[gazberg]

What i've been saying all along, he bought the club as a passive investment that would appreciate/increase in value along with time, essentially TV deals. HOwever he was far too passive and took his eyes off the prize and a series of catastrophic decisions from those he appointed below him relegated us.

Now we are back to square one I think he will get out the first chance he can once he's able too as long as he recoups most the money.

[Pelada]

I think we’d all feel better if we either saw or heard from the chairman.

No wonder doubts start to creep in- astonishing really.

[glosterbaggie]

Bit like buying a new E- class Mercedes and getting it serviced by a back street mechanic who never seen one before!

[Standaman]

This may come as a surprise to posters but Lai has spent slightly more on buying the Albion to June 2019 than Fosun have spent on Wolves including their initial investment in GestiFute (Jorge Mendes agency) to the same date.

Plainly Lai overpaid for the club and bought into an operating model that was fundamentally broken. It is going to take a long time for Lai and his fellow investors (it is always important to remember it is not just one man here) to extract themselves from this situation.

I will go out on a limb here and I don't think we will have the ownership i.e. munificent billionaire that many fans want. Not in the short term nor in my life time. Sorry to rain on your parade. Lai or someone similar or conceivably a lot worse is what we are looking at forever.   

[baggie82]

This may come as a surprise to posters but Lai has spent slightly more on buying the Albion to June 2019 than Fosun have spent on Wolves including their initial investment in GestiFute (Jorge Mendes agency) to the same date.

Plainly Lai overpaid for the club and bought into an operating model that was fundamentally broken. It is going to take a long time for Lai and his fellow investors (it is always important to remember it is not just one man here) to extract themselves from this situation.

I will go out on a limb here and I don't think we will have the ownership i.e. munificent billionaire that many fans want. Not in the short term nor in my life time. Sorry to rain on your parade. Lai or someone similar or conceivably a lot worse is what we are looking at forever.

Wolves have a net transfer spent on transfer fees alone over the last four years of £179m. Fosun bought wolves for just £45m. They also bought 30% of Mendes agency for £42m. Their investment is probably £100m north of Lai to date but it's like comparing the market street trader with Nike. Fosun are a £10bn investment company. Whereas Lai needed to fall back on others just to raise the capital to buy Peace out. They are in cahoots with Mendes as well who ensures the orange lot get players well below market rate who ordinarily would not step foot in Wolverhampton. The whole set-up stinks. This article here is quite informative: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/

Botton line is with them lot their previous owners were prepared to sell the club on at a discount for the long term good of the club to an investor. Whereas JP was concerned solely with maximising his own bottom line.

[overseas baggie]

Wolves have a net transfer spent on transfer fees alone over the last four years of £179m. Fosun bought wolves for just £45m. They also bought 30% of Mendes agency for £42m. Their investment is probably £100m north of Lai to date but it's like comparing the market street trader with Nike. Fosun are a £10bn investment company. Whereas Lai needed to fall back on others just to raise the capital to buy Peace out. They are in cahoots with Mendes as well who ensures the orange lot get players well below market rate who ordinarily would not step foot in Wolverhampton. The whole set-up stinks. This article here is quite informative: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/

Botton line is with them lot their previous owners were prepared to sell the club on at a discount for the long term good of the club to an investor. Whereas JP was concerned solely with maximising his own bottom line.

Wolves’ previous owners had already made their wealth.  Peace’s entire wealth was tied up in the club’s shares.  Makes a huge difference.

[PartisanBaggie]

Wolves have a net transfer spent on transfer fees alone over the last four years of £179m. Fosun bought wolves for just £45m. They also bought 30% of Mendes agency for £42m. Their investment is probably £100m north of Lai to date but it's like comparing the market street trader with Nike. Fosun are a £10bn investment company. Whereas Lai needed to fall back on others just to raise the capital to buy Peace out. They are in cahoots with Mendes as well who ensures the orange lot get players well below market rate who ordinarily would not step foot in Wolverhampton. The whole set-up stinks. This article here is quite informative: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/

Botton line is with them lot their previous owners were prepared to sell the club on at a discount for the long term good of the club to an investor. Whereas JP was concerned solely with maximising his own bottom line.

I read this article at the time and you’re right, the whole thing absolutely stinks.

Here’s another couple of articles which are worth a read:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.spiegel.de/international/world/football-leaks-wolverhampton-conflict-of-interest-a-1239829-amp.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.sport360.com/article/football/european/44959/inside-story-how-jorge-mendes-pulls-all-strings-valencia

It’ll all end in tears, that I’m sure.

[SirTonyM]

Wolves have a net transfer spent on transfer fees alone over the last four years of £179m. Fosun bought wolves for just £45m. They also bought 30% of Mendes agency for £42m. Their investment is probably £100m north of Lai to date but it's like comparing the market street trader with Nike. Fosun are a £10bn investment company. Whereas Lai needed to fall back on others just to raise the capital to buy Peace out. They are in cahoots with Mendes as well who ensures the orange lot get players well below market rate who ordinarily would not step foot in Wolverhampton. The whole set-up stinks. This article here is quite informative: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/

Botton line is with them lot their previous owners were prepared to sell the club on at a discount for the long term good of the club to an investor. Whereas JP was concerned solely with maximising his own bottom line.

On the Canadian coverage of the premier league yesterday they were talking about Neves, Moutinho etc. Andy Townsend said "to get Moutinho from Monaco for less than 5 mill was such an amazing deal, a steal"... Yes it was Andy. Say it after me Jorge Mendes.

[gazberg]

Anyone know who took the 27m divided out the club in 2016??

Sounds like a JP move to me personally but if Lai did it then it reduces what he paid for the club to a more reasonable 150m ish.

[BalisPen]

I thought it was conflict at the Dingles and honestly thought that if they challenged the top 4 there would a massive thing made of it, but it appears no one gives a flying.

So out only hope of it going t its up is a direct edict from xi to get out of English football now, or else.

[Standaman]

Wolves have a net transfer spent on transfer fees alone over the last four years of £179m. Fosun bought wolves for just £45m. They also bought 30% of Mendes agency for £42m. Their investment is probably £100m north of Lai to date but it's like comparing the market street trader with Nike. Fosun are a £10bn investment company. Whereas Lai needed to fall back on others just to raise the capital to buy Peace out. They are in cahoots with Mendes as well who ensures the orange lot get players well below market rate who ordinarily would not step foot in Wolverhampton. The whole set-up stinks. This article here is quite informative: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/soccer-files-fosun/

Botton line is with them lot their previous owners were prepared to sell the club on at a discount for the long term good of the club to an investor. Whereas JP was concerned solely with maximising his own bottom line.

Wolves previous owner Steve Morgan bought the club from Sir Jack Hayward in 2007 for £10.
Under Morgan they traded at roughly an £11m profit across the 8 years he owned the club hence anything that was spent during his tenure was generated by the clubs normal activities. Net investment zero. Morgan then sold the  newly promoted Championship club to Fosun for £45m. As acts of altruism go that is one of the most profitable I have ever had the good fortune to witness.

To June 2019 Fosun have spent as follows:

Initial purchase price £45m
Loses during 2 seasons in the championship £76m
Profit in 1st season in the Premier League £25m

Net funding including initial purchase price £95m.

In addition Fosun spent 42m euros for a 15% in Gestifute with an option to take that to 35% which valued Mendes agency at about 5 times what they paid for the club. It is important to note that Fosun own the stake in Gestifute not the club. I do not know whether or not they have taken up their option to increase their equity to 35%.

However their initial investment including the stake in Gestifute plus initial funding came to significantly less than Lai and his partners spent on buying The Albion.

IF Fosun was the owners we desire (I don't for what is worth)  it is equally true Lai should and could have done the deal that Fosun did and bought the Dingles in league with the leach Mendes. 

[Droitwich Baggie]

Lai? Just a ghost. It seems he has no real interest.

[Topman]

Well I hope he’s enjoying today’s performance as much as me.

[PartisanBaggie]

I really don't get why this guy owns the club. He puts no money in, he gets no money out (apparently). Like I legitimately don't understand his motivation for owning us (and continuing to do so)

Something to do with leaning on the fact WBA were a Premier League club at the time to build eco towns in China, whatever they are.

Load of old ******** if ask me.

[gazberg]

Tucked up nicely somewhere with the football world passing him by.

[paulosull]

Invest in playing staff please!!!! Or sod off!!!!

[Droitwich Baggie]

He will lose face if he keeps us. The Chinese don't like to lose face.

[baggiecarl]

He will lose face if he keeps us. The Chinese don't like to lose face.

Lai wont be the only one losing face
The Albion fans are acting like its a fete accompli with lai
Do you think the villa or Newcastle fans would put up with this situation with its owners?

[Aztech]

Lai wont be the only one losing face
The Albion fans are acting like its a fete accompli with lai
Do you think the villa or Newcastle fans would put up with this situation with its owners?

What do you propose we do about it, boycott games?

[baggies_24]

Lai needs to go West Ham fans want Gold Sulivan & Brady out and the’ve pumped millions into the club, same with Ashley Lai actually owes the club money and won’t put money in. I’m not advocating him pumping hundreds of millions in like Villas owner but Jesus we have a good opportunity here one that’s not garantueed to come back round again, I’d say at the moment there’s a better chance we become a mid table championship club rather than mid-table premier league

[tex]

its the feeling of how pointless this all is, we cant even buy a forward from the Championship we have been after for weeks.  The class of teams in this league is what makes it special, not even trying to compete is just deflating.  We work hard to get promoted and play at this level, knowing how difficult this league is, and then decide to bank on getting relegated. Someone posted on another forum how lucky we are to be financially secure but with no ambition other than to not go bankrupt what does that say to the supporters.   

[BalisPen]

I maybe wrong, but didn't someone on here say he loaned the club £27m last season?

If true than surely he realises another big loan may get him the prem tv money next season.

[gazberg]

I maybe wrong, but didn't someone on here say he loaned the club £27m last season?

If true than surely he realises another big loan may get him the prem tv money next season.

No mate Lai has not put a single penny in since buying it.

I said someone took 27m OUT of the club in 2016 as a payment to their holding company in the form of a dividend.

At the time Football finance analysts said the trail in regards to this dividend was complex and would need investigation to find out where it went.

Chris Lepkowski has since stated that it was good old JP. Paid himself 27m just before he sold the club on with another additional 4m debt passed onto Lai.

[baggie96]

No mate Lai has not put a single penny in since buying it.

I said someone took 27m OUT of the club in 2016 as a payment to their holding company in the form of a dividend.

At the time Football finance analysts said the trail in regards to this dividend was complex and would need investigation to find out where it went.

Chris Lepkowski has since stated that it was good old JP. Paid himself 27m just before he sold the club on with another additional 4m debt passed onto Lai.

It was £27 million paid to the holding company, just for accounting purposes.

[gazberg]

Why could the Swiss footy people not find where it went though I wonder.

Edit - Initially Lepkwoski said he remembered the money going out then he has since said JP took it out and paid it to JP.