![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
trackythesassy.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ontd_footballReaction from Singapore football fans on billionaire Peter Lim’s interest in English football giants Liverpool has been swift.
The most common questions: “What’s a Man Utd fan doing trying to buy arch-rivals Liverpool?” and “What can he bring to the table?”
According to AP reports on Tuesday, the 57-year-old Singaporean “remisier king” is set to raise his original bid of US$476 million (S$623 million) to buy over ailing club Liverpool, whose prized player assets include Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. The club are currently languishing in 18th place in the league.
Lim, who’s known to be a huge football fan, is ranked as the eighth-richest Singaporean with an estimated wealth of S$2 billion by Forbes.
But what rankles many Reds fans is that he is known to be a die-hard fan of English arch-rival club, Manchester United.
Lim has exclusive rights to own and operate a chain of Manchester United-themed restaurants and bars in Asia. Singapore-listed fashion retailer FJ Benjamin , in which Lim is the second-largest shareholder, also previously operated the Manchester United Theatre of Dreams store at Orchard Parade Hotel.
Football fans Yahoo! Singapore spoke to questioned Lim’s motives.
Manager Desmond Tan, 34, who has been supporting the Reds for over 20 years, said,”How can someone with ties to Manchester United want Liverpool to do well? It’s seriously conflicting. If he even wants to be taken seriously, he needs to give up his Man Utd ties first.”
But what if Lim, who is known to be a shrewd investor, has the resources to turn the debt-saddled Anfield giants around?
Tan replied, “Will you let your wife sleep with one rich businessman like in the show “Indecent Proposal” just so that you can stay afloat? I cannot accept it. If the deal goes through, I will still support the Reds, but I will not be supporting anything he does. Why can’t he buy Manchester United instead? Don’t they have debts too?”
Another Liverpool fan, Amir Syarifuddin, 36, said Lim deserved a chance.
“If he is a businessman, then the success of the club will always come first so he will do everything to see the club succeed,” said the engineer, who’s a Reds fan for over 15 years.
Polytechnic lecturer, Edwin Lim, who’s a die-hard Red Devil, offered a different perspective.
“It just goes to show Peter Lim is a football fan first and foremost, and then an EPL fan. I hope Liverpool fans can finally stop saying that we Man Utd fans do not care about Liverpool at all. We know that if Liverpool didn’t exist, we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today,” he said.
Another football fan, Gabriel Wong, 25, who doesn’t support either Liverpool or Man United, said, “From a neutral standpoint, the bid by Peter Lim may seem more attractive because, at least, he’s willing to fork out his own cash and stake his personal fortune in the club. For all you know, accepting the US bid might lead to a similar situation with George Gillett and Tom Hicks later on.”
The buyout talks involving Liverpool is rapidly turning into a complex tug-of-war with several parties involved.
Lim was reportedly told by text message last week that Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton had rejected his offer in favour of one from New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which is funded by American billionaire John Henry and which also owns US Major League Baseball side, the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox ownership group has now signed a binding agreement, but current club co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. are trying to block the sale because they say it undervalues the club.
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which holds the bulk of Liverpool’s US$453 million debt, has since obtained an interim injunction preventing the co-owners from firing board members for accepting the sale.
Soccernet also reports that NESV has no intention to let Lim muscle his way into deal even with a new improved offer.
The son of a fishmonger, Lim made his fortune as a stock broker and became a private investor in 1996. He keeps a relatively low profile and is media-shy but his key stock holdings include stakes in Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil firm, and regional education provider Informatics, which he turned around after the firm had fallen on hard times.
Earlier this month, he invested about US$100 million in Global Logistic Properties, a giant provider of warehouse facilities in China and Japan that is majority owned by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
People who know Lim said his interest in Liverpool stemmed from his love of soccer, and he recently donated S$10 million ($7.65 million) to the Singapore Olympics Foundation for scholarships for promising young athletes from poor families.
Personally I'm happy cos I'm from Singapore! though I admit I've never heard of him before O.O but he seems like a nice guy? idk I think NESV will still be a better owner.
source: http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/12/whats-a-man-u-fan-doing-trying-to-buy-liverpool/
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:21 am (UTC)Thanks :)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:24 am (UTC)It's a trap. Hostile takeover. From beneath you it devours. Etc.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:41 am (UTC)I cant comprehend
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:42 am (UTC)Also, it doesn't make much sense having such a supposedly big Man Utd fan bidding for us. Doesn't he know his own club is languishing down the same debt-ridden path? Why doesn't he step in there instead? (if that's even possible, I've no idea really what the current situation with the Glazers is; too busy with my own club, lol).
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 09:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 09:46 am (UTC)http://twitter.com/John_W_Henry
Prayer circle rn! Can't believe my mum's making me go out to Chester for the day. At least it'll maybe distract me a little, I guess. But I will be constantly on my phone, checking for news.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 09:49 am (UTC)PRAYER CIRCLE~~~
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:03 am (UTC)uggh i wish i could stay home for the results
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:17 am (UTC)I'm not saying that it is right in any way, but just that the offensive chants are not common knowledge here.
This article was written by a Singaporean which is probably why U was used instead of Utd.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:Can we use this post for updates on the courtcase instead of making a new post?
Date: 2010-10-12 10:31 am (UTC)Re: Can we use this post for updates on the courtcase instead of making a new post?
Date: 2010-10-12 10:40 am (UTC)Re: Can we use this post for updates on the courtcase instead of making a new post?
From:Re: Can we use this post for updates on the courtcase instead of making a new post?
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 10:56 am (UTC)oh and for them there's nooooooooooooooooooooo rush.... you can clearly see they want us to get the 9 points and destroy us completely
BITCHES
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:10 am (UTC)They blatantly want us to go into administration in the hope that it will make NESV not want to buy us any more.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:01 am (UTC)so they breached it a few times... why are we even here then why can't we just get rid of them and sue them?
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 01:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:18 am (UTC)BYE NOW
no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 01:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-12 11:18 am (UTC)