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Premier League side Crystal Palace is "being considered for a potential takeover by Double-Edged Sports (Desports), a Chinese marketing company that is looking to acquire another football club" after purchasing La Liga side Granada last year, according to Matt Hughes of the LONDON TIMES. Desports "has yet to make a formal bid, but intermediaries acting on behalf of Jiang Lizhang have approached" execs David Blitzer and Josh Harris about buying their 36% stake in the club. Lizhang "knows Blitzer and Harris through his involvement with the NBA" -- Desports has a stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves, while the Americans own the Philadelphia 76ers -- but it is "unclear whether they are looking to sell," having completed their investment at Selhurst Park in Dec. '15. Crystal Palace Chair Steve Parish also owns 18% of the club and has "made it clear that he does not want to sell." Shanghai-based Desports has become an "increasingly active investor in recent years after a decade spent acquiring broadcast rights" to int'l events to stream on its website (
LONDON TIMES, 4/29).
