£60m Villa snapped up by Chinese
ASTON Villa have finally found a new owner after Randy Lerner agreed to sell to a company led by Chinese billionaire Dr Tony Xia for a knockdown £60million.
Xia, owner of the multinational Recon Group, immediately vowed to restore Villa’s Premier League status and also take the club back into Europe.
The appointment of a new manager is imminent and Roberto Di Matteo is the leading candidate after being sounded out by Chinese intermediaries. Previous frontrunner Nigel Pearson, who met Villa chairman Steve Hollis, is thought to have slipped down the reckoning due to the takeover.
Xia, who studied at Harvard, MIT, and oxford, will replace Hollis as chairman once the Premier League and Football League are satisfied by the fit and proper person’s test, with further directors also set to be appointed.
Keith Wyness, former Everton chief executive who left Goodison Park in 2008, has been earmarked for a similar role at Villa. He would bring football experience having also held a similar position at Aberdeen.
Damien Comolli could also be named as director of football, the role he held at both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Comolli would be tasked with leading recruitment, an area in which Villa failed conspicuously last summer.
New Yorker Lerner has been trying to sell Villa for years, having been bruised by the departure of Martin o’Neill in August 2010, but he failed to find a buyer largely due to his insistance on a £200m price tag.
He bought Villa for £62.6m in August 2006 and invested a further £200m, but relegation has forced Lerner to slash his asking price and Hollis, who joined Villa in January, held talks with interested parties in the UK, America and the Far East. on top of the £60m purchase price Xia ( right) is also understood to be committed to further investment.
A club statement said Villa were ‘pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed for the sale of 100 per cent ownership subject to the approval of the Premier League and the Football League.
‘once granted, and new board members approved, Dr Xia will become chairman of Aston Villa. The club will announce the appointment of a new manager shortly.
‘Dr Xia’s immediate objective is to return Aston Villa to the Premier League and then have the club finish in the top six, bringing European football back to Villa Park. He plans to make Aston Villa the most famous club in China with a huge fan base.’
In a further statement, Lerner said: ‘Tony is a hugely successful businessman but importantly for me he is passionate about architecture, site design and planning.
‘His commitment to invest in the squad, and leadership at Bodymoor Heath (Villa’s training ground) was expressed early on and Tony’s excitement to develop Villa Park shone through.
‘I (am) convinced that this is a crucial part of the club’s future as it provides a critical, long-term second source of revenue from which squad- funding can potentially come.’
Recon Group owns a controlling interest in five publicly-listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges, employing 35,000 people in 75 countries, taking in infrastructure, IT, and health.