The debate over the sale of Espanyol, currently in the hands of Rastar Group, is once again hovering over the environment of the white-and-blue entity following the publication of La Grada on the interest of an American investment group, which manages NBA, MLS and NFL clubs, to acquire the entity. According to the media, a letter of intent has been sent to the club’s offices to access the entity’s property, and the corporate area, with the permission of Chen Yansheng, has provided them with information about the economic situation of the club. An interest that, according to the aforementioned media, Chen Yansheng would be seriously valuing.
ARA has been able to confirm from club sources that there has been a consultation, but not that any firm proposal has been moved so far. In fact, according to ARA, Espanyol has between eight and ten contacts each year from various business groups interested in finding out about the club’s situation. The vast majority, however, do not end up going beyond the interest, so they do not make any offer to join the capital of the entity or to acquire a majority stake.
The bulk is not formal proposals, but simply contacts in which information is requested. Emissaries from these companies often come to the stadium, sometimes to watch a match, to talk to Rastar Group representatives at the club. This is a fairly common practice in the business world, but it rarely comes to light. Since Chen Yansheng’s arrival at Espanyol in late 2015, the Chinese leader has received dozens of such contacts. “It’s more people asking questions than specifics, a fact that already happened to Dani Sánchez Llibre and Ramon Condal before selling their shares to Chen,” recalls a person who had held a prominent position in the white organization chart. -blue a few years ago. “There are many intermediaries and alleged facilitators, but very few realities,” he said.
In the last two decades, Espanyol has been linked with companies from Mexico, the United States, Russia and the Middle East. However, Chen Yansheng, who currently owns 99.6% of the club’s share capital, valued at around 165 million euros, was the one who bet the most on the entity. The Chinese businessman has invested about 200 million euros to help clean up a club that, when he arrived, was close to bankruptcy. The current club scene, financially strengthened and back in Primera, makes it an attractive asset for investors. Chen has helped to revalue the heritage of a Spaniard who now aspires to grow in the sports field as well. Economically, the owner of Rastar has no need to sell the club, although he has once admitted that he would be willing to open up to potential investors who would be interested in buying a part of the club to boost its growth. According to various reports, Espanyol would have been valued at around 300 million euros, but the truth is that Chen has repeatedly insisted that he did not come to Espanyol to do business but to fulfill a dream he had since childhood , run a football club.
Experience in club management
This American investment group, in addition to having presented a significant financial solvency, has experience in the management of sports clubs. According to published information, there are mainly two families behind it. On the one hand, the DeVos, who in 1991 bought the NBA Orlando Magic franchise for about $ 85 million. On the other hand, there are the Wilfs, who in 2005 bought the Minnesota Vikings from the NFL (football) for about $ 600 million, and in 2021 they bought the Orlando City and the Orlando Pride for about $ 450 million. of dollars. Its chief executive is Zygmunt Wilf, a businessman who has made a fortune in real estate.
Born in Berlin, he is the son of a Polish Jewish couple who survived the Holocaust and emigrated to New Jersey in the 1950’s, where they began selling used cars. Half a century later, the family has built more than 25,000 single-family homes across the United States. However, his image was tarnished in 2013, when Zygmunt, his brother Mark and his cousin Leonard were found guilty of violating civil laws against organized crime and used fraudulent accounting practices to prevent two other business partners. they would receive their share of the revenue. The legal dispute was resolved years later with the payment of $ 32 million in compensation.