Lopez and Richardson – the men behind the proposed takeover
Social media was set ablaze today as Almajir confirmed a consortium involving former Barcelona player Maxi Lopez and Birmingham businessman Paul Richardson are looking to buy a 21.64% stake of the club.
The stake is currently owned by Oriental Rainbow Investments and will be the catalyst to eventually takeover the club with the total value of the club at £34million.
Paul Richardson has also responded to fans on social media stating ‘Let’s get our club back’, but who exactly are Lopez, Richardson, and the rest of the businessmen behind the proposed bid?
Maxi Lopez
The group is led by former Argentine footballer Maxi Lopez. Lopez made his name when he signed for Barcelona from River Plate as a 20-year-old for €6.2M.
Paul Richardson
Birmingham businessman Paul Richardson is the current owner of HERA clothing as well as formerly being executive director of Gymshark.
When Birmingham Sports Holdings went into Receivership in 2015, Richardson was one man involved in a takeover bid back then.
Richardson is also a Blues fan but will most likely be involved in the background of operations rather than at the forefront.
Christian Codoma
Codoma is the owner of Maxco Capital in London and Managing Director of Hong Kong based company Global Stars Management. Lopez and Sammy Yu are understood to be major shareholders of GSM.
Sammy Yu
Sammy Yu is also understood to be involved in the group, a name familiar with the St Andrews faithful.
Not only a close friend of Carson Yeung, Yu was once elected as vice-chairman of Birmingham City Football Club under the Yeung regime.
However, Yu was quick to sever ties with the club when Yeung got arrested in 2010.
With any new owners comes real change and with the news of Lee Bowyer on the brink of losing his job at the end of this season, it could well be a busy summer at Blues, top and bottom.
Keep up to date with the latest news right here on Blues Focus.
They would still be saddled with a debt of over £60 odd million so although it would be good to get rid of the present owners we would still be financially hampered.
I have supported this club since 1968 this club has always had a poor board all through their history would love to see a positive change
Did you miss the Sullivan and Gold era when they took us from the brink of extinction into the Premier League?. Karren Brady also got the club making a profit for the first time in decades, it may not have ended well but they saved us at a time when no one else would touch us.
100% true, hounded out by the idiots, never in financial trouble when they were in charge, the club was run properley.
not hounded out …jumped ship when they thought west ham were going to be sold ..they never wanted the whinging brummies kro
I remember the Gold and Sullivan era and the madness of us calling for them to go, if we are lucky enough to get good owners again we should take the promotion as well as the relegations.
Please let this be true. We need to get rid of the present owners. Women’s founder members have just been relegated. If not for points deduction the men would have gone as well.
The golds and Sullivan were great for this club, shame they wanted West Ham.
The idiots who gave them grief helped them make their minds up. They had invested heavily into Blues.
Don’t be fooled by Gold, Sullivan et al. They got us into this mess in the first place by selling the club for four times its value to some exceedingly dubious individuals as evidenced by Carson Yeung’s demise.
Oh so someone offers you 4 times the value for something you own and they are at fault. You can hardly bleme them – they were not Brummies and were protecting themselves.
Gold and Sullivan did a great job at Blues; Yes, they had their faults but as a club we were relatively stable. They were always going to move on to another club at some point and they cannot be blamed for that. They made a profit from the club so good luck to them. It wasn’t their fault what happened after they left. The club wasn’t their responsibility.
Why are we harping on about Gold and Sullivan every penny they put in was a loan and look at the state of the ground that they developed is in!also as soon as the government didn’t issue a gambling license they lost interest.Let’s pray Lopez can finally get our DOG SHIT OWNERS out of our club.
Gold, Sullivan and Brady ruined our club. It was them who sold out the Blues to gangsters and we are still suffering for it.
Come on get over yourself gold and sulivan where great fir blues. Yet you moan they sold it for 4x they paid fir it any one would d done the same all we ask is British owners who support blues and want to engage with keep right on
Gold Sullivan & Brady ran the club as a business & made profit & club financially stable so no blame on them. The EFL are to blame as clearly they didn’t do the due diligence on prospective owners, first Young & then the current triads but are quick to deduct points, fine clubs for their poor process. Hope this buyout goes through & BCFC can do the talking on the pitch KRO