Carson Yeung

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Carson Yeung
楊家誠
Born Carson Yeung Ka Sing
27 February 1960
Nationality  Hong Kong
Occupation Businessman, owner of Birmingham City F.C.
Carson Yeung
Simplified Chinese 杨家诚
Traditional Chinese 楊家誠
Cantonese Jyutping Joeng4 Gaa1 Sing4
Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Jiāchéng

Carson Yeung Ka Sing (Chinese: 楊家誠; pinyin: Yáng Jiāchéng; Wade–Giles: Yang Chia-ch'eng; born 27 February 1960)[1] is a Hong Kong businessman. He is the chairman and an executive director of Birmingham International Holdings (previously Grandtop International Holdings), an investment, entertainment and sportswear firm registered in the Cayman Islands,[2] through which he owns English football club Birmingham City F.C. He is also a director of Universal Energy Resources Holdings and Universal Management Consultancy Ltd.[3]

Career

Early years

At age 12 he lived in London.[4] At age 19 he returned to Hong Kong to work. Up until the 1990s he was in a Tsim Sha Tsui barber shop called "Vanity", and was trained as a hairdresser.[4]

Investments

Yeung did not begin his investment career until he made his first fortune from the HK real estate industry.[4] In 1997 he began having some investment trouble from the Asian financial crisis. He tried to recover from investing in penny stocks in 1999 to use shares to cover failed shares.[4]

The BBC says that he "made his fortune on penny stocks in neighbouring Macau."[5]

In 2004 he then co-founded Greek Mythology, a luxury casino in Macau.[4] He was also once the head of a human resources department at a gas company.[6]

Football

Yeung was the chairman of Hong Kong First Division outfit Hong Kong Rangers from 2005 to 2006.[2] In 2005 he made an £80,000 donation to the local football association after buying shirts worn by famous English footballers at auction.[6]

In 2007, he unsuccessfully attempted to take over Birmingham City.[7] Yeung failed to deliver the money for the takeover by the deadline of 30 November 2007 and as a result the takeover bid fell through. He was held responsible for the club's U-turn on the contract offered to manager Steve Bruce in May 2007, which led to Bruce's decision to resign from the club and move to Wigan Athletic F.C. of November that year.[8]

On 12 August 2009, Birmingham City confirmed that Yeung's Grandtop International Holdings held 29.9% of the club's shares and had made a further offer.[9]

On 21 August 2009, it was reported that Grandtop had made an offer of £81.51 million for Birmingham City Football Club.[10] The Standard reported on 25 August 2009 that Yeung had offered £57 million (HK$729 million) to buy newly promoted Birmingham City, and had reportedly promised the club's manager Alex McLeish £50 million to buy new players. His Hong Kong-listed Grandtop International already had a 29.9 percent stake in the club. He said the firm would raise HK$785 million for the acquisition through a rights issue.[11]

On 6 October 2009, Yeung completed his protracted takeover of Birmingham City F.C.[12] It was claimed some of his appointees have had run-ins with the law.[13]

Property

Yeung has been a real estate investor in Chongqing, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. In November 2007 he was looking to sell off residential and commercial developments to Golden Resorts Group (黃金集團) and reached difficulties in sales.[14] In addition, Beijing was stepping up measures to cool off the mainland property market, which affected his streams of revenue.[4][14] Similar sales issues occurred in 2011 when he tried to sell plots of land in Liaoning.[14] He ran into debt issues in a number of sectors owing millions to HSBC, and many other assets. He had to get large loans and put up his luxury home for sale at Mid-levels.[14] On 4 June 2012, the High Court ordered Carson Yeung Ka-sing to vacate and hand over a HK$300 million mansion on Barker Road to Wing Hang Bank within 56 days after he failed to repay a loan of HK$50 million.[15]

Money laundering allegations

On 29 June 2011, Yeung was arrested at his home in Hong Kong in connection with alleged money laundering.[16] Police officers also swooped on the offices of Birmingham International, and left with an assortment of documents. A brief statement mentioned that Narcotics Bureau officers searched two locations – one on Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon – and seized documents. The charges for Carson Yeung involved five counts of dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence.[17] His hearing was adjourned until 11 August 2011, and was remanded on bail of HK$7 million (US$900,000).

Carson Yeung was supposed to travel on 14 September 2011 to attend to his duties at Birmingham City football club, whose fortunes have gone downhill and is saddled with debt. He was given the green light to go after his cash bail was doubled to HK$8 million. But the prosecution appealed on the ground there is a risk he may not come back. The High Court allowed the appeal and reversed a ruling made in August by the District Court, which gave the tycoon, who faces money-laundering charges, permission to leave Hong Kong for England. Yeung's next pretrial court appearance is on 7 December 2011.[18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tattum, Colin (24 February 2011). Alex McLeish plans Birmingham City birthday treat for Carson Yeung, Birmingham Mail. Accessed 28 February 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Grandtop International Holdings 2009 annual report
  3. ↑ Hong Kong bid for Birmingham City
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Eastweek magazine vol 393. 9 March 2011. pg 17.
  5. ↑ "Birmingham City's Carson Yeung can travel to UK". BBC News. 30 August 2011. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Birmingham City exclusive: Carson Yeung – the secret millionaire". Sunday Mercury. 23 August 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  7. ↑ " Yeung closes in on Birmingham takeover","The Daily Telegraph", 3 August 2007
  8. ↑ "David Gold admits failed takeover led Steve Bruce to Birmingham exit","The Times", 31 March 2008
  9. ↑ "Birmingham confirm takeover approach from Carson Yeung","The Guardian, 12 August 2009
  10. ↑ "Yeung makes offer for Birmingham", BBC, 22 August 2009
  11. ↑ Hong Kong set for top seat at football's top table, Hong Kong Standard, 25 Aug 2009
  12. ↑ "BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | B | Birmingham | McLeish excited by Blues takeover". BBC News. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  13. ↑ Alderson, Andrew; Moore, Malcolm (11 October 2009). "How did a Hong Kong barber take over Birmingham City FC?". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "Carson's money blues". The Standard. Hong Kong. Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
  15. ↑ Yeung told to hand over Peak house The Standard. 5 June 2012.
  16. ↑ ,"RTHK", 29 June 2011
  17. ↑ Cops cry foul play. The Standard. Thursday, 30 June 2011
  18. ↑ Blues owner suffers last-minute setback The Standard. Thursday, 15 September 2011.
  19. ↑ Sweet, Geoff (8 October 2009). "Birmingham owner Carson Yeung is a real hair-o". The Sun (London). Retrieved 30 June 2011. 
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