Alibaba to gain brandvantage with soccer club deal

The capital injection from Alibaba represents a huge increase in value for the Guangzhou club, which the real estate developer bought in 2010 for 100 million yuan.

Xu Jiayin, chairman of Evergrande Real Estate Group, said the partnership with Alibaba was the company's strategic plan to introduce new capital to the club.

"It's the first step to expand the club's capital. We will bring in more shareholders and look for a public listing in the near future," Xu said.

After the capital injection from Alibaba, the club will issue new shares and invite 20 more strategic partners to each take a 2 percent stake in the expanded shareholding, eventually reducing Alibaba's and Evergrande's stakes to 30 percent each.

"We are building a club with a long history by introducing more partnerships, which will eventually provide solid financial support to the club's long-term development," Xu said.

Zhang said Evergrande's introduction of partnerships was part of its effort to spread risks in the soccer industry, as most Chinese clubs currently do not make profits from the sector. "After years of involvement in the soccer industry, Evergrande can't just rely on its own investment to boost the club's strength. It needs to team up with more investors to discover market potential and share market risk," Zhang said.

Alibaba scores share in soccer giant	Alibaba preps employees for $40b windfall