The past month or so has been like a torture for Ken Bates.
In this patient competition, this 80-year-old English man with always irritable personality had to admit that he lost to the gentle and pleasant Chinese beauty, and had to accept what the other party offered. In his opinion,
Come with an extremely unreasonable quote.
His original psychological price was 25 million pounds. Even if it didn't work out, it could still be sold for 20 million pounds.
You know, many English League One teams can now sell for more than 10 million pounds.
When the Swiss Liebherr family purchased Southampton, they also spent 14 million pounds, and that was in League One.
Nowadays, Leeds United, which is ranked in the middle of the English Championship, is selling for 20 million pounds. Is it too much?
Therefore, not long after their first meeting, Ken Bates used Cash Harris to inquire about Su Qing's situation.
As a result, when the news was received, the Chinese insisted on holding on to the 15 million pounds.
"Mr. Bates, the other party is very determined!" Cash Harris had no choice.
Ken Bates was well-informed and knew that this was a negotiation tactic, so he was not in a hurry and continued to wait.
About half a month later, Ken Bates contacted Su Qing through Cash Harris again, and the news he got was...
"Sorry, Mr. Bates, I have returned to China!"
Yes, Su Qing returned to China to complete the resignation procedures.
With today's technology, she could negotiate remotely even when she returned to China, but Su Qing still showed a dispensable mentality and insisted that she was only willing to pay a purchase price of 15 million pounds.
And with Cash Harris present, she even directly asked Cash Harris to help find a team with a purchase price of about this price.
"I hope you understand, Mr. Bates, that I am not obliged to buy Leeds United."
Su Qing's behavior and speech were extremely elegant, but she did not give her negotiating opponents any chance to counterattack.
"As you all know, I love my fiancé very much and we are getting married this summer. The reason why I want to buy a club is because I want to know more about my fiancé, his career, his work and his ideas.
"
"It just so happens that Leeds United is very close to him. That's the only advantage Leeds United has."
"In fact, I have also contacted Sheffield United. You can go and inquire about this. It should not be difficult to find out, because this club is also very close to Cheshire, so I can see my fiancé every day."
"So, I am only willing to pay this price for Leeds United!"
Su Qing used the nicest voice and said the coldest words, which made all Bates's calculations come to nothing.
But of course the eighty-year-old man would not give in so easily, he was still struggling.
But just as time entered March, Leeds United's director of football Gwen Williams called him and said that the director of youth training had finally been recruited. Members of the club's board of directors invited Bates to a meeting in Leeds to discuss reorganizing the youth training.
training camp, and a series of matters for the new season.
Gwen Williams is an old acquaintance of Bates when he was coaching Chelsea. He coached the Chelsea U18 youth team for nearly two decades and cultivated countless talents for the team. He was later promoted to the first team by Bates to assist Gullit.
, Vialli, Ranieri and others can be said to be the veterans of the four dynasties.
After Mourinho took office, he was unable to gain a foothold in the first team and turned to become a scout.
After Bates acquired Leeds United, he immediately hired this old acquaintance to be the director of football, a position he has held until now.
He is also Bates's confidant at Leeds United.
As for the youth training director, it’s embarrassing to talk about.
After Bates acquired Leeds United, he appointed Welshman Dalal Pugh as director of youth training, responsible for overseeing youth training. However, in October last year, he suddenly resigned from Gwen Williams on the grounds that the club had
He is owed three months' salary.
Since November, Leeds United's youth training director has been vacant, and many applicants have basically given up after seeing the situation of Leeds United's youth training camp.
Why?
Because U18 and U23, the two most important age groups, Leeds United can't even recruit enough people, plus salary arrears, who is willing to stay?
This time it was not easy. Gwen Williams used personal connections to find former Chelsea youth player Chris Sully. But this is the first time Chris Sully has taken on an administrative role since he retired in the 1990s.
Position.
Yes, it's better than nothing.
That's how Gwen Williams and the Leeds United board asked Bates to go back for a meeting.
It's said to be a discussion, but actually it's about settling money matters.
Arrears of wages, the transfer budget for the new season, and investment in youth training, all of which require money.
How to deal with it?
These are not coincidences, but because at this time of year, we have to deal with these things.
Of course, the rich teams make ambitious plans, but the poor ones, such as Bates and Leeds United, have to fight over money, and even Bates doesn't even dare to show his face.
He had no doubt that if he went to Leeds, he would never leave without spending some money.
There is a wolf in front and a tiger behind.
Just like that, Bates gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and obeyed!
Fifteen million pounds, just fifteen million pounds!
…
As a young person trained by the ministry, Su Qing's resignation still caught the leaders a little off guard, but it was not surprising if they thought about it carefully, because the work pressure of the ministry is indeed very high.
Su Qing is not an ordinary person now. She is a sophisticated fiancée who is famous both at home and abroad. If the two get married, Su Qing's status will be even more extraordinary.
If you are married to an outstanding person like Gao Shen, why do you need to gain qualifications in the ministry?
So, the leader didn't have much trouble and asked her to start handing over the business.
After finishing domestic matters, Su Qing originally planned to go to Shanghai for a trip, but at this time, she received a call from Cash Harris and Ken Bates agreed.
Therefore, Su Qing canceled her trip to Shanghai and asked lawyer Richard Kramer to fly from Leeds to London. She also flew to London from China and met directly in London with Cash Harris and Ken Bates.
Meet.
This time there is an additional lawyer for Ken Bates.
Since the two parties had reached a consensus on the purchase price, the negotiations went smoothly, but there were some surprises.
Su Qing still insisted on hiring a well-known law firm in the magic circle to conduct due diligence on Leeds United. The purpose was to check all accounts and debts and avoid hidden debts after the acquisition, which would become unclear by then.
This fee will be fully borne by Gaoshen.
After the law firm completes due diligence, it will issue a detailed report. Ken Bates and the shareholders must pay off all debts and pay all arrears of salaries and expenses before Gao Shen acquires Leeds United for 15 million pounds.
.
To put it simply, Gao Shen only paid 15 million pounds, and all other debts and unpaid wages had nothing to do with him.
But Ken Bates also brought unexpected news.
"I have contacted other shareholders and also communicated with the Leeds City Government. They all support the Chinese acquisition of Leeds United, but one requirement is that the acquisition must also include the Thorpe Arch Training Ground and Elland.
Road Stadium and surrounding land were acquired together, of which the land outside the Elland Road West Stand was the original Leeds United first team training ground.”
"The total price of these properties is 20 million pounds."
When Su Qing heard the news, her beautiful eyebrows suddenly frowned.
This made all the men present, including the eighty-year-old Ken Bates, have to lament that this Chinese beauty did not even frown in an attractive manner.
"I can't give you an answer for the moment. I need some time to make a new assessment." Su Qing used the dragging technique.
In fact, in the advanced plan, the stadium and training ground must be purchased, and the price is not very expensive.
Compared with the purchase price of 20 million pounds per year, compared with the annual rent of 3 million pounds, as long as you have sufficient funds, it will definitely be more cost-effective to acquire it, because then you can expand and renovate the stadium yourself and increase your income.
But there was no hard requirement for Ken Bates to add these properties before acquiring them.
He also said that this was a request from other shareholders on the board of directors and the Leeds City Government.
The total acquisition of Leeds United only cost 15 million pounds, and now they have to spend 20 million pounds more for no reason. This looks like slaughtering a fat sheep.
"Ms. Su, please don't get me wrong. I can guarantee that these properties are definitely worth the money. The reason why I ask you to acquire them together is because the properties are owned by private companies. Apart from renting them to Leeds United, they have no other
For any other purpose, although there is a rental income of 3 million, the annual depreciation expenses and other holding costs are also a headache."
"Whether it is a fan organization or the city government, the reason why they ask for it to be incorporated into the acquisition is also to ask for peace of mind. After all, you holding these properties can also prove your determination to run Leeds United in the long term, right?" Cash
Harris advised.
The deal has almost been negotiated, and now it’s time to enter the substantive stage. It’s impossible to just break it off, right?
"That's what I said, but I also need to re-evaluate. After all, it will cost an extra 20 million pounds, which is not a small amount of money." Su Qing's brows did not relax, looking a little solemn.
"In this case, I will ask people to talk to the shareholders and the city government, and you will also consider it. As for the law firm's due diligence, we will start directly and complete the transaction as soon as possible. What do you think?" Ken Bates
It seemed a little anxious.
Su Qing knew what was going on and nodded: "Yes, but at the same time, I hope you can sign a confidentiality agreement and not reveal our identities and specific details to anyone before the transaction is completed."
Ken Bates was thinking of Gao Shen's sensitive identity and immediately nodded in agreement.
The rest was left to the lawyers of both parties to draft the confidentiality agreement, and both parties also signed an exclusivity clause.
This also proves that the two parties have reached a preliminary consensus and will start due diligence next.
From Ken Bates's attitude, Su Qing could also see that he was quite anxious.
As for properties such as stadiums and training grounds, Gao Shen had long been interested in buying them, but now, Su Qing wanted to take the opportunity to take another look.
As Gao Shen said, Ken Bates and others are wild and well-connected in the UK. Maybe they can get some benefits or policy support?
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