The formal bid worth 162.6 million dollars was made by Thaksin's UK Sports Investments company and was backed by management at Manchester City.
LONDON: Thailand's ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, facing corruption charges at home, won acceptance on Thursday for an 81.6-million-pound bid for English Premiership football club Manchester City.
The formal bid, worth the equivalent of 121.5 million euros or 162.6 million dollars, was made by Thaksin's UK Sports Investments company and was backed by management at Manchester City, the boards said in a joint statement.
The takover offer came as Thai prosecutors in Bangkok laid formal criminal corruption charges against former prime minister Thaksin in the first case to reach court since a coup last year removed him from power.
Manchester City, which finished a disappointing 14th place last season in the Premiership, has become the latest English football team to attract takeover interest from abroad.
"This offer provides an exciting opportunity to take Manchester City to the next stage of our development and deliver the on-field success we have been striving for," Man City chairman John Wardle said.
If the bid for Manchester City is completed, eight Premiership clubs will be under foreign ownership -- including also Aston Villa, Chelsea, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and West Ham United.
"I am delighted that the board of Manchester City has recommended my bid for the club and I look forward to continuing the excellent work of John Wardle and his team," Shinawatra said.
"We share a determination to take the club back to its rightful place at the highest level of competition in both the Premier League and European football."
If Thaksin takes control at Man City, Wardle will remain on the board, while Alistair Mackintosh will stay as chief executive.
In Bangkok, meanwhile, Noppadon Pattama, Thaksin's lawyer and spokesman in Thailand, said that Thai police should deliver corruption charges to the former premier overseas, rather than demand the exiled leader return to Thailand.
Thaksin and his wife Pojaman were ordered to appear before police in Bangkok next week to face corruption charges over an alleged fraudulent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Thaksin has stayed in exile since the military toppled his government in September last year, staying mainly at his London home.
The Man City bid, pitched at 40.0 pence per share, represented a premium of 77.8 per cent to the closing share price on December 6, 2006, one day before Man City revealed it had received a takeover approach.
The offer is to be financed with 21.6 million pounds in cash and 60 million pounds in debt.
Pattama had said last week that Thaksin still had enough money to buy Manchester City, even after Thai authorities froze 1.5 billion dollars of his assets over corruption claims.
Before authorities froze his assets, Thaksin had already set aside about seven billion baht (210.6 million US dollars) to finance the purchase of Manchester City, according to Noppadon.
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