[Manc Baggie]

I thank him & the other ITK poster for their posts which at times they must think f--k it is it worth it.CHEERS ALL

Agreed.

[tommcneill]

you would think so wouldnt you.i feel a tribute to the man should be at home though

Yeah we have to do a JP end of season theme

Bald wigs and sewn up wallets 

[WBAinDEVON]

are we now part of the billionaire club

[skyclad99]

Our new owner Guochuan Lai resides in China so we won't be seeing that much of him, but apparently we will see his brother as he lives in the Black Country, his name is Yom in Lai........

[VANDERLEI]

I knew this was happening, the change of residence to Jersey and the silence from the club was the giveaway. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks with regards to signings and whether the takeover ploayed apart in the Sakho deal collapsing. I think investment has come at the right time and the new owner is saying the right things. Overall, I would have preferred Dalian Wanda but I have faith that Peace has put us in safe hands. Exciting times. I wonder how all the Peace bashers will take to our new owners, that will also be interesting to see.

[darbolina]

I knew this was happening, the change of residence to Jersey and the silence from the club was the giveaway. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks with regards to signings and whether the takeover ploayed apart in the Sakho deal collapsing. I think investment has come at the right time and the new owner is saying the right things. Overall, I would have preferred Dalian Wanda but I have faith that Peace has put us in safe hands. Exciting times. I wonder how all the Peace bashers will take to our new owners, that will also be interesting to see.

 I think a big group like Wanda or Fosun would not have suited us Vanderlei. We have someone with a personal stake in the club but with the financial backing of a consortium who seems to recognise our soul as a club. That's important if true! We'love see by their actions of course

[The Joust]

So this chap is worth £1.8bn?

[Hull Baggie]

Brummie Mail wrongly saying that he has claimed to be a fan since 1978 when he was a child, when he actually said he was aware of us as a child due to the 1978 tour and has followed us for a number of years.

[Floydy]

Our new owner Guochuan Lai resides in China so we won't be seeing that much of him, but apparently we will see his brother as he lives in the Black Country, his name is Yom in Lai........

Very good 

[baggie82]

It looks like JP has managed to sell us to the one Chinese businessman who has no money to invest in the club, hence the statement emphasising continuity. It appears more than disappointing.

The new owner used to be a director in Palm, which is currently is valued at 1.8bn but last year had a turnover of £500m and a profit of just £7m - probably less than our football club made. He stepped down from Palm in 2014 but still has a seat on some subsidiary boards. He level of ownership of Palm to begin with has not been confirmed and a company making £7m a year doesn't have much clout.

If you look at the official statement on the wba site you will see that the new owner owns 59% and a separate investment group has taken the remainder so he didn't have enough cash to fund the purchase himself. Rumoured to be £200m on here by baggie38. The official statement confirms he has enough cash reserves to fund that, I.e more than £118m so I presume he has about £150m in the bank or did have before £118m was paid to Peace. The remaining £82m is from an investment group who we know nothing about. No evidence they have any clout or sizeable investments either. Presumably they will want a return / profit from the club in the long run.

The outcome appears
- new owner to remain based in China
- John Williams to run club
- No additional money to be invested in squad or facilities

In short our income hasn't changed, we are stuck with the PL tv money although in the long run we might get more commercial money from China. The new owner has talked about putting our logo on football community facilities in Eco towns that Palm is building in China...am I supposed to be excited and content with this?

All in the context of wolves being bought out by multi-billionaires. They have Walmart  and we have the equivalent of the ice cream seller. Thanks Jeremy.

So if your happy with the status quo and punching above our weight as a small club then you should be happy with the takeover, more of the same is promised. If you wanted a mega rich owner and grand ambition then that dream has died.

[VANDERLEI]

I think a big group like Wanda or Fosun would not have suited us Vanderlei. We have someone with a personal stake in the club but with the financial backing of a consortium who seems to recognise our soul as a club. That's important if true! We'love see by their actions of course

You could be right, the big thing for me with Wanda is the way they are running Atletico Madrid. Wouldn't of minded a few of their hand me downs either! As you say the most important thing is that the new owners seem to recognize the right way to do things and have acknowledged the heritage and traditions of our club. I feel like a kid at Xmas this morning, I just hope it doesn't turn out that all we are receiving is a lump of coal in the stocking. We do now need to get some new players in quickly, so let's see whether we act with more urgency under the new stewardship.

[darbolina]

Brummie Mail wrongly saying that he has claimed to be a fan since 1978 when he was a child, when he actually said he was aware of us as a child due to the 1978 tour and has followed us for a number of years.

 I thought he said he was introduced to Albion by a contact involved  1978 China tour?

You'd expect a journo to read anyway wouldn't you?

[darbolina]

Yep it's big big news for us alright. We've been stable to point of becoming s bit stale so this should shake things up a bit?

The transfer window is huge now, we'll see the real intentions in action not words!

[mank baggie]

It looks like JP has managed to sell us to the one Chinese businessman who has no money to invest in the club, hence the statement emphasising continuity. It appears more than disappointing.

The new owner used to be a director in Palm, which is currently is valued at 1.8bn but last year had a turnover of £500m and a profit of just £7m - probably less than our football club made. He stepped down from Palm in 2014 but still has a seat on some subsidiary boards. He level of ownership of Palm to begin with has not been confirmed and a company making £7m a year doesn't have much clout.

If you look at the official statement on the wba site you will see that the new owner owns 59% and a separate investment group has taken the remainder so he didn't have enough cash to fund the purchase himself. Rumoured to be £200m on here by baggie38. The official statement confirms he has enough cash reserves to fund that, I.e more than £118m so I presume he has about £150m in the bank or did have before £118m was paid to Peace. The remaining £82m is from an investment group who we know nothing about. No evidence they have any clout or sizeable investments either. Presumably they will want a return / profit from the club in the long run.

The outcome appears
- new owner to remain based in China
- John Williams to run club
- No additional money to be invested in squad or facilities

In short our income hasn't changed, we are stuck with the PL tv money although in the long run we might get more commercial money from China. The new owner has talked about putting our logo on football community facilities in Eco towns that Palm is building in China...am I supposed to be excited and content with this?

All in the context of wolves being bought out by multi-billionaires. They have Walmart  and we have the equivalent of the ice cream seller. Thanks Jeremy.

So if your happy with the status quo and punching above our weight as a small club then you should be happy with the takeover, more of the same is promised. If you wanted a mega rich owner and grand ambition then that dream has died.

youve cheered me up, now wheres my rope

[Canmore Baggie]

Think Mr Lai has made all of the right noises in his letter to fans. No rash promises, commitment to maintaining the club's ethos, and referencing past history with the 1978 tour. While I know this message will have been carefully planned (and is no doubt a marketing piece), the first impression is of a very measured and level-headed new owner.

John Williams looks like a very sound appointment as chairman, and all in all it looks like this deal has been conducted with the utmost professionalism over the past 6 weeks.

The next few months will of course show us what these changes mean, but so far so good. A big thanks to JP, who while infuriating at times has left the club in a far better position than when he joined the board, and a big welcome to the new owner and chairman.

And for those of us who remember the China tour in 1978, I'll bet no-one thought at the time we'd ever be owned by the Chinese!

[boinging_along]

I think a big group like Wanda or Fosun would not have suited us Vanderlei. We have someone with a personal stake in the club but with the financial backing of a consortium who seems to recognise our soul as a club. That's important if true! We'love see by their actions of course

Yeah, don't believe the rubbish about acknowledging the tradition\history\soul of the club.  It's just a nice PR statement until I see the evidence of that.

[kanu]

It looks like JP has managed to sell us to the one Chinese businessman who has no money to invest in the club, hence the statement emphasising continuity. It appears more than disappointing.

The new owner used to be a director in Palm, which is currently is valued at 1.8bn but last year had a turnover of £500m and a profit of just £7m - probably less than our football club made. He stepped down from Palm in 2014 but still has a seat on some subsidiary boards. He level of ownership of Palm to begin with has not been confirmed and a company making £7m a year doesn't have much clout.

This is great news, they have substantial wealth that will fund new transfers and take us further. Great news about John Williams too, loads of Blackburn fans congratulating us on him, he is much revered in those parts and fondly remembered for being in charge during some of their best years in the prem.

[Hunnington Baggie]

So is it a consortium that has bought us and he's the figure head or is he the sole owner?

Sports development group.

[Doobuy]

i dont think anyone would want a statement that said things like

"mr lai has promised to throw money around left right and centre"

to understand where the club is going under its new senior management, we need to see the first few steps that it takes. these will become apparent in the next couple of months

[baggie82]

"They have substantial wealth that will fund new transfers" - what is your evidence for that statement? No committment to put any capital into the club and no evidence of any wealth. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on both counts...

[Albionic]

My initial reaction is underwhelmed and confused, there seems to be no synergy with Palm group, however the sports group may be an interesting venture.
Based in guangzho is interesting as well, Guangzho is the home of the biggest and most succesful Asian club, I can't find any tie up with them but hopefully there will be one.
One thing for sure its going to be interesting.

I like the low key approach and JP being kept on for the transition,

Fingers crossed.

[BaggieBrainy]

"They have substantial wealth that will fund new transfers" - what is your evidence for that statement? No committment to put any capital into the club and no evidence of any wealth. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on both counts...

Your last posts have tickled me , the guys only just brought the club and your talking aload of crude you found from google about him already.

Give the guy a chance , let's wait and see before making bold statements and silly remarks about JP selling to a nobody. The guy has a decent portfolio and seems to be a shrewd businessman ... Only time will tell , but from what I've read so far I'm quite pleased at present.

[kanu]

"They have substantial wealth that will fund new transfers" - what is your evidence for that statement? No committment to put any capital into the club and no evidence of any wealth. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on both counts...

Give one, just one, good reason why an owner of a premier league club would say 'I've got loads of money to spend' when just 28 days of the biggest transfer window are left?
Like I said, just one will do.

[Fritzl Palace]

It looks like JP has managed to sell us to the one Chinese businessman who has no money to invest in the club, hence the statement emphasising continuity. It appears more than disappointing.

The new owner used to be a director in Palm, which is currently is valued at 1.8bn but last year had a turnover of £500m and a profit of just £7m - probably less than our football club made. He stepped down from Palm in 2014 but still has a seat on some subsidiary boards. He level of ownership of Palm to begin with has not been confirmed and a company making £7m a year doesn't have much clout.

If you look at the official statement on the wba site you will see that the new owner owns 59% and a separate investment group has taken the remainder so he didn't have enough cash to fund the purchase himself. Rumoured to be £200m on here by baggie38. The official statement confirms he has enough cash reserves to fund that, I.e more than £118m so I presume he has about £150m in the bank or did have before £118m was paid to Peace. The remaining £82m is from an investment group who we know nothing about. No evidence they have any clout or sizeable investments either. Presumably they will want a return / profit from the club in the long run.

The outcome appears
- new owner to remain based in China
- John Williams to run club
- No additional money to be invested in squad or facilities

In short our income hasn't changed, we are stuck with the PL tv money although in the long run we might get more commercial money from China. The new owner has talked about putting our logo on football community facilities in Eco towns that Palm is building in China...am I supposed to be excited and content with this?

All in the context of wolves being bought out by multi-billionaires. They have Walmart  and we have the equivalent of the ice cream seller. Thanks Jeremy.

So if your happy with the status quo and punching above our weight as a small club then you should be happy with the takeover, more of the same is promised. If you wanted a mega rich owner and grand ambition then that dream has died.

Could you kindly point me in the direction of the nearest cliff to jump off.

[swad35]

Blackburn fan forums talk very highly of John Williams, havent seen one bad comment, shrewd appointment from our new owner even if he did listen to JP, shows his willing to listen. I'm happy I think it will be alright, time will tell but at least I'm exciting again about my club.