Birmingham City Directors Agree to Sell Majority Holding to Carson Yeung

Carson Yeung moved closer to a takeover of Birmingham City today, after Birmingham directors agreed to sell 29.9% of their shares to the Hong Kong businessman.

Ralph and David Gold and David Sullivan have each agreed to sell 14.81% of the club's shares to Grandtop International Holdings Limited (GIHL), which Yeung heads, while Brady has agreed to part with 0.23%. Fellow director Roger Bannister completes the deal, offering to sell 0.05%. All shares will be priced at the ordinary share capital of 61.331p.

Yeung now has until 5pm on July 16 to complete the deal. Should it go ahead Yeung's 29.9% share would make him the single largest stakeholder in Blues, taking over from the Gold brothers and Sullivan who currently own 78% of the shares between them. In the new arrangement the Gold brothers and Sullivan would see their stake fall to 23.22% each.

Although the club were keen to stress that GIHL were stopping short of launching a full-scale takeover, although it seems highly possible that Yeung will look to increase his holding further, with a 30% stake enough to trigger a bid for complete control.

A statement to the stock exchange said: "Shareholders should be aware that there is currently no indication at this stage that a formal offer will be made for the company as a whole but discussions are continuing with GIHL which may or may not lead to a cash offer being made for the company in due course."

The potential takeover has already lead to speculation that Steve Bruce will have significant transfer funds to spend this summer. Celta Vigo winger Daniel de Ridder and French midfielders Mathieu Flamini and Olivier Kapo have all been linked with moves to Blues. City are also close to confirming Scotland striker Garry O'Connor's £2.6m move from Lokomotiv Moscow.