Birmingham City buyers pull out of purchase deal

2 years ago 31

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Birmingham City last changed owners in 2016

The prospective new owners of Birmingham City, Paul Richardson and Maxi Lopez, have withdrawn their offer to buy the club, reports BBC Radio WM.

In a statement they said that, after due diligence work, they had attempted to renegotiate the terms of their original agreement with Blues' current owners - but failed to agree a deal.

Businessman Richardson and ex-Barcelona striker Lopez began talks in July.

They are "bitterly disappointed" and have been "left with no alternative".

Blues have been owned since 2016 by China-based Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited, who bought the club as Trillion Trophy Asia to become their second successive ownership from Asia, following Carson Yeung.

The consortium involving Lopez and local clothing brand owner Richardson had been on a four-month long bid to buy the Championship club.

Lopez claimed in July that his consortium had paid a deposit and exchanged contracts to buy a 21% stake in Blues - and the indication was that they were already at the club, making decisions.

But the proposed takeover remained under investigation by the English Football League - and the pair have now released a statement to say that they will not go ahead.

"Following several months of due diligence at Birmingham City Football Club, Maxco has decided not to proceed with the purchase of the shareholding and stadium of BCFC at this time," the statement said.

"In light of the due diligence we attempted to renegotiate the terms of the original agreements to reflect our understanding of the current business status but could not agree revised terms with the current owners.

"We have been left with no alternative and are bitterly disappointed as we know what this club means to the community and the very loyal fanbase.

"We really hope that BCFC finds a owner who is as passionate about the club as we are."

On the field, Blues were 13th in the table going into the World Cup break.

After a week off, the majority of the Blues squad, except for Tunisia's Hannibal Mejbri, Poland's Krystian Bielik and Wales travelling squad member Jordan James, they have been back in training for two weeks, targeted towards the return to action at Blackpool on Saturday, 10 December.