The Birmingham Mail are reporting that Tony Xia is seeking £30million in exchange for a percentage of equity in the club.
The money is believed to be needed in order to keep the club’s financial problems at bay, although the owner is said to be prepared to sell the whole club at the right price.
Justifiably, fans on Twitter are pretty pessimistic about the latest turn of events:
Sounds like he wants to put our team on Dragons Den! Maybe Peter Jones would put up the £30m for a 15% share in the team?
— «ⅅeano» ® ???????????????????? (@Kilmartin32) 12 June 2018
— Pardeep ???????? ???????? ❄❄❄ (@PardeepParmar4) 12 June 2018
Get the sense that would be akin to putting a plaster on a severed limb.
— Mr Thompson (@mrthompson81) 12 June 2018
— Juggz (@Moooobz) 12 June 2018
Who would trust there money with Tony
He has crippled our club with debt
Now crying wolf— Kevin Starkey (@Kevsfat) 12 June 2018
What happened to that 50 mil he got from his brother? Or wasn’t that enough?
— ????♂️ (@K_E_I_T_H_1_2_3) 12 June 2018
And if we do….Grealish stays?
— Pramit (@pramit177) 12 June 2018
No one knows outside of Xia. Everything else is fake news
— I’m Hard 4 Aston Villa (@Hard4AstonVilla) 12 June 2018
If this is the case then Tony just needs to sell to someone who can fund their plans without resorting to fire sales, loans, or selling stock. Sad but true.
— Son Lyme (@Son_Lyme) 12 June 2018
Verdict:
The fact that Xia will only sell the club outright if he receives an amount close to what he paid for the club in 2016 is concerning. It doesn’t look likely at the moment that a takeover offer would be close to the £80m plus he would want.
There is talk that one consortium may make their interest known before the end of the week, but it seems apparent that the owner is still trying to keep hold of the club by seeking smaller investors.
