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Jack Ma Yun, right, Chairman of Alibaba Group, and Xu Jiayin (Hui Ka Yan), Chairman of Evergrande Group, pose at the listing ceremony for shares of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club in Beijing, China, 6 November 2015. China s real estate giant Guangzhou Evergrande and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group listed their soccer club Evergrande Taobao, former Asian Champions League winners, on Friday (6 November 2015) in what is a first for a football team in the region. Launched on the system National Equities Exchange and Quotations , the club was listed on China s so-called New Third Board for small enterprises. The listing of Evergrande Taobao will further strengthen its corporate governance structure and enhance the liquidity of its equity interest, thus facilitating the introduction of strategic investors, promotion of corporate image and realization of sustainable development,¡± Evergrande said earlier. Alibaba paid US$192 million for a stake in the club in 2014 while Guangzhou Evergrande owns 60 percent of the club. Evergrande, Alibaba list joint football club to become first in Asia 20151106_32303
--FILE--New head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari of China s Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC attends a press conference PK Pressekonferenz for the 16th round match of the 2015 Chinese Football Association Super League in Shijiazhuang city, north China s Hebei province, 28 June 2015. Evergrande Taobao, the soccer team co-owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and property firm Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd, could become the first club listed in Asia after it filed for an initial public offering in China. The team, which recently signed Brazilian World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, filed with the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) to list on the so-called New Third Board, Evergrande said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday. The company gave no size for the planned listing, which is pending approval by the NEEQ that operates China s leading over-the-counter (OTC) equity exchange. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba last year agreed to pay $192 million for half of the team, just months ahead of the company s record-breaking IPO in the United States. The deal was hatched over a few drinks between co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma and Evergrande s billionaire Chairman Xu Jiayin. Alibaba, Evergrande-owned soccer club files for China IPO in Asian first pbu296056_05
Marcello Lippi, second right, head coach of Guangzhou Evergrande FC, Xu Jiayin (Hui Ka Yan), sixth right, Chairman of Evergrande Real Estate Group, Cai Zhenhua, seventh left, Deputy Director of the General Administration of of China, Wei Di, fifth right, head of the Chinese Football Association, Jenny Lang Ping, third left, head coach of Guangdong Evergrande Volleyball Club, and other guests attend the opening ceremony of the new term at Evergrande Football School in Guangzhou city, south Chinas Guangdong province, 9 October 2012. Italian football coach Marcello Lippi got a new title on Tuesday (9 October 2012) months after he became the head coach of Chinas Guangzhou Evergrande FC. Lippi was named president of Evergrande Football School which is sponsored by Chinese real estate developer Evergrande Group. Lippi named president of Evergrande Football School 20121009_35293
