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Relisting Announcement Responses
On Friday Birmingham International Holdings published an announcement to the stock exchange of Hong Kong with relation to the relisting of their shares. In the article I published on that day, I mentioned that I had contacted the Stock Exchange and Peter Pannu for their comments on the announcement and that I would publish their replies when received.
I’m pleased to say that I received replies from both promptly. I asked the stock exchange if they could confirm the time limits that BIHL have to reply to the questions set out in the announcement. A spokesman for the stock exchange has replied:
HKEx’s Stock Exchange carries out its regulatory duties generally on a confidential basis to preserve the integrity of its process as well as to protect listed issuers and their directors against whom unfounded accusations may have been made. Therefore, it is the Exchange’s general policy not to comment on individual companies, individuals, or cases.
With respect to the market in general, the Listing Rules do not require companies seeking to move from a lengthy suspension of trading in its shares to the resumption of trading to have a fixed period to remedy matters. However, if the company is not making progress towards resumption, the Rules allow the Exchange to require the company to take action within a specified period, failing which the company may be delisted. In those situations, administrative details are managed on a case by case basis.
My understanding is that this means that there is no timeframe being put on Birmingham International Holdings, and essentially the company is still in the same position it was prior to the announcement. However, it’s not a situation that can continue indefinitely and they can move forwards to look at further sanctions; that being said it’s worth noting that another company that Carson Yeung is involved in, Sing Pao Media, has had their shares suspended for more than eight years without being kicked off the exchange.
I asked the same question of Mr Pannu and received the following in reply:
They have not but will be the requirements prior to any resumption is permitted. Many of the points had been addressed and the Exchange updated already. What remains is the announcements to update the other stake holders.
which confirmed what the stock exchange said but is interesting because Mr Pannu seems to be stating that things are closer to being sorted than previously thought and that it was just a matter of making the required announcements to shareholders. This is especially intriguing when one considers that one of the questions asked by the stock exchange was about the sale of the club and from a personal point of view I await these announcements with interest.
Does this mean we’re further down the road to a sale? Well, the relisting of shares isn’t a prerequisite of the club being sold but I do believe that if BIH’s house is being brought into order then maybe the chances of a sale could improve – although it’s fair to say that there are far more variables than just sorting out BIH to sort out the sale of the club. Once again, it’s a case of waiting and seeing.
Tags: BIH, HKSE, Peter Pannu, The Takeover
36 Responses to “Relisting Announcement Responses”
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Dan, Do you know what time frame BIHL would have to comply with if they had received an offer for BCFC ?
Are the HKSE Regulations explicit about announcing offers or talks with investors?
They don’t appear to be explicit with a timeframe. BIH are required to inform investors of anything that might affect the share value, so theoretically they should announce if any offers have been made. However, I don’t think that is always the case as there are caveats and I think as long as it remains out of the press they are ok.
You would think it would be in CY and PP’s interest to make an announcement to the stock exchange if negotiations were taking place. Surely increasing the share price of the club would be beneficial.
Also some of the stay away fans may also return if there was Optimism in the air, increase in Season Tickets etc etc
I’d say there’s not much happening as something would have been announced.
Either that or Carson really doesn’t want to sell. As a Director of BCFC this is possibly his only income at the moment !
Maybe CY and PP are holding off on a sale until Lee Clark has finished his transfer business? Correct me if i’m wrong but don’t we get placed under a transfer embargo when a bid has been accepted? I could be relying on my football manager experience a bit too much here but could be a theory… would fit in with Tom Ross’s belief a sale has been agreed too…
Probably a bit naive to think that it could be that simple but we live in hope!
A perquisite or a prerequisite? Anyway, I can only continue to admire your persistence and your optimism.
This sounds like you are saying that Tom Ross, etc might have been right about a sale in the offing. This is not a wind up, but is it your understanding that they may have been right about this and had a different source or have informal discussions not shed any light as to why T.R. has been so definite?
Thanks for the update by the way.
Well.
You could read it that way, yes indeed. However, I don’t believe that there is imminent news on a sale to come and I thnk people will be disappointed if they hope for it.
I think it unlikely that Tom Ross, would be make a statement on air, that he was unable, to back up !
I think that’s the point… he can’t back it up (maybe for privacy reasons.)
What Tom Ross has offered, is the same as what Almajir has offered… their opinion based on what they know. Neither can offer proof without divulging their sources. We have to accept that.
Is it me, or is there an undertone to PP’s response, almost a “more to follow”.
The HKSE has no teeth in reality. They have suspended the Company and so the Company can in fact do what it likes. It does not have to announce anything re takeover talks if indeed any are in progress. A relisting would see the shares plummet to very low levels. So it stands to reason any sale deal is likely to be all but done with the major shareholders before a relisting. Without the sale or loan of some of those high earners or a remarkable upturn in attendances the Club will face serious difficulties by the Jan window I reckon. So watch for the January sales either players or club something will have to go !
Players wise there’s not much left to sell, certainly not anything that would raise a significant amount of cash.
Having read your re-listing blogs I have to admit I am not seeing anything to raise my hopes, yet there is nothing to add to the existing doom and gloom. It would appear that BIHL is trying ever so slowly to put its house in order, but to what end are they looking for new investors to bring in enough cash to keep them going in the short term or are there shareholders looking to cut their loses and get out as quickly as possible. Another question that races through my brain is who would want to buy shares in an ailing company and attach themselves to Carson Young, innocent of his charges or not, mud sticks and any reputable businessman/investor would give him a wide berth. I think for me the status quo will continue until every avenue has been explored by CY and PP, hopefully there are not to many avenues left.
I think its fair to say that there has been at least a commitment from the board at BIH to sort out the corporate governance, accounting and regulatory issues over the last few months after making a complete pig’s ear of it previously. I think this commitment transpired following the realisation last winter that the club could not be sold without the resolution to a lot of issues. I believe the Asian consortium that were interested 8 months ago fell by the wayside for the complex nature of BIH’s situation. I don’t think Pannu & Yeung are bothered about re-listing but that they would want to be in a position to sell if they can somehow strike an acceptable deal. I have thought all along that any buyer would only buy at a knock down price before the trial verdict is in and the latest delays are a hindrance to a sale. I do think though that by the early part of next year will be the longest that Yeung can hang on before selling due to the trial verdict and the fact that there are no more saleable players to sell off. I just hope and pray that this saga comes to an end without the asset stripping of St Andrews.
You have to wonder about the real motives of BIHL.
Any business looking to sell or encourage inward investment into a Championship football cub .
Would surely want to promote their club & its assets in the best possible best light.
Driving , & communicating confidently a stategy , to generate increased ticket sales & improved sponsership deals.
Demonstrating a vibrant club confidently moving forward with the realistic ambition of premiership football .!!
Instead they seem content to dismantle the brand brick by brick , leaving it to uncerimoniusly to rot.
With an increasingly disaffected customer base.
Not the greatest sales pitch…!!
Does not make any sense…
Almajir,
Do the the shareholders of BIHL have a legal right to be informed of the current state of play or any other significant developments.?
Dan
I’m probably being stupid here but if the shares are suspended how does anything affect the current share price or does it also include the potential impact on shares once delisted.
It includes potential impact.
I personally think a takeover will happen sooner rather than later , Yeung may be a gambling man but he is no fool and the chips are stacked against him and the other board members , watch this space as they say !
i agree, would even go as far to say mabe by Friday.
All I will say is don’t get your hopes up.
quite right, after 53 years of watching Blues i should know better, but somehow i just have this gut feeling that something is iminent and what else could their be left to anounce. Also Rossi is the king of wrigeling is way out of sticky messes he gets himself into but tbf he has stuck hard and fast to this one and a few of us are thinking maybe he really dose know something this time.
Tom Ross said a deal has been agreed, he has not said the club has been sold.
The deal may allow for it not to go through till Blues have repaid their loans to BIHL?
The thing I find funny about all this, is that I can clean my 04 Volvo up and give it an oil change but to then stick it up for sale at £50,000 and tell the potential buyers they owe £2k in finance as well, who’s going to buy it?! Who’s going to buy blues for £30-40m? It was probably worth that when Carson, for some ‘strange’ reason, paid £80m!
Just remember they have turned down that amount already from Palladini, I think BCFC has the potential to be sold for 30 mill to the right investers (PLEASE)
Yes, true. If I was Carson I’d certainly be regretting that one now! If Palladini came and offered 10m now they should snap his arm off. The good thing about this is that if an investor gets it on the cheap, they have a bit more cash leftover for squad strengthening.
They would be mad to sell for £10 mill when Yeung and BIHL are owed £20 mill by Blues (minus what Blues have paid off these loans).
Also mad to sell when another £16 mill is coming in from parachute payments over this season and next.
When Carson brought the club for 80 million did he not need money from unnamed sources, dependent on the agreement drawn up with those lenders could it be possible that the unrealistic asking price for BCFC could be because he needs to pay back his debts, (I love a good conspiracy theory). After all every one with half a brain cell will agree that BCFC is nowhere near the valuation CY is looking for. Food for thought….
Counting the days,
BCFC are in fact quite a tempting business, despite all that’s gone on the club is in good place, wage bill in order,only one big earner to shift, good young squad, good young manager, decent ground, potential 30k crowd, and a massive city. The only thing our club is missing is a trusted investment, and whoever it is (including Sammy Yu) should be given our full backing
The adjournment of CY court case has brought the sale of the club even closer.
Good days are returning to the club, and all of the blues fans deserve it
Sorry Mark, but they are not a tempting business when the debt is the same amount as the club is worth and the owners want a sum for the club and the debt paid as well e.g. Buy my £5000 grand car and also pay my loan of £5000, so £10,000 for something worth 5k.
The goalposts have moved, the club PP was trying to sell 3months ago is vastly different to todays offering, nobody wanted the original offering.
The debt is with themselves, sometimes you have to cut your losses and move on, CY was desperate to hang onto the club and I believe for the right.reasons, but now he has to let it go.
The club is worth exactly what someone is prepared to pay for it
I think a lot of the suggestions aren’t that far off. Marky may be right, this probably is a different proposition to 3 months ago. Plus, if they can’t sell the club, with the loans still outstanding, maybe they’re selling off assets to pay off the loans, leaving the way clear for a £15-20m sale. But, at the end of the day, we’re all just p1$$ing in the wind.
Oh, to be a fly on PPs office wall.
Unfortunatly the club is worth exactly what someone is prepared to pay for it only if it unique, ie car I really want is worth £5000 but its rare so I have to pay £1000, however if there are more than one of the same car I may be able to get it cheaper, BCFC are not the only club for sale, other clubs are in a better financial position .
good shout Marky
Why did the HKSE raise points with BIHL and ask questions of them if , in the words of PP ,
” many of the points had been addressed and the Exchange updated already ” .
Also not that PP does not say shareholders in his reply to OP but stake holders eg ” update the other stake holders ” ! Interesting choice of words I think !!
I took it to mean he had addressed many of the points prior to answering Dan`s email as the exchange had asked bih prior to the email. dose this help.? and share holder and stake holders are one and the same.