As some of you may know (or will find out when you read the Daily Antoine!) Mukesh Ambani and Subrata Roy of India have shown interest and potentially have placed a bid to take over Liverpool. What could this mean for our beloved club? Let’s look at who these people are.
Mukesh Ambani is India’s richest person, valued at $29 billion according to his Wikipedia entry. He is the CEO of Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector corporation and in the Forbes 500 list of corporations. Subrata Roy is a fellow billionaire and chairman of the Sahara Group, which is a diversified corporation which also includes sports and television broadcasts. They also are the primary sponsor of the Indian cricket team.
So what can these two bring to the table for Liverpool? Like Kenny Huang and the Chinese bid, these people have money that can be used for the transfer window. They have money that can be used towards the Stanley Park Stadium. With the resources of Sahara, however, they would have an established group of sports followers who would be a target to expand Liverpool interest in India. One major flaw in this is the lack of established leauges for football in India; while there are competitive leagues for cricket and field hockey, football still has not caught on. This might have an impact on the expansion of the brand into Asia.
We shall find out soon enough who comes out on top. We can all agree though that H&G’s days are numbered, and they can’t get out fast enough.
And with this ends my first post on Empire of the Kop. Looking forward to many more here!
YNWA
Sriram
dont trust wikipedia most of the posts are one’s i fucked with when i get bored :P
The indians will not come,i know.
maybe they want to tru and corrupt football like they have cricket
maybe they want to to try and corrupt football like they have cricket
Peter they wouldn’t have enough control over the entire league to do what happened with IPL. I must say though, I found the IPL to be very entertaining this year though.
Though a Pakistani, I would still back the Indian bid :P,
@ Sriram, Ambani is one of the top ten richest people in the world guys and I also disagree that football does not have a market here in south Asia, yes we don’t play in organized leagues here but the fan fanaticism is at extreme in in this part of the world, with billions following in China, India & Pakistan…
Great Post, welcome to EOTK :-)
Sriram- interesting insight for the majority, but quite a basic introduction to the superpower that is Mr Mukesh Ambani.
The truth is- If he is successful in bidding for LFC, they will become Indias biggest sweetheart. They plan to open 3 official stores in Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore where there is wealth and most importantly a lot of UK companies with offshore presence.
Indians will fall in love with football and if it was only cricket and hockey that mattered- just watch the commonwealth games turnout and the already huge interest in F1.
I worked in Bombay for 6 months in 2007 and even back then UCL and Premier League was massive. It will work a dream….
Garry Carter YNWA
I don’t see the indian bid coming off, unless their bid of 300-350 million is accepted which i very much doubt they won’t be taking over. Thats been their bid since the early part of this year and has remaind on the table, they want to buy the club for little and make a profit on it then sell it on later. Even though their bid is what is the real value of the club is worth in the current climate its going to take a bid of 400- 450 million to get rid of the Yanks. No doubt the indians have the money and would spend it on the stadium etc but i don’t think they have a long term interest in LFC, its only Subarta Roy thats been more interested than Mukesh Ambani, and he needs Ambani who has the majority of the money. Kenny Huang is still my tip hope he gets it, because The Syrian Kirdi is a friend of Gilletts son and and friend of Gillett and Hicks i wouldn’t trust, and hes in it to sell on later aswell. YNWA
Is Indian bidding like Indian giving in that you promise to pay a bunch of money and then expect it straight back.I think we already have that.
no no never…dont want those dhoti indians no matter how much money they have..indians r not trustworthy.fk em man…bloody indians…
All we can do is trust the board to make the right decision. We dont even know if the Indian interest in buying the club is genuine.
and one guy told above that football fantasy is great here asia…i am living here in nepal but i follow liverpook as much as every fan in da world….i cry when club loses and i almost touch ds ceilings with joy when they win..u just hav to come once and c how crazy ppl r here for their clubs …..ynwa
an indian big would be a dream for footy followers in india..theres a huge market there waiting to be tapped..but its not going to happen unfortunately. my moneys on king kenny!
Steven Torres u r a freakin moron.
go back and crawl under your stone
Sriram welcome. What the Club needs is a buyer that is first and foremost a Liverpool fan and not a venture capitalist like H&G! Secondly we need to wipe out our liabilities and build the stadium. Once those two objectives are achieved the Club can generate enough profits to have a healthy transfer kitty each season and be in line with the new UEFA directives!
As an Indian as well as a Liverpool supporter, I hope this is only a rumour and such a deal wont go through…
These business tycoons have nothing but financial interests, and their greed have already spoiled the game of cricket, and turned it into an absolute mockery show.
Hope this does’nt happen with Liverpool FC…
Forget human-rights violation issues of China, they seem to be the best option today – they have money and Kenny Huang does have some experience in Sports dealings internationally, and more importantly he loves sports.. which is something I doubt the Gilletes, Hicks and Ambani’s may think is not at all necessary when taking control of a sports team!
@Dee – why don’t you leave him alone and fuck off yourself?
guys,
this has always been a solely sport rlated blog, please top using abusive and political BS and behave like a real lfc fan!
it means the saga drags on… H+G will try to drive up the bidding… hoy vey…
I have been a LFC supporter since 2001 and take prode in being so… so much so that my friends call me a fanatic!!! And then all that fanatism takes a nose dive when I hear people like steven. torres.. I mean seriously??? What’s your problem if a ‘dhoti Indian’ does bid for LFC… but with the interest of the club and not commercial interests at heart? Grow up… the world has become smaller.. LFC is not supported by just scousers from Liverpool… people all over the world support it from their heart.
@steven.torres u have no idea how big a lfc fanbase in india is..
if the deal goes thru its gonna boost the madness more….
the official club restobars can b a handy benefit to our club…
fk i need nt say nemore
long live lfc…
ynwa
dave tamer this is a lfc fan site! y not take ur racist comments an fukin choke ur self on dem!
if u honestly fink ne1 gives 2 shits about ur opponion den ur a very sad deluded man! i hope the indian bid dosent suceed just so we dont have pricks like u representing our great club! now do me a faver and go fuk urself!!!
“Sorry but some of the comments made by Pakistani guys on here are really offensive and I will not tolerate any shit from those halal munching terrorist bitches.”
quite self-contradictory dont u think Dave Timer?
people really need to chill out here
Folks I removed the comments from Dave Timer.
Racism doesn’t deserve a place.
Y.N.W.A.
-Antoine
its a global game now…you would have scoffed at amercians owning a PL club 15 years ago, so now why not an Indian or a Chinese guy? Provided they truly have the clubs best interests at heart.. these pointless racist comments are disheartenin though – i like to think i support the club (almost) as much as scousers do..
I could not care less where the buyer comes from so long as they build a new stadium and invest in the squad.
comeon guys.. its really dont bother who takeover frm G&H.. as long this yanks are out of anfield… liars..
Vasan we need to be careful, Hicks and Gillett are bad but there are many sports owners who are worse.