Blue-chip investor makes £50m West Brom takeover approach, Guochuan Lai responds
West Brom received a £50million takeover approach from a “blue-chip investor based in the United States” earlier this season, according to John Percy.
The Telegraph journalist reported on the newspaper’s website on Friday (16 December) that the same group submitted a written offer to buy the Black Country club from Guochuan Lai two years ago for £100million. That was rejected “immediately” as a £175million valuation was in place at the time.
It is now understood that the US group, who have “links to a former Premier League chief executive”, asked about a £50million takeover this season but “were told not to bother”.
Percy adds that West Brom insist the club isn’t for sale despite anger towards Lai’s ownership, unpaid loans and Premier League parachute payments drying up.
Get out of our club
Lai needs to go.
While a feel-good factor has started to creep into the fanbase thanks to Carlos Corberan’s revolution, the anger towards the ownership remains.
West Brom fans have rightly held protests this season in a bid to show Lai that he’s no longer welcome at The Hawthorns.
He’s never at The Hawthorns (which is part of the problem). But you know what we mean.
Lai’s taken money out of West Brom to help prop up his struggling business on the other side of the world, showing that he doesn’t care at all about his Black Country-based asset.
We’re nothing but a bank for him, a previously financially-sound club being ripped apart at the seams by a man who doesn’t have the foggiest idea of what West Bromwich Albion means to its supporters.
The sooner he’s out of the club, the better.
Unfortunately, we feel as though he’ll stick around as long as possible because he’ll continue to be able to use the Baggies bank at his whim.
And if we continue to rise up the table under Corberan and launch a Premier League promotion bid, we think he’s more likely to raise the number and size of the loans he’s taking out of the club rather than cashing in.
In other West Brom news, Troy Deeney has hailed this life-changing Albion man after he won an award this week.