XtraTime Web Desk: Manchester
City’s parent company City Football Group announced on Thursday that it had bought a
majority stake in Mumbai City FC, expanding its global empire of teams.
The Premier League club tweeted that CFG
was delighted to welcome the Indian club to its “family of clubs”.
“City Football Group (CFG) has agreed a deal to acquire a majority stake in its eighth club, Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League, marking a major move into Indian football,” the group said in a statement.
“CFG will become the 65 percent majority shareholder of the club, alongside existing shareholders, acclaimed actor and film producer, Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh who combined will hold the remaining 35 percent of shares.”
Other clubs in the CFG stable include New York City, Melbourne City, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan and Girona FC in Spain.
“We believe that this investment will deliver transformative benefits to Mumbai City FC, to City Football Group and to Indian football as a whole,” said CFG chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
“City Football Group is committed to the
future of football in India and to the potential for Mumbai City FC within that
future.”
Manchester City have won the Premier League
title four times since Abu Dhabi United Group, the investment vehicle owned by
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, took over the club.
They have enjoyed 11 successive years of
financial growth and earlier this month reported record revenue of £535.2
million (628.6 million euros) last season.
They are sitting third in the Premier League
table and reached the knockout stages of the Champions League on Tuesday.