Guochuan Lai

Guochuan Lai, (Chinese: 赖国传), born 1973/74) is a Chinese businessman. He is the controlling shareholder and director of Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited.^[1]

In July 2016, Lai agreed to purchase West Bromwich Albion F.C. from Jeremy Peace for a figure reported to be between £150m and £200m, appointing former Blackburn Rovers chairman John Williams as the new chairman of the club.^[2] The deal was completed on the 15th of September 2016.^[3]

Early life

Lai was born in Meizhou, Guandong in 1973/74. He served as General Manager of Palm Eco-Town Development Company Limited for over 20 years. He helped grow the company from a plant nursery into one of China's largest and most successful landscape development and construction companies. Lai stepped down from this role in 2014 to focus on private investment projects, yet retains a close link with Palm and remains director of a number of subsidiaries including Belt Collins International (HK) Limited, Palm Landscape (Hong Kong) Limited, Hangzhou Nanyue Palm Landscape Construction Limited and PALM Design Holding.^[4]

West Bromwich Albion

Lai's purchase of West Bromwich was led by Yuni Investment, an asset management company established in July 2014 that focuses on growth investment opportunities in sports, leisure and technology businesses. The holding company has three investment companies as its shareholders:^[5]

• Yunyiye (59% - controlled by Lai who provided the underlying equity to Yunyiye through a trust),
• Yunjin (23% - Yunjin is funded by funds introduced by Yunyi Investment)
• Yuntai (18% - The funds used by Yuntai to invest in the buyer were provided by Palm Eco-Town Development Company Limited).

References