Media: Wang buys Atletico Madrid

Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in La Liga champions Atletico Madrid, Spanish media said yesterday.

Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Wanda, speaks at a news conference for the opening a Wanda movie park in Wuhan, Hubei province, December 20, 2014. [Photo/Agencies] 

The deal with Wang, who controls the Dalian Wanda Group conglomerate and is a keen soccer fan, will be announced in Beijing tomorrow, according to the reports in sports dailies Marca and As.

Wang has a net worth of US$13.2 billion, Forbes magazine said in October, putting him fourth on China’s rich list after he topped the ranking the previous year.

His investment in Atletico is worth around 40 million euros (US$46.34 million), Marca and As said, without identifying the source of their information. Wanda has called a news conference tomorrow but did not provide further details.

The club has declined to comment on the Wang deal when contacted by Reuters and a spokesman could not immediately be reached yesterday.

Atletico would be the latest La Liga team to attract significant investment from outside Spain following the likes of Malaga and Valencia.

Malaga was bought out by a member of the Qatar royal family in 2010, while Singapore billionaire Peter Lim recently took a majority stake in Valencia.

Real Madrid and Barcelona, the world’s richest clubs by income, have lucrative deals with investors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Atletico’s recent success on the pitch has made Madrid’s second club an attractive partner and they already have a deal with Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei and a shirt sponsorship agreement with the Azerbaijan tourist board.

Like many Spanish clubs, they have struggled to keep their finances under control in recent decades while striving to stay competitive, racking up debts of over 500 million euros.

With the future looking brighter, however, they have ambitious plans and are looking to move from their crumbling Calderon stadium to a new 70,000-capacity arena at La Peineta near the main airport in a couple of years.

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