Birmingham City: Seven parties interested in buying club

Birmingham City are 15th in the Championship with six matches to play

Birmingham City's holding company has confirmed seven parties are interested in buying the Championship club.

Birmingham International Holdings Ltd (BIHL), which owns the club, went into receivership in February.

In March, BIHL said there had been no "significant discussions" with any bidders and that selling the club remained a "last resort".

The receivers now say they intend to start negotiating with their preferred bidder "as soon as practicable".

In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the receivers said the discussions "may not lead to the making of a general offer for the shares of the company".

BIHL previously blamed "fractious and inharmonious relations within the management" for the decision to enter into receivership.

The Football League wrote to the club in January to seek clarity over former owner Carson Yeung's role.

Yeung was jailed for six years in March 2014 after being convicted of money laundering.

It later emerged that Yeung had requested to remove three of BIHL's directors and replace them with three people he had nominated.

Blues are currently 15th in the Championship table on 50 points, comfortably clear of the bottom three.