ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:UNTIL YESTERDAY, few in Britain would have heard of Jianhua "Kenny" Huang, the Chinese-born businessman now bidding for Liverpool. But then, few in China or the US knew of the sports entrepreneur before he launched an ambitious $70m (€54.3 million) bid to buy a stake in an NBA team 15 months ago.
Chinese media have reported he was born in 1964 in southern Guangdong province and was said to have been an outstanding badminton player in his youth.
But he has made headlines by combining his love of sport and knowledge of his homeland with American business experience – honed at the New York Stock Exchange, as the first Chinese graduate employed there.
He graduated from his hometown’s Zhongshan University before moving to the US to study at Columbia University and then complete a masters degree at St John’s. He reportedly speaks Japanese as well as Mandarin, Cantonese and English.
Unlike previous high-profile foreign bidders for English teams, he is not known as a tycoon. He does not seem to appear on Chinese rich lists and the extent of his personal wealth is unclear. Instead, he has established himself as a deal-maker – this bid is backed by a sovereign wealth fund.
Huang’s first notable forays into the sporting world came when he cut deals to market the Houston Rockets and New York Yankees to Chinese businesses. Given the vast appetite for basketball among young people in China – there are said to be as many as 300 million fans – it was an obvious match.
But he grabbed attention when he led a Chinese investment group to buy a 15 per cent stake in the NBA team the Cleveland Cavaliers last year in a deal said to be worth €54.3 million. Months later, he underlined his ambitions with a preliminary deal to take over the Jilin Northeast Tigers, part of the Chinese Basketball Association.
His Hong Kong-based QSL Sports company has announced a 15-year agreement to help develop a youth baseball team in China, investing several million dollars to raise the profile of the sport.
"It seems like he is trying to piece together a one-man-created sports empire: baseball, basketball, football; the US, England and China," Maggie Rauch, editor of the China Sports Todayblog, said.
“The industry perception is that they are keeping an eye on this guy and seeing what he is up to. So far, he has maybe done more talking than doing as far as building anything here in sports goes.”
But Marc Ganis, president of the US consulting firm Sportscorp, who has worked with the businessman on several ventures, said last year: “Huang is a guy with real vision but also the ability to make it a reality.”
Huang is managing director of Rocket Capital – the investment platform he launched with Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets – which focuses on emerging markets, particularly China. Its investments include the China Railway Group, the carmakers Brilliance Auto, the Xinjiang Xinxin Mining Industry Company and the Longrun Tea Group.
Dividing his time between Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and the US, he appears as well-connected in the world of Chinese business and government as he is in sporting circles.
A biographical note on the website of Aspen Infrastructure – where he is a director – describes him as “one of the most accomplished business executives partnering with some of the largest state-owned enterprises in China”.
Despite his ambition and his attention-grabbing investments, he has shunned the limelight, giving few press conferences. The British company he has hired to handle media inquiries was unable to confirm the year of his birth or if he was an American citizen.
Whether his bid succeeds, he is unlikely to be the last businessman from China to seek to buy a well-known British team.
“It’s just a matter of time before a Chinese entrepreneur buys one of the big football clubs,” Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun rich list, said.
The petrochemicals tycoon Xu Ming, who owns Dalian Shide, was linked to Leeds at one stage; the property developer Xu Rongmao was rumoured to be interested in Newcastle; and some predicted a Chinese bid for Crystal Palace after the club picked up players from Shanghai.
Indeed, Liverpool have previously been linked to another businessman from China – the multimillionaire gaming entrepreneur Zhu Jun, who reportedly held exploratory buyout talks with Barclays Capital.
Meanwhile, Joe Cole admits he is relishing the prospect of linking up with Fernando Torres at Liverpool.
“One of the main reasons I came to Liverpool was because I wanted to play with these great players and I’m going to work every day to make Fernando as many chances as I can,” Cole said. “I’ve been watching the way he plays ever since he came to the club and, the season before last, he was the best striker in the world, without a shadow of a doubt.
“I love playing with strikers who play on the shoulder of the last defender. The best striker I played with at Chelsea was (Hernan) Crespo; his movement was absolutely unbelievable.
“I had a good relationship with him and hopefully I will be able to have that kind of relationship with Fernando. My job is to make chances for the front men and I can’t wait to play alongside him.”
Christian Poulsen has not received any contact about a possible move to Liverpool, according to the player’s agent. The Denmark international has long been linked with a transfer to Merseyside, where he could be used as a possible replacement for Javier Mascherano.
“I’ve also read the voices on newspapers but I can’t comment on the rumours,” said Joern Bonnesen. “I have not heard from anyone from Liverpool.”
- GuardianService
