This from today's Indie:
An Indonesian billionaire who made his fortune from cigarettes is the owner of a secretive gambling firm that hopes to becomes Manchester United's new shirt sponsor, an industry source has told The Independent.
According to the source, Putera Sampoerna, a 58-year-old tycoon with personal assets estimated at upwards of £1.5bn, hopes that having the name of his Gibraltar-based online company, Mansion, on United's shirts, will aid the company's international growth, especially in the Far East.
"The Far East market is the holy grail in the gambling business," the source said. "There's huge potential there and United are seen as a way in."
United launched a dedicated Chinese-language version of their website last year, and envisage that gambling-related revenues will help to increase the club's profitability in the next few years.
Mansion is among "three of four" companies in negotiations with United, a source at Old Trafford has confirmed. The firm has reportedly tabled a bid worth £15m-a-year to become United's shirt sponsor. The deal, if completed, would be worth £60m over four years to United, smashing the British record currently held by Chelsea, whose deal with Samsung is worth £11m a year.