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Agence France-Presse

China’s Tony Xia completed his takeover of relegated former Premier League side Aston Villa on Tuesday after passing the English Football League’s owners and directors test.
Xia, whose Chinese name is Xia Jiantong, purchased Villa last month for a reported US$87 million (HK$675.1 million) from American Randy Lerner and has pledged to restore the club to its former glory.
Villa have been English Champions seven times and won the old European Cup in 1982.
The 39-year-old had already made his first move in that direction by appointing Champions League winning coach Roberto di Matteo as the new manager.
“Aston Villa is delighted to confirm the sale of the club to Recon Group, owned by Dr Tony Xia,” read a statement on the Aston Villa website.
“The completion of 100 per cent ownership from Randy Lerner has been rubber-stamped by the Football League.
“Dr Xia has been informed he passed the owners and directors test and following the completion of paperwork today is now the club’s new owner and chairman.
“A new board will be appointed later this week.”
Villa were relegated for the first time in 29 years this past season amid acrimonious fan protests against their underperforming players and Lerner.
Meet Tony Xia Jiantong, the 40-year-old Chinese businessman who just bought soccer club Aston Villa for HK$683.5m
Tim Sherwood and Remi Garde were both sacked after disappointing spells as Villa’s manager over the last 12 months.
Lerner had been trying to sell Villa for two years and he finally found a buyer after slashing his asking price.
Fans will hope Xia now follows the lead of Thai-owned English champions Leicester City, rather than that of their city rivals Birmingham City, who were bought by a one-time Hong Kong hairdresser who was later jailed for money-laundering.
There have been some questions raised though about Xia’s takeover and whether he really did have the financial muscle to complete it.
Those questions revolved around his academic credentials and background as well as the extent of his business interests.
A native of Zhejiang, known as the cradle of private companies in China, Xia’s biography shows him to rule a vast corporate empire with interests ranging from health and new energy to financial services and tourism.
Is Xia Jiantong the man to save Aston Villa, or will fans be wishing Randy Lerner never left?
Recon has assets of more than Ұ100 billion, according to its website.
There are photographs of three highly-placed Communist Party luminaries including Chinese president Xi Jinping – when he was the regional Communist Party chief – visiting Xia’s companies, but no Chinese news reports could be found about these.
In any case, Xia was not identified in the pictures.
Announcing the sale back in May, Aston Villa said Recon “owns the controlling interest in five publicly listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges”.
The Recon website says the same, but only names one of the subsidiaries, Lotus Health Group.
It claims to be the world’s second largest producer of food additive monosodium glutamate but lost US$78 million last year, according to a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange, where it is listed.
“Life is a marathon and building a company is an endurance race as well,” Xia said in a posting on his microblog last year.
Fang Zhouzi, a prominent Chinese sceptic who operates a platform dedicated to exposing academic fraud such as plagiarism, questioned multiple Chinese reports that quoted Xia as claiming to be the youngest ever professor at Harvard.
In response, Xia said the media had exaggerated and he was only a professor’s assistant.
There is also confusion over his age. His verified Weibo microblog gives a birthday that would make him 39, but a listed unit’s annual report issued in April gave his age as 41.


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English Premier League 2015-16

New Aston Villa owner Tony Xia completes takeover after passing English Football League’s ‘fit and proper’ test

Xia Jiantong has officially completed the takeover of English Championship club Aston Villa.

The little known Chinese businessman Recon Group CEO Xia Jiantong during an interview about buying the British soccer club Aston Villa, in Beijing, Friday, May 20, 2016. Xia Jiantong, who goes by the English name Tony, told The Associated Press he intends to use cutting-edge management theory and sports science to bring Villa to the pinnacle of the European game, and then bring those lessons back to China. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Champions League to Championship: former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo takes over as Aston Villa manager

Roberto Di Matteo is expected to have his appointment as manager confirmed by Aston Villa when new owner Tony Xia formally takes charge. Photo: AFP

Football Soccer - Swansea City v Aston Villa - Barclays Premier League - Liberty Stadium - 19/3/16 Aston Villa manager Remi Garde arrives at the stadium Action Images via Reuters / Peter Cziborra Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

Chinese businessman Tony Xia agrees to buy Aston Villa for reported £60 million

Aston Villa fans hold up a banner calling for the departure of then chairman Randy Lerner. Photo: AFP

Britain Soccer Football - Aston Villa v Newcastle United - Barclays Premier League - Villa Park - 7/5/16 Aston villa fan with a sign in protest of owner Randy Lerner outside the stadium before the match Action Images via Reuters / Jason Cairnduff Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

** FILE ** Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner watches the team's football minicamp practice in Berea, Ohio in this June 13, 2005 photo. Lerner is set to take over Aston Villa after a rival group failed Thursday, Aug . 24, 2006, to match his bid to buy the Premier League soccer team. A group led by Michael Neville and Nicolas Padfield could not better the $118.8 million bid Lerner made Aug. 14 to buy Villa, one of the oldest teams in English soccer. Lerner would be the second American owner of a Premier League team, and the fourth foreign owner. Last year, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer took over at Manchester United, one of the most popular teams in the world. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

Is Xia Jiantong the man to save Aston Villa, or will fans be wishing Randy Lerner never left?

Xia Jiantong speaks during an interview with the Associated Press. Photo: AP

Xia Jiantong, the chairman of Recon Group, who has agreed to buy English soccer club Aston Villa, gets ready for an interview with Reuters reporters in his office in Beijing, China May 19, 2016. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

Aston Villa fans hold up a banner calling for the departure of Aston Villa's US chairman Randy Lerner during the English Premier League football match between Watford and Aston Villa at Vicarage Road Stadium in Watford, north of London on April 30, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. /

Aston Villa supporters protest against the club's plight in the streets ahead of the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Newcastle United at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on May 7, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Paul ELLIS / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. /

Sport

Football

Chinese businessman completes takeover of relegated Premier League side for reported US$87 million
