the acquisition stage. We cannot know yet whether they have a ‘strong fund` in relation to operating the club after the takeover.
It could be said that these negotiations are further down the line than we thought and that something could happen soon. As of now Lee Clark will still be struggling to prepare his team until further notice.
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