Birmingham Holding Co. Raise USD11m Selling 12 per cent Stake

March 23, 2011

English Premier League soccer club Birmingham City’s holding company has raised US$11.2m by selling a 12 per cent stake through a share sale as the side attempt to increase funds after parent company Birmingham International Holdings Ltd. (BIH) said its liabilities exceeded assets by about $44.65m.

According to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Carson Yeung remains the biggest investor in BIH although his stake has fallen from 18.5 per cent to 16.3 per cent, controlled through a personal holding and his company Great Luck Management Ltd.

The filing said 450 million shares, representing about 12.37 per cent of the company, were sold at US2.56 cents each, to no fewer than six parties who aren’t connected to the company or to anyone linked to it.

BIH announced earlier this month that Yeung was applying for a $19.25m loan and had pledged in writing that all the money would be used to “provide sufficient financial resources” to allow the business to meet its liabilities and carry on “without significant curtailment of its operation.”

The company said it was fundraising because its financial position indicated “the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”