Lander Sports Development To Fund 4B Yuan Sports 'Town' In China

Lander Sports Development, the Chinese firm behind an "on-off deal" for Premier League side Southampton, signed an agreement to develop a 4B yuan ($589M) sports "town" with a local government in China, according to Adam Jourdan of REUTERS. The "sports and recreation hub would be built in the western city of Pengzhou with the local government," Lander said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Lander, "with potential partners," will fund the investment. The Chinese stadium builder said in April that it was, "for now at least, terminating plans to buy a stake" in Southampton, citing "uncertain factors wrought by changes in China's securities market and policies." Industry sources, however, said that a deal for the club "was not completely dead in the water" (REUTERS, 6/7).