China's Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC announced last Thursday that the club has recently raised 869.36 million yuan (132 million U.S. dollars) by issuing 21.734 million shares on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ).

The deal, as announced, sees the CSL club valued at US$2.4 billion, which is very close to that of Premier League giant, Manchester United (US$2.53bn).

Evergrande Group, the largest shareholder of the club, currently holds 56.71% of the CSL club’s shares after the equity issues, while Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce giant, remains the club’s second largest stakeholder with 37.81% of shares.

The new investors paid RMB40 per share for their stakes, and a fund managed by Shenzhen's Foresea Kaynes Investment became Evergrande’s third largest shareholder with a 1.16% stake.

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC is a 5-time winner of the CSL and has just lifted the AFC Champions League last December.

Source: china.org.cn

Proofread by John Devlin.