Chinese, American investors buy into Nice

Nice (France) (AFP) – A group of Chinese and American investors bought 80 per cent of French Ligue 1 side Nice on Friday, the club announced.

President Jean-Pierre Rivere maintains 20% of the shares and he insisted that the governance of the club remains unchanged.

He as well as director Julien Fournier will stay in charge for a “minimum of three years”.

The new shareholders are Sino-American Chien Lee and Chinese businessman  Alex Zheng, described as “men who are active in the hotel, tourism and property business”.

The other investors are both American, Paul Conway and Elliot Hayes.

“The new investors were convinced by our project as well as the opportunities offered by Nice and the Cote d’Azur, mainly in the areas of tourism, property and hotels which are at the heart of their interests,” said Rivere in a statement.