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| A Strategic Move to Advance Business Expeditiously into International Football Industry |
HONG KONG, Nov 2, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - GreaterChina Professional Services Limited ("GreaterChina Professional Services" or "the Group"; HK:8193), a fast-developing company since it listed on the Growth Enterprise Market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2011, is now one of the leading professional business service providers in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The Group provides various services including asset appraisal and asset advisory services, corporate services and consultancy services, media advertising services, and financial and mortgage services. Recently, the Group intends to expand its footprints to international football industry by announcing its proposed acquisition of Hull City Association Football Club ("Hull City A.F.C."), one of the football clubs competing in English Premier League ("EPL"), for business expansion and diversification of income sources.
 | | Mr. Ip Kwok Kwong, Executive Director and Managing Director of GreaterChina Professional Services, and Mr. David Yip, Executive Director, at today's press conference for the proposed acquisition of Hull City A.F.C. |
According to the announcement published by the Group dated 13 October 2016, the consortium formed by the Group has entered into Heads of Terms with Allamhouse Limited, the Vendor, regarding the proposed acquisition by which the Group intends to acquire the target group under the consideration with GBP130 million (approximately HK$1.27 billion). The target group carries on the business of professional football in EPL in the name of Hull City A.F.C..
Founded in 1904, Hull City A.F.C. is a professional association football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England with KCOM Stadium as its home. Its byname "Tigers" originates from its signature black and amber striped jerseys. Hull City A.F.C. was first promoted to EPL by winning the play-offs in 2007/08 Football League Championship ("The Championship"). In 2014, the club first competed in The Football Association Challenge Cup Final (FA Cup Final) and was then qualified for the coming UEFA Europa League. It was also the first time the club competed in European games as an EPL representative. Currently, Hull City A.F.C. is one of the 2016/17 Premier League clubs boasting high morale and strong competitiveness.
"The proposed acquisition of Hull City A.F.C. is a pleasure and great expectation to the Group. As a British famous football club aged more than a century, Hull City A.F.C. is a witness to milestones in both English and global football development. Besides, we believe that Hull City A.F.C. is a solid EPL club with great potential and huge room for development. In the last decade, Hull City A.F.C. managed to excel itself by extending its battlefield from the Championship to EPL. It even further competed in European games as an EPL representative. Hull City A.F.C. turns itself into a spotlight of international football by escalating from one peak to another. It is for such colossal potential that we intend to acquire Hull City A.F.C.," said Mr. David Yip, Executive Director of GreaterChina Professional Services Limited.
Besides competitiveness in games, the Group is also positive about the commercial values of both Hull City A.F.C. and EPL. For the year ended June 2015, Hull City A.F.C. recorded a revenue of GBP84 million with profits before tax increasing more than 30% year-on-year to GBP12 million. Also, according to the Annual Review of Football Finance 2016 published by Deloitte, EPL earns the highest annual income among the top 5 European leagues, amounted GBP3.3 billion in 2014/15, which was 83.9% more than Bundesliga, the second highest earner. Currently, EPL's revenue mainly comes from broadcasting rights, which represented 53% (GBP1.78 billion) of its total revenue in 2014/15. With the new broadcasting contracts coming into effect in the next 3 years, EPL is expected to earn GBP2.59 billion in 2016/17 from broadcast rights, representing a growth of 45.7% compared to 2014/15. The Group thus believes that ownership of the EPL club will open up numerous opportunities for the Group to expand and diversify its business and revenue streams, including admission tickets on games days, TV and radio broadcast, and various commercial revenues such as sponsorship, accessory products and related products.
Football is a highly popular sport in China. The Chinese government has set the goal of ranking the domestic football industry among world leaders. The Certain Opinions about Accelerating the Development of Sports Industry for Promotion of Sports Consumption promulgated in 2014 by the State Council set the goal of reaching RMB5 trillion in total sports production value by 2025. To reach the goal, the Chinese sports industry must achieve an annual growth of more than 20% in the next decade. The State General Administration of Sports officially promulgated the Thirteen Five-Year Plan for Development of Sports Industry in this July to encourage social force to join in the promotion of the sports industry. The Group hopes that the acquisition would create more unprecedented opportunities in media advertising and relevant areas, particularly extensive development in the Chinese sports industry and related sectors. It also hopes to cooperate with Chinese Super League clubs for promotion of football development in China.
Regarding the Group's future development, Mr. Ip Kwok Kwong, the Executive Director and Managing Director of GreaterChina Professional Services Limited said, "As one of the leading professional business service providers in Hong Kong and Mainland China, GreaterChina Professional Services maintains close business ties with various listed companies and enterprises. By leveraging our business resources and network, the expertise of marketing and media advertising, the Group has gained in Mainland China, and the consortium member's experiences in brand authorized operation, promotion management and sports operation and management, it is believed that more business cooperation can be boosted for Hull City A.F.C.. Following completion of the proposed acquisition, the Group could distribute and market Hull City A.F.C. products and apparels and the Group would in conjunction with this, consider to develop chainstore franchising, merchandising, media operations, all in line and complimentary with the current business of the Group, so as to generate a synergic effect to maximize brand value and the club's interests."
Looking forward, the Group's main goal will be helping Hull City A.F.C. to develop in Mainland market and intensify marketing opportunities. For the operation of the football club, the Group has no intention to interfere the club's operation after the acquisition, since the team members of the club have brought full play to their strengths under the existing establishment and effective leadership of the manager to bring the team to its top by beating various strong rivals. Instead, the Group will be a strong support by investing more in market promotion so that Hull City A.F.C. will keep its traditional characteristics and advantages, as well as strengthening its competitiveness.
The Group has always been exploring different new opportunities to bring favourable return to shareholders. The management believes that the acquisition will not only create more unprecedented opportunities in media advertising and relevant areas for the Group in China market, but also be an important move to fulfill the Group's goals of diversifying businesses and extending income sources. As always, the Group will endeavor to bring a better long-term return to shareholders as a reward to their support to the Group.
About GreaterChina Professional Services Limited
GreaterChina Professional Services Limited (Stock code: 8193) provides integrated professional services to listed and private companies and individual investors mainly in Hong Kong and the PRC, which services includes (i) asset appraisal and asset advisory, (ii) corporate services and consultancy, (iii) media advertising services, and (iv) financial services. The core business of asset appraisal and advisory services offer listed companies independent valuation service, sourcing and identifying investment targets for clients seeking investment opportunities, conducting evaluation and undertaking due diligence on various assets, and providing advice on business procedures and strategies. The corporate services and consultancy focus at corporate governance, internal control, corporate risk management, operations management and human resources advisory, and back office administration services. To realize diversification of income sources, the Group has extended its business into media advertising services in Chinese residential areas and financial services including loan business and gold trading business. Please visit http://www.gca.com.hk for more information.
For enquiry, please contact:
One PR Limited
Tel: +852 2592 8380
Email: inquiry@onepr.hk
Topic: Merger & Acquisition
Source: GreaterChina Professional Services Limited
Sectors: Daily Finance, Daily News
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From the Asia Corporate News Network
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