China continues English soccer buying spree
Chinese investors have bought another English football team, West Bromwich Albion, just a month after acquiring Aston Villa, Wolves and taking a large stake in AC Milan, as part of an unprecedented spending spree in football. West Bromwich's outgoing chairman Jeremy Peace, who held an 88% stake in club, is selling to Yunji Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development.

The Shanghai-based investment group set to take control at West Bromwich Albion is understood to be happy to keep Tony Pulis in the manager’s chair as it endeavours to place the club in the top half of the Premier League table.

A Chinese takeover at The Hawthorns costing somewhere between £150m and £200m was announced on Friday when West Brom said that the chairman Jeremy Peace – who held an 88% stake in the club – had agreed to sell West Bromwich Albion Holdings, the club’s parent company, to Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited.

The group is headed by Guochuan Lai, a football-obsessed 42-year-old entrepreneur who has created his wealth on the back of China’s building boom. The deal, which was agreed in June, is subject to the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Premier League. Providing it is passed, West Brom will join their West Midlands neighbours, Aston Villa, Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in having Chinese owners.

It is believed that Lai – said to be “aching” to make regular flights from Shanghai in order to attend games at West Brom – has no plans to implement dramatic changes to the way things are run at The Hawthorns.

West Brom in China, 1978.

Although apparently anxious to make some exciting transfer market signings and build a successful team – the precise budget remains a closely guarded secret – he is said to be respectful of both the club’s traditions and its roots in the local community and will act on the advice of John Williams, the new chairman.

Formerly chief executive of Blackburn Rovers, Williams’s administrative skills are well respected in English football but part of his latest brief will be to help West Brom forge strong commercial links with China.

While the first-team squad have already been pencilled in for a pre-season Chinese tour next summer, some of West Brom’s younger players and coaching staff could well find themselves loaned to clubs in Shanghai and beyond. Meanwhile the scouting network will be expected to identify youthful talent in China before importing it to The Hawthorns.

“I am excited and privileged to have the chance to become the new owner of this great club,” Lai said. “My immediate priorities will be to maintain the club’s stable structure, respecting its well-run nature and its heritage. I have no intention of changing the club’s ethos.

“There are already strong links between China and West Bromwich Albion, which began with a historic tour to China in May 1978 when the club accepted an invitation from the Chinese government and became the first English club to tour China in modern history. I am proud that I will be the first mainland-Chinese owner of a Premier League club.

“This historic deal will result in a rapid and significant increase in interest in the club in China, which should lead to attractive commercial opportunities. Meanwhile the club will be uniquely positioned to take its well-regarded training system to China, helping to identify and develop more talented young players in the future.”

Peace offered similarly reassuring words: “I believe this deal will enable Albion to build on the strong, sustainable foundations that have been the cornerstone of the club’s progress,” the outgoing chairman said. He will step down to an advisory role for the 2016-17 season after 16 years spent on the board where his position goes to Williams.

West Brom’s website offers a summary of Lai’s cv: “Guochuan Lai built his career assisting with the development of Palm Eco-Town Development Company Limited (‘Palm’) from a plant nursery business into China’s largest landscape design and construction company with operations throughout China and in other countries. It is listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange with a market capitalisation of £1.8bn.

“The buyer is a new company, focused on the sports industry, formed for the purpose of completing the acquisition. It is controlled by Guochuan Lai, who has provided the underlying equity for the acquisition, together with Palm and funds introduced by Yunyi Investment, a regulated asset management company, which led the negotiations on behalf of the buyer.”

It all seems very much part of a West Midlands trend with Wolves being bought last week by China’s Fosun international while businessman Tony Xia completed his takeover of Villa in June.

Pulis, meanwhile, can only trust Lai really is minded to offer him a prop er chance and refrains from following the example of Fosun who had no sooner pledged their support for Kenny Jackett at Molineux than they replaced him, making the former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga their new manager.