Author Topic: Guochuan Lai (Read 2369645 times)

baggie96 · « **Reply #3800 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:08:02 PM »

Quote from: paulosull on August 05, 2016, 01:05:36 PM

is there any chance that Wanda are involved with sports group as I think could be wrong that they are connected to biggest club in Chinese league?

I'm still hearing evergrande are involved, makes sense as both heavily linked with Guangzhou.

Hunnington Baggie · « **Reply #3801 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:10:24 PM »

Quote from: baggie96 on August 05, 2016, 01:08:02 PM

I'm still hearing evergrande are involved, makes sense as both heavily linked with Guangzhou.

wouldn't be surprised if it's secretly government backed either.

koren · « **Reply #3802 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:11:23 PM »

Not confident about those chinese billionaires but hope that Lai is the right man to lead the club forward.
Welcome to West Bromwich Albion

baggie96 · « **Reply #3803 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:13:57 PM »

Quote from: Hunnington Baggie on August 05, 2016, 01:10:24 PM

wouldn't be surprised if it's secretly government backed either.

This is almost certain, Lai has massive connections with the government. His sports company is being given money to open stadiums in China.

hardtobeat · « **Reply #3804 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:13:58 PM »

Quote from: kris_boing on August 05, 2016, 12:57:50 PM

I for one will be chuffed that the club is run the same way as it has been but with owners/investors slightly deeper pockets that Peace had.

Lets just wait and see what happens in this transfer window. A signal of intent will be the first few signings and what happens with Pulis.

More ambition as much as deeper pockets would sit well with me. Be interested to see what Blackburn think of John Williams with the turbulent times theyÂ´ve been through although i believe he was around pre Venkys

skyclad99 · « **Reply #3805 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:17:55 PM »

Some of us are being a little short sighted here.

I go to Thailand every February for a month. I was a bit slow on the uptake to start with but I started noticing Leicester City FC club shops at both the airports I used all over Thailand, and the larger shopping malls in Bangkok. The fact that a Thai owned club has won the Premiership has not been lost on the Thai's and the shops and outlets are making a real turnover. However, there are still a lot of Man U/City/Chelsea/Liverpool glory hunter fans there, but Leicester are gathering a real following......

We are now owned by a group with access to the Chinese mass market. China is the absolute emerging market and there are many allegiances still to be won. So this deal not only feels safe, it exposes the club to a vast impressionable market which can only be good for WBA. There is a lot of money to be made in China and I am sure that this fact is not lost on the new owner's, and the more successful WBA are in the Premiership, then the more positive spin the owners can place in the Chinese market.

For me its a win/win situation here. We are foolish to pass judgement on a new owner based on a few hapless 'google' searches....... time will tell. I wish both JP and the new owners well and look forward to the new season.

SirTonyM · « **Reply #3806 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:18:51 PM »

All i have read is snippets and the articles like most others but lai seems the front man for a group of other investors who seem to have some money. To be honest john Williams seems to be a wise appointment and will be good for continuity. A man who knows football and seems well respected.

Hunnington Baggie · « **Reply #3807 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:23:06 PM »

Quote from: hardtobeat on August 05, 2016, 01:13:58 PM

More ambition as much as deeper pockets would sit well with me. Be interested to see what Blackburn think of John Williams with the turbulent times theyÂ´ve been through although i believe he was around pre Venkys

from what others have found out they love him and see him leaving as their downfall.

WBAinDEVON · « **Reply #3808 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:26:29 PM »

anyone know where to find the albion megastore in Shanghai

skyclad99 · « **Reply #3809 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:30:33 PM »

Quote from: WBAinDEVON on August 05, 2016, 01:26:29 PM

anyone know where to find the albion megastore in Shanghai

It will be there soon, and we had better start saving for our pre season tour too........

johnny Cash · « **Reply #3810 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:31:09 PM »

This idea that he is a front for wealthier investors, can someone answer why If he owns a controlling portion in the company that bought us, that it would be attractive for wealthier investors?

Lets say for instance, that he has 51%, and just two others have 24.5% each. As a 24.5% stakeholder, every pound I invest significantly benefits the controlling party much more than it does myself? Why would I do it?

Taking in to account this this isn't me buying in to a growing company and wanting a piece of the pie / its future, this is being part of a new purchase where the previous owner was completely willing to sell.

baggie96 · « **Reply #3811 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:32:59 PM »

A new company has been set up which has purchased us. Lai is the frontman for this company. Other members of this group are unknown

wba13 · « **Reply #3812 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:34:59 PM »

anyone know where to find the albion megastore in Shanghai
I believe its on LAI AVENUE

BB74 · « **Reply #3813 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:38:58 PM »

Quote from: baggie82 on August 05, 2016, 11:24:48 AM

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 Â£500m and a profit of just Â£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 Â£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 Â£200m on here by baggie38. The official statement confirms he has enough cash reserves to fund that, I.e more than Â£118m so I presume he has about Â£150m in the bank or did have before Â£118m was paid to Peace. The remaining Â£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.

Exactly as I see it. I was always better the devil you know. The new owner is a Chinese JP and I would rather have the original.

LiamTheBaggie · « **Reply #3814 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:42:49 PM »

Happy so far for a number of reasons:

- Appears we're going to be a run as a business and not opening ourselves up to large spending sprees with little reward

- The appointment of John Williams is a very good safety net

- No large scales dreams like the normal rhetoric new chairman speak. Just continued improvement.

Happy with the news and looking forward to seeing the gradual changes.

bangkokbaggie · « **Reply #3815 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:43:43 PM »

I have copied and pasted this from the comments page on another site. Hope this is allowed by the Mods.

A breakdown of the shareholders for Yunyi Guokai Sports Development Limited is as follows (this according to an expert on Chinese businesses on Twitter):

Yunyiye - 59% - Shanghai Yunyiye Investment Management Center. Controlled by Guochuan Lai who provided the underlying equity to Yunyiye through a trust.

Yunjin - 23% - Shanghai Yunjin Investment Management Center. Funded by funds introduced by Yunyi investment.

Yuntai - 18% - Shanghai Yuntai Investment Management Center. Funds used by Yuntai to invest have been provided by Palm (Which Guochuan Lai headed previously).

It seems Lai is the figurehead of the group of Beijing-based investors - the identities of the investors are unknown right now but there's some serious money at play in China with regards to football and President Xi's remarks will only fuel investment. Crucially, it seems that this model will allow others to invest in the club.

spencer Baggie · « **Reply #3816 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:47:57 PM »

Quote from: baggie82 on August 05, 2016, 11:37:12 AM

"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...

If we'd gone with a 'loadsa dosh' press release, other clubs would take us to the mill over transfer fees etc. Better to be pragmatic in our approach.

Also, your negativity is enough to drive a man to drink.

Manc Baggie · « **Reply #3817 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:49:01 PM »

Quote from: darbolina on August 05, 2016, 12:54:23 PM

An absolute guess what Lai might really be thinking

I'll put together a fund using the vast wealth of say three or four very rich people. I'll buy a we'll run, solid, stable football club. Then, I'll ensure I have experienced local true football people / experts running that club whilst I concentrate on building the foundations for that club / business to grow massively in the untapped Chinese market which I know very well.

It's important my new club do well and remain int eh premier league because it's broadcast everywhere these days and the Chinese people and government love the premier leag so I have big support at home.

I already have plenty of money set aside from my mates at the fund to help my new business buy players but I won't tell anyone that cause that would be thick and lead to other clubs ripping me off.

Hopefully the fans will see over time that I'm clever enough and well connected enough to help the club progress from my side, hopefully Williams, Hammond and Pulis will
Look after the football side of things well for me, if not I could always change .

$:-\$

Would be nice.

BB74 · « **Reply #3818 on:** August 05, 2016, 01:50:02 PM »

Quote from: paulosull on August 05, 2016, 01:05:36 PM

is there any chance that Wanda are involved with sports group as I think could be wrong that they are connected to biggest club in Chinese league?

Wands didn't buy us. Leave it be now!

SirTonyM · « **Reply #3819 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:00:59 PM »

In terms of transfers and money invested in the team, other than the usual suspects (Man Utd, Chelsea, City etc) who have bought these superstars? With some decent investment and scouting we can move forward. Southampton and Leicester come to mind as teams who have used their money wisely, spent good amounts but actually scouted decent players.

BigFrank20 · « **Reply #3820 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:05:25 PM »

Quote from: WBAinDEVON on August 05, 2016, 01:26:29 PM

anyone know where to find the albion megastore in Shanghai

I was there a few months ago and did find and Aussie sports bar! Biggest damned city I have ever seen!

WBAinDEVON · « **Reply #3821 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:07:55 PM »

Quote from: BigFrank20 on August 05, 2016, 02:05:25 PM

I was there a few months ago and did find and Aussie sports bar! Biggest damned city I have ever seen!

hopefully see a few wearing Albion tops on your next visit

Jack Thrust · « **Reply #3822 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:08:07 PM »

So yesterday this whole takeover thing was a massive sham conspiracy on behalf of JP to con people into buying season tickets.

Now today JP has sold us down the river (Literally) by flogging us to some tin pot Chinese operation who don't have two Yuans to rub together (Despite the fact that they managed to drum up Â£200m, but hey any of us could have done that in a weekend).

I'm genuinely astounded.

Morany · « **Reply #3823 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:23:51 PM »

Quote from: baggie82 on August 05, 2016, 11:24:48 AM

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 Â£500m and a profit of just Â£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 Â£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 Â£200m on here by baggie38. The official statement confirms he has enough cash reserves to fund that, I.e more than Â£118m so I presume he has about Â£150m in the bank or did have before Â£118m was paid to Peace. The remaining Â£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.

Where do you get that from?

WorcsWBA · « **Reply #3824 on:** August 05, 2016, 02:30:48 PM »

I'm very pleased that we're entering a new era, as there have been distinct signs of increasing stagnation in recent years, and with stagnation would have come relegation sooner or later. Fingers crossed that we can move forward with increased ambitions that involve more than mere survival. It's certainly a watershed moment for the Club.

There's no point getting overly excited or massively depressed over Mr Lai (we should be thankful he's not called Woo!

) and his consortium at this juncture, we just need to wait and see how things move forward. They and the new Chairman need time to get their metaphorical feet under the desk before we start making too many judgements about them. However, there's no question that John Williams is held in the higjest esteem by Blackburn fans and others in football, which can only bode well.

I hope the "2 or 3 new players" thing is a smokescreen, as we need more than that. It's going to be interesting to see what Pulis does now as, if the consortium is intent on marketing the club in China, they're not going to be wanting to be broadcasting "highlights" of games where we don't get any shots on target and just want to sit back all the time. A consolidation season is fine, but I hope that is also going to include more positivity in our play.

All the best to Guochuan Lai, his consortium and John Williams - let's get the players in we need and give it a good go this season!