Chinese businessman Martin Lee "has hit the ground running" after buying A-League side Newcastle Jets this week, according to Michael Parris of the NEWCASTLE HERALD.
His Ledman Group representatives "are already working on having the Jets youth team’s friendly against Shandong Luneng under-19s at Magic Park on Friday night streamed live to 100,000 subscribers of the company’s new sports app in China."
Ledman "launched the 12th Man app in China last year." Lee is "in a hurry to get the word out in his homeland that he has acquired an A-League club." He has invited Football Federation Australia CEO David Gallop "to talk about his investment in the A-League at a press conference in Beijing on July 6, his management team are working on a Chinese-language version of the Jets website and the Jets squad will tour China in August." FFA sources said that Ledman’s status as a publicly listed company "meant the deal was subjected to 'unprecedented' scrutiny for an A-League club purchase."
The governing body’s bean counters "performed due diligence on Ledman, but the Chinese company also employed global professional services company Ernst & Young to conduct 'reverse' due diligence on the finances of the Jets and the A-League" (NEWCASTLE HERALD, 6/16).
