The soccer team, hailed for including China’s marquee players, is one of many non-property businesses backed by Evergrande, China’s second-largest residential developer. Once a highly sought after business, bolstered by President Xi Jinping’s interest in the sport, the team attracted the backing of billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Billionaire Hui Ka Yan’s soccer club plans to delist from the nation’s over-the-counter market after Covid-19 hit revenue, dealing a further blow to the property mogul.
Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club Co., majority owned by China Evergrande Group’s main property unit onshore, said in a filing that a delisting will help the company adopt a new strategy and focus on its main business, without further elaborating. The company recorded four straight years of losses since its 2015 listing, and business suffered another setback in the first half of this year following the pandemic.
