England: Aston Villa FC bought by Chinese-owned Recon Group (Tony Jiantong Xia) for £60m

100% of the shares of Aston Villa FC (2015-16 in the Premier League, 2016-17 in the Championship), which were held by the American Randy Lerner, have been sold to the Chinese company Recon Group, owned by Tony Jiantong Xia, announced the club on 18/05/2016. Once the agreement is ratified by the Premier League and the Football League, Tony Jiantong Xia will become chairman of Aston Villa. Transaction amount: £60m (€78m), according to British media on 18/05/2016.

Randy Lerner instructed Bank of America Merrill Lynch to find a buyer for Aston Villa on 12/05/2014. The American had acquired the West Midlands club from Doug Ellis in August 2006 for £62.6m (€93.3m at the time). In May 2015, when no buyer had been found, Randy Lerner reiterated his intention to sell Aston Villa, while announcing that he would step down as president of the club as soon as possible. He eventually left the presidency on 14/01/2016, replaced by Steve Hollis (UK), president of the Birmingham Metropolitan College, until the sale.

"Tony is certainly a hugely successful businessman but importantly for me he is…