The Liverpool Thai saga

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The saga over the future ownership of a large part of English Premier League club Liverpool looks set to continue after new doubts were cast over the bid led by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra, Thailand’s populist billionaire prime minister, made his money in telecommunications before he went into politics. His family controls Thailand's largest holding firm Shin Corp which has a market capitalization of

BT103 billion. The prim minister was about to sign a deal to take 30% stake in Liverpool (other local investors may also be involved), probably bought from the Moores family, who control the club for more than half a century. Liverpool’s chairman, David Moores, hinted already in January that he might be prepared to relinquish some of his 51 per cent share. The deal would entitle Mr Thaksin and his partners to commercial rights in Asia. Liverpool would also help Thailand establish a soccer academy to improve Thai players. However, if the money being invested on Merseyside had been invested in local talent, Thai football might have benefited more. Although an offer from the politician has been accepted by the club in principle, and due diligence is under way, what already has been discussed is the replacement of Carlsberg on 'Liverpool's uniform by Chang Beer. Chang Beer is already available in the UK, but its market share is less than one per cent. Eventually, however, the company decided to sponsor Everton. Thaksin has hinted the deal may still flounder. He said: “At this moment, I am not certain that we can buy it or not and our financial experts and the legal team are performing due diligence. But nothing is certain. ”One stumbling block may be the manner in which the £65m bid is financed. After claiming a state lottery would be used to raise the funds – a scheme which was met with a torrent of criticism - that plan was then scrapped. Thaksin is now expected to rely on funding provided by personal funds

 and those of a group of investors. Lately, GMM Grammy, Thailand's largest music company, has been given the go-ahead by Thaksin, to lead a consortium of private Thai companies to bid for the 30 % stake in Liverpool. The declaration by Paiboon Damrongchaitam, Grammy's chairman, ends Mr Thaksin's bizarre and controversial proposal for the government to spend Bt4.6bn ($112.3m, €93.5m, £61.4m) buying a Liverpool stake "on behalf of the Thai people". "The Liverpool stake is a good investment," said Paiboon. "If we buy it, we won't buy for Thailand. We will buy it as a group of Thai investors." But Thaksin's interest in the Liverpool deal will not quite end. Advanced Info Service - the mobile phone company founded by Thaksin and still controlled by his family - has been identified as a likely participant in the bidding consortium.   But at home, Thailand's top football striker, Kittisak Senanarong, has criticized Mr Thaksin for paying too much attention to foreign football. He has said the government should do more to help underpaid Thai players, who earn about Bt 10, 000 to Bt 20,000 a month, less than players in Vietnam.