News Report: Reading FC takeover in Serious Jeopardy as fresh concerns over new buyer emerges
Promising Reading FC takeover news revealed despite concerns.
League One side Reading have endured a very long sale process since current owner Dai Yongge put the club on the market last year.
And yesterday, in a worrying claim, The Guardian reported that one of the key reasons why Dai has struggled to sell the club is because of his failure to repay debts to a state-backed Chinese bank.
And it was reported by the same outlet that this repayment issue was the key reason why Rob Couhig’s attempts to take control of the club collapsed.
Haitong International Securities, the investment bank Dai owes money to, effectively blocked a sale last month by obtaining a stop notice in the British Virgin Islands, where the club’s stadium is thought to be registered for tax purposes.
It’s reported that the bank will have the right to take ownership of the Select Car Leasing Stadium if the ground is sold without Dai repaying the debt.
However, Reading Chronicle journalist James Earnshaw helped to calm many Royals fans’ nerves, revealing yesterday that the prospective buyers of the third-tier club know about this issues.
Promising Reading FC takeover news revealed despite concerns
League One side Reading have endured a very long sale process since current owner Dai Yongge put the club on the market last year.
And yesterday, in a worrying claim, The Guardian reported that one of the key reasons why Dai has struggled to sell the club is because of his failure to repay debts to a state-backed Chinese bank.
And it was reported by the same outlet that this repayment issue was the key reason why Rob Couhig’s attempts to take control of the club collapsed.
Haitong International Securities, the investment bank Dai owes money to, effectively blocked a sale last month by obtaining a stop notice in the British Virgin Islands, where the club’s stadium is thought to be registered for tax purposes.
It’s reported that the bank will have the right to take ownership of the Select Car Leasing Stadium if the ground is sold without Dai repaying the debt.
However, Reading Chronicle journalist James Earnshaw helped to calm many Royals fans’ nerves, revealing yesterday that the prospective buyers of the third-tier club know about this issue.
It’s also believed that this issue won’t prohibit progress being made on a sale, and it won’t prevent current owner Dai from selling the Berkshire side.
This is positive news for the Royals’ supporters, who will be keen to see a change of ownership happen as quickly as possible.
Funding is seemingly in place until a transaction is completed, but this long saga needs to come to an end, following a huge amount of off-field turbulence in the past year or so.
The club has also had 18 points deducted in the past three years, with all of these deductions coming during Dai’s tenure.
Overspending was previously the issue that landed the club in hot water with the authorities, but cash flow issues have been more of a problem in the past couple of years, with late payments of wages and HMRC causing a couple of the points deductions.
| Reading FC’s points deductions under Dai Yongge | |
|---|---|
| Season | Number of points deducted |
| 2021/22 | 6 |
| 2022/23 | 6 |
| 2023/24 | 6 |
| (Correct as of October 11th, 2024) | |
Promising news emerges on Reading FC takeover amid fan worries
Earnshaw not only believes that the current prospective buyers are aware of the issue, but that the previous ones also knew about the issue, and it wasn’t the reason why the deal collapsed.
As well as this, it’s believed the current sale process is progressing, and that the problem won’t prohibit a takeover.
That’s the most important thing for Royals fans, who were distressed about the possibility of a sale being impossible to complete.
Contrary to The Guardian article, Earnshaw also believes that the EFL are aware of the identity of the prospective buyers.
Hong Kong businessman Benny Kwong, who was previously linked with the Berkshire side, isn’t thought to be involved in the party that has exclusivity.
Reading FC fans need a sale just as much as any other stakeholder
In the short term, fans will recognise that a sale can take a little while, so the supporters will probably be settled during the Royals’ upcoming clashes against the likes of Crawley Town and Exeter City.
However, this process needs to be fairly quick if supporters are to remain calm, because a takeover is needed as quickly as possible.
The players and the manager deserve certainty, but so do the fans, most of whom have endured the whole of Dai’s reign.
It would also be good to know the identity of the bidders and the chances of them passing the Owners and Directors’ Test (OaDT).
If this party aren’t going to pass those tests, a more suitable party needs to come in. Fans will hope the current prospective buyers are the right custodians for the club.
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