A consortium of Chinese institutional investors have paid $400 million for a 13 percent stake in the company that operates Manchester City, which was previously wholly owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).
The deal, which will see new shares issued as well as the ones held by ADUG, values City Football Group (CFG) at $3 billion.
The consortium is led by China Media Capital (CMC) Holdings, and also includes CITIC Capital, China’s largest brokerage. In a statement, CFG said the capital from the share expansion would be used to fund its growth in China, as well as expanding its infrastructure and other international interests. CMC chairman Ruigang Li is taking a place on the CFG board, which will now expand to seven members.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the chairman of CFG said in the statement, “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.”
Sheikh Mansour, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and Minister of Presidential Affairs, bought Manchester City in 2008. After investing in a series of high-profile players, Manchester City has since won two Premiership titles, in 2012 and 2014. However the club has yet to break through to the latter stages of The Champions League Europe’s foremost tournament which is seen as a benchmark of success.
