Southampton have announced that Sport Republic has bought Gao Jisheng’s controlling stake in the club.
The Chinese businessman has been seeking to sell his 80 per cent share for close to two years and has now completed a deal with the London-based investment firm.
Sport Republic want to operate a multi-club model, and Southampton are their first acquisition.
They were founded by Henrik Kraft and Rasmus Ankersen, Brentford’s former co-director of football, and are backed by Dragan Solak, a Serbian-born businessman who is the founder of United Group.
Solak said: “My partners and I have experience in long-term investments in the sports and entertainment industry and Sport Republic has been founded to combine this expertise and deliver something unique to the market. Southampton has so many of the qualities we have been looking for in a major sports organisation.
“It has a great management team, excellent talent development, talented teams playing attractive football and a dedicated fan base. We are delighted to be able to complete this acquisition as a first step towards the execution of our investment strategy. Southampton will be a cornerstone of the organisation we plan to build.”
Katharina Liebherr retains her 20 per cent share in Southampton and Martin Semmens will continue in his role as the club’s chief executive.
