August 9 – Chinese money doesn’t always get what it wants. The sale of Premier League club Hull City by Assem Allam (pictured) and his son Ehab to a consortium lead by multi-millionaire siblings Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li looks to have collapsed after it appears members of the consortium failed to pass the Premier League Owners’ and Directors test.
The Chinese had been expected to complete the deal this week with Ehab Allam even writing in his programme notes on August 27 that they believed that could be their last match day as owners.
Although no detail as been released over why the Premier League test was failed, the Allams will now look for another buyer for the club that was put up for sale in 2014 when they fell out with fans and the Football League ruled that they could not change the club’s official name to Hull Tigers.
The Dai family had looked well progressed with their acquisition and had formed of a new UK company Rehne Goldenway Sports Management Ltd. The family are not new to football as they own Chinese football club Beijing Rehne FC.
The Dais have a property development conglomerate based in Hong Kong and the brother and sister run Chinese development group Rehne Commercial Holdings.
For its part Hull City looked to be tidying up its books and assets in readiness for the sale. Local newspaper the Hull Daily Mail reported that two mortgages relating to Hull City’s training ground in Cottingham and its previous academy base in County Road North, west Hull, had been paid off.
Assem Allam bought Hull in a £40 million deal in 2010 and is reckoned to have spent a further £85 million on the club while it was in the Premier League. The sale price is believed to be about £100 million, though it is very unlikely Allam would have lost any money on the deal.
Hull had originally been talking to a US consortium regarding the sale of the club but the sale was put on hold by the Allams saying that they needed to focus on building the playing side for their return to the Premier League. The sale conversations were only hold for a short while with the Chinese coming into the picture two weeks later and no mention of the US interest.
With Hull having won two of their first three league matches, the Allams will be keen to find new money while the Premier League sun is shining, presuming that there is no way back for the Chinese.
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