SEOUL/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese buyers including materials giant Amer International and CITIC Securities Co Ltd are readying a rival 246 million pounds ($305 million) bid for English soccer club Southampton, a person with knowledge of the plans told Reuters. The bid for the English Premier League side marks a potential challenge to an earlier planned acquisition by Lander Sports Development, which said in January that it was taking a stake in the club. Southampton, who are currently 11th in the Premier League, have been a model of success since being saved by the late Swiss billionaire Markus Liebherr in 2009. Liebherr's daughter Katharina is the Premier League club's current owner. ($1 = 6.8738 Chinese yuan renminbi)(1 British pound = 8.5496 Chinese yuan renminbi)($1 = 0.8043 pounds)(Reporting by Peter Rutherford in SEOUL and Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; additional reporting by Jackie Cai in SHANGHAI; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

Source: The Star February 23, 2017 03:03 UTC