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By Nick Harris
5 August 2010
A spokeswoman for Kenny Huang, whose interest in Liverpool has graduated from the back pages to the front pages of British newspapers this morning amid claims that he is backed by the China Investment Corporation, has told sportingintelligence this morning that confirmation of any further developments must come from Liverpool.
A spokeswoman for Huang, 46, speaking this morning from the Hong Kong office of Hill & Knowlton, said: “We will not confirm or deny any matter associated with the Liverpool Football Club unless and until we and the representatives of Liverpool FC have chosen to do so jointly.”
This throws the ball back into Liverpool’s court, but crucially, does not actually confirm whether CIC, which manages funds of $332bn, is in fact backing Huang’s potential takeover of the club.
As sportingintelligence reported last night, Liverpool’s board has had NO proof of funding yet from any of the potential bidders for the club.
It has yet to be established beyond doubt whether CIC is indeed backing Huang, which would be completely new direction for CIC to take.
This website understands that Huang has also, so far, not made it clear to his own PR advisors whether he is actually backed by CIC or not.
More details on Huang’s denial yesterday of any formal bid and on his business interests, can be found in here.
In what remains a hugely confusing story, sportingintelligence has been forwarded a draft statement allegedly prepared on behalf of Kenny Huang by separate PR advisors within China; this statement is now in circulation within media circles in mainland China.
The statement includes the lines: “Mr Huang would also like to deny that there is any involvement of Mainland China state-owned enterprises in his business dealings. If there is any related development, he will make a further announcement.”
Hill & Knowlton in Hong Kong say they have no knowledge of this statement, and will provide further confirmation of its authenticity when they can. At the time of writing – 10am on Thursday morning, UK time – H&K say that Kenny Huang is traveling and unreachable for further comment at the moment. He is on business and his plane is due to land in four hours.
Developments in the so-called ‘Kirdi’ bid – which remains as opaque as Huang’s bid – can be found in this report by the Bloomberg news agency.
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