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Ousted Thai PM to delist Manchester City: lawyer
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand's ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra has gained effective control of Manchester City football club and will delist it from the stock exchange, his lawyer said Monday.
Thaksin will also nominate two Thai footballers to be recruited by the club, said Noppadon Pattama, Thaksin's de facto spokesman in Thailand.
"Thaksin has gained control with a 75 percent stake in Man City. The next stage is to delist the club from the stock market to become a completely private company," Noppadon told reporters.
Two of Thaksin's children -- Panthongtae and Pinthongta -- will be appointed as directors of Manchester City, he added.
The deposed premier last month launched the 162.6 million dollar takeover bid for Manchester City and has appointed former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson as the club's boss.
"Man City is going to recruit new players from Brazil, Sweden and Italy. Two Thai players will be also included in the nomination," said Noppadon. He declined to name any of the players.
The Assets Examination Committee (AEC), appointed by the military leaders who ousted Thaksin in a coup last September, has frozen 25 million dollars in accounts belonging to the Pramaisuri Property Company, linked to the Man City deal.
Pramaisuri was reported by British newspapers as holding a key stake in UK Sports Investments (UKSIL), the British-based company Thaksin set up to buy Manchester City.
But Noppadon said the asset freeze by Thai graft investigators will not affect his purchase which was "clean and legal."
The AEC last month blocked more than 1.5 billion dollars of Thaksin's assets as part of ongoing anti-corruption investigations into the ousted leader, who has lived in exile in London since the putsch.
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