Chinese company buys Spanish club Espanyol

Madrid: Chinese company Rastar Group has bought Spanish football club Espanyol, it was confirmed on Monday.

The news was given by the former president of the Barcelona-based club, Dani Sanchez who had, along with Ramon Condal, been one of the club's majority shareholders, reports Xinhua.

Sanchez confirmed in Spanish sports paper Diario AS that the Rastar Group had spent 65 million euros (around $72 million) to take control of the club and also to invest in sporting matters.

Rastar Group is a company dedicated to technology, which also manufactures toys and videogames and has a stock market value estimated at around $3 billions.

The company will take over a club which is currently in the middle of the La Liga table with 13 points from 10 games.

The move shows the increased interest Chinese companies are taking in Spanish football with Rayo Vallecano and Real Sociedad both sponsored by the Chinese company Q-Bao and Wang Jianlin, the president of the Wanda Group owning 20 percent of 2014 league champions Atletico Madrid.