The League of Extraordinary Chinese Businessmen

After the grand amusements of Deadline Day, I’m sure you’re pleasantly exhausted. But please, perhaps you could ingest just one more speculative bit of candied press. Yes, of course you could. Come, join me on another trip down the superhighway of eye-rolling news. Everbright, the state-run, Chinese association of businessmen, are supposedly partnering with PCP Capital Partners in order to form The League of Extraordinary Chinese Businessmen and lock up a stake in Liverpool Football Club. And in this, the latest move by the conglomerate, they are prepared to raise their valuation of Liverpool from £750M to £1bn.

Everbright, for there part, have been denying that anything between their organization and Liverpool is going on. It has been said that chief executive, Chen Shuang, went asking around the water coolers and found that none of his people had any knowledge of a deal with the Merseyside club.

It’s not surprising that interest in Liverpool exists across the world, of course,. It’s a global brand and all, sure, known throughout the far and wides. But, now, with the new broadcasting money and a bigger and improved Anfield, revenue will be on the up and up. And the numbers being bandied about the business world will have investors’ buds peaked. It was over the summer that Forbes magazine declared Liverpool to be a billion-pounder.

Liverpool chairman, Tom Werner, however, dismissed any discussion of FSG selling the club just two weeks ago when the Everbright news first popped up. He also said that while FSG are open to dealing in minority stakes they are not currently speaking with any Chinese business guilds, leagues or consortiums.

So, someone at Everbright is obviously playing with the new Everbright Random Investment Opportunity Generator and it’s gotten stuck on Liverpool. You know what? It happens.