Just recently, CMC leads an investment to acquire 13% of equity position of City Football Group with a price of US$ 400 million. The deal has already been completed.

City Football Group holds 100% of Manchester City Football Club, which was established at east Manchester in 1880. It was renamed formally as Manchester City Football Club in 1894. Up till now, it has won one European Cup Winners’ Cup, four League Championship titles, including two Premier League titles in the last three years), as well as five FA Cups.

As a world leading football management company, City Football Group also owns Australian A-League team Melbourne City, US Major League Soccer team New York City, as well as a minority shareholder of the Yokohama F. Marinos.

CMC Group was founded by SMG’s former president Mr. Li Ruigang, who acts as its chairman. Its founding parties include Alibaba, Tencent, Yuanhe Holdings, and CMC, etc. The Group has a planned capital of over 10 billion yuan, and covers three major fields of media and recreation, internet and mobility, and lifestyle. It is China’s most influential and comprehensive investment and operation platform focusing on media, recreation, sports and internet. It has a global perspective, and has a multiple of investment and operation entities both in USD and Chinese yuan.

This deal is led by CMC. Jingtian & Gongcheng is CMC’s PRC legal counsel, and provides legal advice and opinions to the key issues such as financing plans with various banks, and structure of co-investment plans by other investors. It is involved in the structural design of the domestic JV investment vehicle set up in Shanghai Free Trade Zone by CMC Group and Pudong Development Bank.