Hong Kong investment company in talks for Wigan Athletic Football Club
A Hong Kong investment specialist is in talks to buy Wigan Athletic Football Club.
International Entertainment Corporation is a Hong Kong-based investment holding company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The group is principally engaged in hotel management and the leasing of properties for casino and ancillary leisure and entertainment purposes.
The transaction is subject to approval from the English Football League and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Founded in 1932, Wigan Athletic is a well-established football club with a long history.
It has just achieved promotion from the English Football League Division One and will play in the Championship next season.
In 1995, David Whelan bought a stake in Wigan Athletic Football Club and, during the next 10 years, oversaw the club’s promotion from the fourth tier of the football league to the Premier League.
Wigan Athletic enjoyed eight years in the top flight Premier League, which culminated in it winning the FA Cup in 2013.
Law firm Squire Patton Boggs is advising on the acquisition by International Entertainment Corporation of Wigan Athletic Football Club from the Whelan family. The Squire Patton Boggs team advising International Entertainment Corporation is led by corporate partner and football M&A expert David Hull, assisted by corporate associate Annie McElwain.
Mr Hull said: “We are delighted to act for International Entertainment Corporation on this major cross-border investment, which underlines the continued interest in English football among overseas buyers, particularly from Asia Pacific, where the sport is expanding at an exciting pace.”
The transaction is one of a number of football club deals completed by Squire Patton Boggs in recent years. The firm advised Bridgemere UK plc and Mr Steve Morgan OBE, shareholders of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, on the sale of the club to Fosun International Ltd and advised on the sale of Aston Villa FC, acting for former owner and long-standing client Randy Lerner.
The Whelan family was advised by DLA Piper, led by Manchester-based corporate partner Jonathan Watkins, assisted by associate Robert Sissons.
Watkins added: “We are delighted to have acted for the Whelan Family on the sale of Wigan Athletic to International Entertainment Corporation. This marks the culmination of a 20 year journey with the club having worked with the family since they first invested in the club in 1996.”
