Birmingham takeover

LONDON: Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung has put down a deposit of £3 million as he looks to buy Premier League club Birmingham through his investment company. Grandtop International Holdings already owns 29.9 per cent of Birmingham and has been required to pledge the sum to prove its ability to make an offer for the remaining shares. Birmingham said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday that it is “the first step towards a potential offer by Grandtop”. But the statement cautioned that “there can be no guarantee that an offer will be announced by Grandtop or that an offer, if made, would be successful.”