(Bloomberg) -- A Hong Kong-based professional services company said it has agreed to buy English Premier League soccer team Hull City for 130 million pounds ($159.5 million).
GreaterChina Professional Services Ltd.'s agreement is the latest foray into European soccer by China-focused companies. Companies from the region have been picking up teams in an unprecedented spending spree since President Xi Jinping announced in 2014 that soccer should be a major focus for the world's most populous nation.
GreaterChina said in a statement filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the agreement is not legally binding and hasn't been concluded. At least one other bidder is still interested in the club, according to a person familiar with the situation. Hull City saw a previous approach from a separate Chinese bidder collapse earlier this year.
Hull didn't reply to a request for comment.
GreaterChina, which describes its main businesses as asset appraisal and advisory work, advertising and financial services, said the proposed takeover would lead to business opportunities in China. GreaterChina plans to distribute and market Hull City products in the country, according to its statement.
Premier League
Developing a following in China would be a big leap for Hull, which is located in Yorkshire in northern England. The team returned to the Premier League this season from the second-tier English league, having reached the top flight for the first time in its history in 2008. Hull is in 16th place, two places and one point above the relegation zone, and it attracts crowds of around 21,000 per match.
Like most teams of its size, Hull's financial fortunes are determined by its participation in the Premier League and access to the most lucrative domestic television contract in soccer. This year, the last-placed team will get about 100 million pounds.
Hull City's owners, the Allam family, have been trying to sell the club for more than a year. Any sale agreement is subject to approval by the Premier League, which vets new owners for their suitability and funding sources. The league's questions to a previous bidder for Hull City contributed to the collapse of that deal, according to reports in the U.K.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net, David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Janet Paskin at jpaskin@bloomberg.net, Eric Pfanner, Kim Robert McLaughlin
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