It would seem the prestige of the English Premiership is strong enough to pull foreign investors to come into England. And the success of Leicester City in winning the Premiership is like adding fuel to the fire.
Chinese businessman, Dr Tony Xia, has bought relegated Aston Villa for £60 million. This is the second investment from the Chinese in the last one year. In December, a consortium of Chinese investors paid $400m for a 13 per cent stake in Manchester City.
With this 100% buyout, Dr Xia takes over the chairmanship from US billionaire Randy Lerner, who purchased the club in 2006 for £62.2m and first signalled his intention to sell in 2014.
In a statement from the club,
Randy Lerner has sought the right new owner for Aston Villa who would take great care of the Club and restore its fortunes. He believes that Tony Xia is an excellent choice.
Recon Group is Dr Xia’s privately owned holding company that owns the controlling interest in five publicly listed companies on the Hong Kong and Chinese stock exchanges and many other private companies employing 35,000 people in 75 countries.
Dr Xia played football as a striker until he finished at college and football has remained his passion. Dr Xia decided to buy an iconic football Club in England as the cornerstone of his Sports, Leisure and Tourism Division. He became a fan of Aston Villa many years ago and is delighted at the opportunity to become the new owner.
Dr Xia’s immediate objective is to return Aston Villa to the Premier League and then to have the Club finish in the top six, bringing European football back to Villa Park. He plans to make Aston Villa the most famous football Club in China with a huge fan base.
