Thomas Zilliacus, better known in Singapore as the former chairman of YuuZoo Corp, has thrown in his hat to buy Manchester United.

 

In an interview with UK paper The Mirror, Zillacus outlined a &ldquo fan ownership&rdquo model, which he says will be &ldquo appealing&rdquo to the supporters of one of the world&rsquo s most famous soccer club.

 

&rdquo Any sport club ultimately should belong to its fans. The current development, where billionaire sheiks and oligarchs take over clubs and control them as their personal playgrounds is not a healthy trend,&rdquo he says.

 

NYSE-listed Manchester United has a market value of just below US$4 billion.

 

In his proposed bid, Zilliacus plans to pay half the amount needed to buy over the club. He will then ask fans to chip in the other half.

 

Man U, as the Old Trafford-based club is popularly known, is one of the most popular sports brands in the world and reportedly has a fan base of more than 600 million worldwide.

According to Zillacus, if every fan chips in, they would be paying less than US$6 each. &ldquo My bid is built on equality with the fans,&rdquo he says.

 

Zilliacus proposes to finance half the cost and ask the fans to pay the other half, which works out to less than US$3 each if each of them participates.

 

&ldquo Each fan who joins will have access to an app which the fan, from anywhere in the world, can use to participate and cast his vote when deciding on footballing matters relating to the club. No decisions will be taken that are not supported by a majority of the fan base,&rdquo he tells The Mirror.

 

According to The Mirror, Zilliacus, has been chairman of Finland&rsquo s 32-times football champions HJK. He is also owner of Finland&rsquo s 6-times ice hockey champions Jokerit.

 

The Glazers family, current owners of Man U, are reportedly asking for £ 6 billion.

 

According to The Mirror, interests have been indicated by Jim Ratcliffe, founder of chemicals group INEOS, and UK&rsquo s richest man. Qatari businessman Sheikh Jassim is keen as well.

 

Zilliacus, who used to head corporate communications for Nokia, founded YuuZoo Corp and listed the company on the SGX back in 2014.

 

He quit in 2018 following probes by the Commercial Affairs Department, &ldquo caused by a complaint from an unknown party&rdquo .

 

&ldquo While he is convinced nobody in the Company has done anything wrong, he has informed the Board he believes the honourable thing to do is to step aside while the investigation is ongoing,&rdquo said YuuZoo in its April 27 announcement.

 

SHAREHOLDERS of social media company YuuZoo Networks Group - which has been under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for possible breaches of the Securities and Futures Act since 2018 - has requested the company board to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) " as soon as possible" , YuuZoo Shareholders Association (YSHA) announced on Monday (Jan 17).

 

In its letter, the YSHA called for the board meeting to get the company' s trading suspension lifted, elect a new board, and restart operations. Previously named YuuZoo Corporation, the company has been under mandatory suspension since March 19, 2018.

 

The Singapore Exchange-listed company last requested to lift its trading halt on Oct 24, 2019, according to regulatory filings. It was YuuZoo' s third such request, stating that the suspension was " unjustified and deeply damaging to YuuZoo shareholders" .

 

The association, which is open to all share and option holders, also raised the issue of electing a new board, restarting operations, possible refinancing and changing the company name.

 

" In view of the travel restrictions that still are in place because of the global pandemic, YSHA wants the EGM to be held as an online event open to all shareholders," it said.

 

YSHA members are from Europe, USA, Australia and Asia, representing more than 1/3 of outstanding shares and options.

 

" Social media company YuuZoo Networks Group (YNG) on Thursday said that  the contract it had signed for the Nordic  Sport Town project in Harbin, China has been lost as a result of YuuZoo' s inability to raise funds, due to the continued share trading suspension and the misuse of company funds  by a former employee.

In December 2017, YuuZoo had announced that it had signed a framework agreement  with Chinese state-owned Harbin Water Investment Group, which manages  and controls all water-linked land in Harbin, China.

Under the framework agreement, YuuZoo agreed to develop a 85 hectares large  river-fronting area in Harbin. "