Bloomberg are reporting that Saints are in talks to be taken over by a Chinese investment group.

Saints fans will be stunned by reports on Bloomberg.com that Saints have been in talks for several weeks with Lander Sports Development Co. of China.

The article suggests that this information is supplied with people "familiar with the situation" whatever that means, however it goes on to say that Katharina Liebherr has been in discussions with Lander Sports for several weeks with a figure of £200 million being touted as the selling price.

There has been a surge of interest from China in English football in the past year or so with West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City being sold to Chinese investors and Hull City the subject of a bid.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s stated desire to turn the nation into a force in the sport has spurred many Chinese companies to look to the West to invest in Sports teams.

So who are Lander ?

Up until last year the company concentrated on the sale and management of property but the President's statement made them turn their attentions to sport.

Several Lander ventures have followed, including the creation in May of a sports-insurance joint venture with Du-Bang Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and investments to promote winter sports in China, which will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, and a Premier League soccer team is likely to be next on Lander’s wish list.

Saints are seen in China as an up and coming club in China with strong foundations and a good business opportunity in that it could be obtained at far less and far easier than one of the big six clubs and it is seen as being far advanced than most outside of that elite half dozen.

How much substance this rumour has is yet to be seen, certainly Saints and Lander both declined to comment to Bloomberg who are not a Sports media outlet and less prone to gossip and rumour from agents and ex players.

Ironically Inter Milan our opponents on Thursday are now Chinese owned with Suning Holdings buying a controlling stake earlier this year.

Photo: Action Images

ericofarabia added 16:08 - Nov 2 It's working well for Inter isn't it!! Financial Fair Play Rules broken and the club in turmoil.
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saintmark1976 added 16:46 - Nov 2 Nick, I for one am not "stunned"as you put it. As I posted after the Chelsea game it has been my opinion for some time that K L had taken us as far as she could using the current business plan.You simply cannot succeed long term in business by continually selling your best assets and clearly she does not want to invest enough of her own money to take us to the next level. Compared to some of our rivals we are comparatively debt free and at two hundred million I would have thought somewhat of a snip for new owners and very good business on her part. Having said the above it may just be a rumour in which case all she has to do is publicly deny any intention of selling. Some how I can not see that happening,but who knows I may well be wrong.

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bstokesaint added 18:10 - Nov 2 I really hope this isn't true. If so think our days of being spoilt are over. This is likely for equal a disaster.
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SanMarco added 18:59 - Nov 2 Lander is Chinese for Sisu
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Ali_Diarea added 19:34 - Nov 2 I'm not surprised by this at all, I think it's been the owners wish for a few years. I think it explains why we have been running transfers dealings at a surplus over the last few years, it makes the club look much more profitable than it really is and inflates the asking price. The sad truth is we need a huge investor just to tread water in this league but it will be another step further away from the family club I used to support at The Dell.

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BoondockSaint added 19:59 - Nov 2 It may be investment but not full takeover. One report says Chinese investors put money in ManCity last year (and we thought they had enough money behind the). Reports say 6 week exclusivity deal.
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SanMarco added 20:38 - Nov 2 Report also says that Lander made losses of 44.8 million dollars last year. For those who want to see Liebherr sell - be careful what you wish for...
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sidsaint added 22:54 - Nov 2 From what I have seen elsewhere I do not think a Chinese takeover would be in the best interest of the club or the fans, especially as the company are loss-making , have no previous interest in football and could well sell our top assets i.e. players to make quick profits. Liverpool would be licking their lips. If they are genuinely interesting in investing that might not be so bad. We may not be ambitious but we are reasonably well run with a good balance sheet. Please Katharina be careful and respect your father's wishes and principles.

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landerwal added 00:12 - Nov 3 Markus Liebherr bought the club for £14 million and the debt owed to his daughter is £50 million, so a £200 million offer would make a tidy profit. Hopefully it will never happen or Lander are looking to invest only. Problem is with so much money sloshing about in the Premiership, it's only inevitable that clubs just become part of a company's/sheik's/american's/russian/portfolio. I wish to point out I have no connection with Lander Development. Lander is just my middle name.

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BoondockSaint added 01:44 - Nov 3 Sidsaint--you're making me nervous!!! "have no previous interest in football and could well sell our top assets i.e. players to make quick profits. Liverpool would be licking their lips." Describes Katharina too! And one poster on the Echo site floated the conspiracy theory: what if Cortese is behind this!!! Like we Saints supporters don't have enough stress!!
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richsaints added 05:36 - Nov 3 Agree with saintmark now might be the right time to move on but don't get me wrong she has been a star for Saints and honoured her father's memory superbly six seasons of success and progression but too many players being sold now has to stop.
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sidsaint added 08:36 - Nov 3 Sorry BoondockSaint. No stress intended, just a warning to be very thorough in all negotiations which I am sure we will be. A win tonight will settle the nerves.
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LordDZLucan added 09:16 - Nov 3 I don't like the sound of this. Before long half of our home games will be played in Beijing (Premier league rules permitting of course! That's only a matter of time.) and we'll no longer feel that it's our club. We'll have to do a Wimbledon and start again. Or jump ship and start supporting Eastleigh!
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Whatsforpud added 11:51 - Nov 3 For most people, paying off £50 million debt, then selling for £200 million would be good business. However, I seem to remember Katharina inherited some £3.5 billion. In that circumstance, this potential profit would seem insignificant. I was hoping she would be proud to own a (now) self-supporting well run club, and enjoy visiting matches as she has done many times in the past.

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bstokesaint added 12:23 - Nov 3 I think the Liebherrs have done a terrific job for this club, one which we couldn't ever repay. They not only saved us, but they have taken us forward to an unprecedented level. For all of those that are moaning that we've come as far as we can under the current leadership, season after season of progression suggests otherwise. It simply is not possible, however rich a new owner might be, to make wholesale changes and get instant reward. FFP and agents make that virtually impossible. We're where we are because of sensible owners runner the club well. If we sell out to the Chinese we could lose a lot of our identity. This worries more than any player sell or manager change. This could be catastrophic and a huge wake-up call to all the deluded fans who think we can suddenly become a Champions League force overnight. Put yourself in Katharina's shoes. If someone told you you had inherited an American football team for example, or something you had zero interest in, would you stick around for the long term? Especially with all the finger-pointing and accusations of asset-stripping and being greedy. In her shoes, with no loyalty to the club, I'd have flogged it straight away.

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GeordieSaint added 13:33 - Nov 3 No thanks. I really don't get everybody who bangs on about all the player sales. Virtually everybody who has left over the past few seasons did so because they wanted to not because the club wanted them to. Lallana (money bought Tadic, Pelle and Mane) Lovren (money bought Virgil) Clyne Wanyama Schneiderlin Cork Alderwielder Pelle All wanted to go, most were nearly out of contract. Shaw Mane Club got top dollar and reinvested the cash. The only one that was really disappointing was Chambers as he should be a first choice for us now. How can you make them stay?

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BoondockSaint added 13:50 - Nov 3 In a post months ago I mentioned that maybe "she's just not that into you" when it comes to football, the team is just part of her corporation and as such as long as it turns a profit, it doesn't matter where the team is in the standings. There's nothing wrong with that. She inherited the team and is carrying on because of her dad, but maybe is getting tired of sitting in the stands in the winter. Please stop with the whinging about "foreign owners" remember, when Saints were about to go out of business and the team plus the stadium could be grabbed for a song, not one British millionaire stepped forward! You think ManCity supporters are crying about "losing their identity"? Oh, yeah and they did become a "Champions League force overnight" and the fans are loving every minute of it. 14 of the 20 Prem owners are foreign only Burnley, Middlesbrough, Stoke, Tottenham, West Brom and West Ham are British. Only Spuds are successful, so they may be next on the list to go. Let's just hope for the best.

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NewburySaint added 16:05 - Nov 3 This would be bad news if there is any truth in it. It could also explain the silence from our board, other than dear old Les, for most of this calendar year really.....
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saintmark1976 added 17:06 - Nov 3 Well said BoondockSaint. I doubt that there was a single Leicester supporter who was in the slightest bit concerned who their owners were when they lifted the Premiership trophy. Nothing in this life stays the same forever. If it did I would still be watching whilst stood up at the Dell. As I said in my previous post if K L wants to kill this story stone dead then all she has to do is to make a statement to that effect. If she does not then I think it fair to say that sooner or later she will be relinquishing sole control and possibly ownership. In the shorter term I hope we beat Milan tonight. COYR.

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BoondockSaint added 17:08 - Nov 3 It might be they are just buying shares. That way Katharina still has majority ownership, but gets a load of other peoples money to spend, and marketing in China and the rest of Asia.
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bstokesaint added 18:46 - Nov 3 Valid point about Leicester Mark, but for every successful Leicester City success story there are mutilple failures. Plus their success story wasn't based on spending big but finding a team and a good system that worked for the club. Also much of Man City's success was achieved before the FFP rules could stop them. Their owners came in and spent the cash hand over foot. They couldn't do that now. Plus of course they're a bigger club with a far bigger ground and revenues which helps. I just hope others are right that this isn't a full takeover.

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BoondockSaint added 19:36 - Nov 3 Hi bstokesaint- While the FFP rules look good; A team can't spend more on players than it takes in in revenue-so teams can't overspend and thereby get in financial trouble. they are really a way to solidify the power in the rich teams. It stops a sugar daddy from coming in and slashing out his or her own money on players and competing with the big boys. But, as ManCity has demonstrated, you can easily get around this, just have one of your other business entities come in as a sponsor, and pay you well above market price, thereby laundering the money. For instance, if Katharina wanted to dump 50 million into Saints, she just makes Liebherr the shirt sponsor and bills them 50 million. Another ManCity tactic is buying teams in other leagues around the world. Case in point: their owners started up New York FC, who are not part of FFP, signed Frank Lampard to a huge contract, then "loaned" him back to ManCity on the cheap. Of course, it you do get caught, you can just have it thrown out on appeal the old fashioned way: bribe the right people.

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bstokesaint added 19:52 - Nov 3 True, shady practices indeed. Big risks if caught though. I hope they do. Reckon FFP will only get tougher. To be honest I'm kind of proud of what weve achieved. I just wish we weren't seen as big club fodder ALL of the time.
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SaintBrock added 12:44 - Nov 4 We should be fearful of change after 7 years of relative calm, stability and the return of that nostalgic 'family' atmosphere apparently so beloved by fans of old. Change is not necessarily good especially these days when money is at the root of all decisions political and commercial. Liebherr bought the club for very genuine personal reasons and his passion has created a rather special warm feeling here that was missing arguably since the demise of the Ted Bates era. We have been extraordinarily fortunate for his involvement and all that has sparked from it and I for one would rather keep all that than risk the whims and fancies of a bunch of unconnected foreign marauders who could just as easily take us down the drain as turn us into yet another soulless super-club. Nobody knows the secret of Southampton's current relative success even those involved in it so new brooms and babies disappearing with the bathwater should inform. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is unlikely to appeal to eager rich young know-it-alls from far afield who spy an opportunity for fame. Vanity is at the heart of these things especially in football.

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