Thomas Zilliacus, a reported bidder for Manchester United, and his ties with Singapore

READERS of British newspapers have recently become acquainted with Thomas Zilliacus – reportedly among those bidding for English Premier League football club, Manchester United.

Others said to be in the running for the £5 billion (S$8.2 billion) club are British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim Hamad Al Thani, the chairman of Qatar Islamic Bank.

Currently, Manchester United is owned by the United States-based Glazer family.

Singapore’s investors, however, may associate Zilliacus with YuuZoo Networks – a Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed company that was suspended.

Zilliacus was chairman of YuuZoo, which was listed here in 2014, via the reverse takeover of a company called W. The latter had previously been a manufacturing company called Contel.

In an interview with The Business Times (BT) in November 2014, Zilliacus said that YuuZoo would offer its users “a complete experience in social networking, e-commerce and gaming”.

The company managed to post profits immediately after its listing, but its financials were under question shortly after.

In 2016, the company’s auditors issued a disclaimer of opinion over the company’s FY2015 financials. And in 2017, its financial controller refused to sign off on the company’s revenue recognition policies. YuuZoo filed a police report against its financial controller after he resigned.

The company later opted for a more conservative approach to its reporting, but also had to respond to various other criticisms.

YuuZoo ran through several auditors within its first few years of listing, as its auditors declined to seek reappointment. It also had difficulties holding annual general meetings on time, and retaining key members of management.

YuuZoo was also reprimanded by SGX for posting a research report it had commissioned on SGXNet, the listed company disclosure platform. The report gave a target price for YuuZoo’s stock that was many times over its share price at the time.

In March 2018, SGX served a notice of compliance on YuuZoo over its FY2017 results. YuuZoo was asked to explain certain errors, and its auditors were asked to provide a statutory opinion on various items.

A month later, YuuZoo disclosed it was under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department over possible breaches of the Securities and Futures Act. BT understands the probe continues.

Zilliacus resigned as the chairman of YuuZoo in April 2018, citing the investigation. Shares of YuuZoo have been suspended since 2018.

Prior to his association with YuuZoo, Zilliacus had occasionally been in the news as he was the Asia head of Finnish technology company Nokia.

In 1986, after his arrival in Singapore,Zilliacus helped to manage football club, Geylang United.

Since his resignation from YuuZoo, he has remained out of the spotlight. In December 2021, he reportedly listed his Sentosa Cove penthouse for S$13 million. It is unclear whether the property has been sold.

Now, he is making headlines once more.

On Thursday (Mar 23), Zilliacus said that he submitted a bid to buy Manchester United through XXI Century Capital, an investment firm he controls.

The Finnish national said his company will finance half of the sum needed to take over the club, with the remaining half paid for by Manchester United fans. These fans will be able to influence the club’s decision-making if his bid succeeds, Zilliacus said.

The self-described Manchester United “lifelong-fan” did not disclose how much he is willing to pay for the football club. But he said his bid is “on the same level” as the ones tabled by Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim, Manchester Evening News reported.