03.11.2015 07:24 h

Chinese group says will own 80% of Espanyol

A Chinese model car maker has agreed to buy a stake in debt-laden La Liga side Espanyol and will end up owning more than 80 percent of the Barcelona club, the company said on Tuesday.

Rastar Group struck a deal with two of the club's key shareholders to acquire between 45.1 and 56 percent of Espanyol at 78 euros ($85.90) per share, it said in a statement.

Rastar will inject up to 45 million euros into Espanyol after the acquisition, taking the total cost to around 64 million euros, it added.

Rastar board secretary executive Yang Nong told AFP in China on Tuesday that the cash injection will take the form of a new share issue by Espanyol, and the deal will ultimately leave the company owning "more than 80 percent" of the club.

Barcelona-based Espanyol are currently in 10th place in La Liga. The club, which is perennially overshadowed by city rivals and European champions Barcelona, is struggling with debts to the tax office and some suppliers.

Rastar Group chairman Chen Yansheng said his priority is to clean up the club's finances.

"The main problem that the club faces is financial, we have known that since the beginning. People don't need to worry, we are completely confident that we will be able to solve it and be able to grow together with the club," he said in an interview published in Barcelona-based daily newspaper Sport.

The company announced in a statement in Barcelona that it would lend Espanyol 12 million euros to help it settle its debt with Spain's tax office.

Chen did not rule out that Espanyol, founded in 1900 just a year after Barcelona, could make it to the Champions League.

"The Champions League? The great thing about football is that anything can happen, if it was not like that there wouldn't be so many fans. We will see with time," he said.

The deal is the latest example of the rising influence of the Asian market in Spanish football.

Earlier this year China's Wanda Group bought a 20 percent stake in 2014 La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

Singaporean businessman Peter Lim is the major shareholder in Valencia.

Rastar Group was formed as a plastic products manufacturing firm in 1995, and became one of China's largest producers of remote-control cars.

The company is based in Shantou in China's southern province of Guangdong, and its statement was made to the Shenzhen stock exchange, where it is listed.

As well as model cars, the firm also makes car seats and toys, and is an Internet game developer.

The two Espanyol shareholders that signed the agreement with Rastar, former Espanyol president Daniel Sanchez Llibre and his company Tevimore, directly own only a small part of the club but have promised to secure the shares due from other holders, Yang said.

Under the deal, Rastar will buy a further five percent of the club within four years at the same terms.

Llibre is "the real controller of the club" and his influence was "big enough to actually control more than half of the shares", Yang added.

"We are confident as he thinks there is no problem," he said.

Llibre, who served as Espanyol president between 1997 and 2011, said the deal was "an opportunity that you could not let get away."

"With the situation we were in, it would be very difficult to spread our wings. With Rasta Group there is a guarantee of stability and an impressive project. We will be among the four or five top teams in La Liga," he told a news conference at Espanyol's stadium.

Espanyol won the Spanish Cup four times -- in 1929, 1940, 2000 and 2006 -- but have never won the league title. The club finished the 2014/15 season in 10th place.