Evergrande Group chairman Xu Jiayin (L) and Alibaba Group founder and chairman Jack Ma. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC was able to raise funds of up to $132 million (¥869.36 million) after the team issued shares on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) market of China.
The announcement was made via an official statement from the club on Thursday, as reported by China Daily.
Previously, real estate conglomerate Evergrande Group owns 60 percent of the China top-flight football club while e-commerce company Alibaba Group has the remaining 40 percent. After the issuance of 21.734 million shares, Evergrande now owns 56.71 percent of the team and Alibaba has 37.81 percent left, as per Shanghai Daily.
Shenzhen's Foresee Kaynes Investment became the club's third biggest shareholder, valued at 1.16 percent, after the firm obtained 4.59 million shares during the offer.
Guangzhou Evergrande was officially listed to the NEEQ, an extra market option for smaller companies to go public if not in the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges, in November of last year.
The club was able to raise $402 million (¥2.65 billion) not long after as it issued about 66.2 million shares in the said market.
Aside from becoming one of China's most lucrative professional sports teams, the Southern China Tigers have also become one of the winningest. Guangzhou has been the CSL champions for five straight years since season 2011 and has won the AFC Champions League twice since 2013.
The team also placed fourth in the 2015 Club World Cup held last month in Japan after falling to FC Barcelona in the semifinals, 0-3, and surrendering a 1-2 match for third place against Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
