CBA club Shanxi Zhongyu to end ownership crisis

TAIYUAN, China - The eye-catching ownership crisis of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) club Shanxi Zhongyu, which lasted over half a year, will end soon, sources told Xinhua on Friday.

According to the sources, Shanxi Fenjiu Group, a listed wine corporation, had reached an agreement with Beijing Enterprises Group Co Ltd, the current biggest stakeholder of the basketball club, on the share transfer.

A press conference will be held on Saturday concerning the issue.

The crisis was made public at the end of April when Shanxi Zhongyu announced that the Beijing Group became its new owner. However, the ownership change has not got the approval from the Shanxi Provincial Sports Bureau, which, according to the CBA rules, is a prerequisite for a club to compete in the league.

Furthermore, the club's home ground move from Shanxi provincial captial Taiyuan to Beijing has also been pending.

Shanxi Fenjiu Group showed its willingness to take Shanxi Zhongyu at the early stage of the crisis, but the negotiations were very tough and got stuck for quite a long time.

On October 31, the CBA unveiled its 2013/14 season schedule in which the home ground for Shanxi Zhongyu is still Taiyuan.

Shanxi Zhongyu, a professional basketball team in the North Division of the CBA, is originally known as Henan Renhe due to corporate sponsorship from Henan Renhe Group. It moved its base from Henan province to Taiyuan in the 2006/07 season and used the name Shanxi Zhongyu from then on.

In January 2010, Shanxi Zhongyu signed former NBA star Stephon Marbury who is playing for Beijing Ducks now and won the league title with Beijing in 2012.