City Football Group (CFG), which owns Manchester City, have announced a £265 million (€376 million) investment from a Chinese consortium that buys it a 13 per cent stake and values CFG at €2.8 billion.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, CFG chairman, said this will “leverage the incredible potential that exists in China”.
The move from CFG is the latest step in its strategy to have a global presence. In addition to City, CFG owns New York City FC, a start-up MLS franchise, and Melbourne City FC, of Australia’s A-League, plus it retains a minority shareholding in Yokohama F Marinos of the Japanese J-League.
Hugely exciting
Al Mubarak said: “Football is the most loved, played and watched sport in the world and in China, the exponential growth pathway for the game is both unique and hugely exciting. We have therefore worked hard to find the right partners and to create the right deal structure to leverage the incredible potential that exists in China, both for CFG and for football at large.”
The move comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the club during a four-day state visit to Britain in October. During Xi’s visit, the former City defender Sun Jihai, who made 130 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2008, was inducted to the Manchester-based National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame. He was also appointed a club ambassador in China in September.
A statement on City's website said: "City Football Group today announced a partnership with a consortium of high profile Chinese institutional investors led by China's leading media, entertainment, sports and internet dedicated investment and operating company CMC [China Media Capital] Holdings.
“The deal will create an unprecedented platform for the growth of CFG clubs and companies in China and internationally, borne out of CFG’s ability to provide a wealth of industry expertise to the rapidly developing Chinese football industry.”
Potential
Al Mubarak added: “Our partners have an incredible track record of creating value and could not be better placed to help us further evolve City Football Group. Our belief is that we now have an unrivalled platform to grow CFG, our clubs and companies both in China and internationally and we will be working hard with our new partners to realise the potential that this deal creates.”
CFG stated that the deal followed more than “six months of discussions among the parties to find the optimum model and associated strategies for the partnership.”
The monies generated will be used by CFG to “fund its China growth, further CFG international business expansion opportunities and further develop CFG infrastructure assets.” CFG said work “China-based initiatives” are already being examined for potential investment. Guardian Service
