Hong Kong group move step closer to buying Hull City

Hull City are the subject of takeover interest from the Far East

Greater China Professional Services Ltd, a company listed in Hong Kong, have been in talks with the Allam family over a possible £130m sale.

It emerged in the Far East yesterday that the company had agreed a partnership with Camsing Global for the purchase of the club and that this information has been formally passed to the Stock Exchange.

As a publicly listed company, any deal to buy City must be announced to the financial authorities first.

This was duly done in a ‘Heads of Terms’ document dated Thursday, October 13, that listed the vendor as ‘Allamhouse Limited’ and the purchaser as ‘the consortium’, effectively Greater China Professional Services and Camsing Global.

The agreed sale price is listed as £130m and the document states that the purchase is conditional on Premier League approval.

City are yet to comment on the matter but The Yorkshire Post understands there is still some way to go before any deal can be completed.

Should the deal come to fruition, however, it will bring to an end a saga that began in 2014 when the club was put up for sale following the failure of the Allams to rebrand City as Hull Tigers.

Relegation from the Premier League a year later scuppered any hopes of a deal being done but last May’s Championship play-off final victory over Sheffield Wednesday triggered a fresh wave of interest.

An American consortium, led by Goldman Sachs managing director Peter Grieve, was the first to try and push through a deal during the summer only to be usurped by a Chinese consortium led by the Dai family.

They attended the opening day victory over Leicester City and were expected to complete the purchase only for issues with the Premier League’s fit and proper persons test to derail those hopes.

That triggered renewed interest from a number of interested parties, including Chinese/American businessmen Chien Lee who visited the KCOM Stadium last month with advisor – and former City chairman – Paul Duffen.

Yesterday’s development, though, suggests the Greater China Professional Services/Camsing Global are now leading the chase.