Grasshopper Club Zurich’s Chinese owner is considering a sale of the Swiss football team, people with knowledge of the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Grasshopper Club Zurich’s Chinese owner is considering a sale of the Swiss football team, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Jenny Wang, the wife of billionaire Fosun International Ltd. founder Guo Guangchang, is working with advisers at Moelis & Co. to informally gauge interest from potential buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Grasshopper Club Zurich, one of the country’s oldest football teams, was founded in 1886. It currently ranks 7th place in Switzerland’s Super League after winning promotion in May 2021 and averages around 7,000 spectators per game at a stadium it shares with hometown rival FC Zurich, according to data provider transfermarkt.com.
The team has won the Swiss Championship 27 times, most recently in 2003. Any divestment would mark the latest pullback by a Chinese owner from overseas sports investments.
Last month, Fosun executive Bill Pan joined the board of the club, which pledged to come up with a plan for the coming season and beyond to build on a secure financial foundation and ensure it’s “once again be perceived as a football club that honors its great and successful heritage.”
Champion Union HK Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong investment vehicle linked to Wang, bought a 90% stake in Grasshopper Zurich in 2020 when it was playing in Switzerland’s second division. Her husband, who built Fosun into one of China’s best-known conglomerates, has also made a number of sports investments including English Premier League football team Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.
Moelis previously advised on the forced disposal of Chelsea FC by sanctioned Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Deliberations are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said.
Representatives for Grasshopper Club Zurich and Moelis declined to comment.
–With assistance from Shirley Zhao.
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