A Chinese construction investment company has offered to buy Liverpool FC for £700m ($1bn) as part of an ambitious plan to build sports stadiums in the UK and China.
The company, SinoFortone, specialises in large-scale infrastructure projects around the world, and has invested more than $7.3bn in schemes in the UK over the past 12 months.
The Shankly gates at Liverpool’s Anfield ground (Wikimedia Commons)
According to reports in The Independent newspaper, the offer for Liverpool is linked to a plan to build a stadium in the dockland area of Liverpool, redevelop the club’s training ground at Melwood and install a series of football academies across China.
Liverpool FC is owned by an American investment company called the Fenway Sports Group, and any deal would be conditional on its willingness to sell.
The plan fits with the Chinese government’s plan to develop the country’s football infrastructure with a view to establishing the national side as a contender for the World Cup.
It is also part of the growing involvement of Chinese capital in UK construction projects. SinoFortone has already invested £2bn in developing a combined biowaste power station that will use waste heat to farm prawns in Holyhead and Port Talbot in Wales.
The company also said it would invest in developing an amusement park in Ebbsfleet, Kent, and is investing in London’s $46bn Crossrail 2 project.
In March SinoFortone and China Railway Group agreed to invest up to $10bn in green energy and affordable housing scheme in Scotland.
Comments
Comments are closed.
Just watch how this will rapidly become yet another boat that Liverpool fails miserably to catch. Five years down the line I can see so many ruing the day ! I remember in the 50’s how Merseyside ( then being a prosperous port ) simply ignored Manchester as a city looking ahead for it’s businesses and were left in their wake. Here we go again….
It is a deal in the right direction for the Club and the city of Liverpool. Developing academy across China means millions of new fans and huge market opportunity for future. Investment in right areas is what we need as a club to stand up among other Euro and English giants in the new world economics order of football super Clubs. Building world class training facility to host local and overseas athletes, and sporting development is the right direction. However, we need more details.
It is clear that contributor Jason has not seen the extent of development in Liverpool over the past 10 years. The Liverpool One development, the North docks, the many cruise liners seeing Liverpool as an attractive inclusion in their itineraries (the Cunard flagship, Queen Elizabeth II, was there last weekend), booming tourism with massive increase in hotel accommodation capacity, the world commerce symposium just ending, etc. are prima facie evidence of the very healthy and forward-thinking nature of commerce in the city and its environs.