Nenking Group

Nenking Group
能兴集团
Company typePrivate
IndustryConglomerate
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998) in Foshan, Guangdong, China
FounderZhong Naixiong
Headquarters
Area served
China
Key people
ServicesReal estate, property management, Financial, Sport culture, Pharmaceuticals, overseas investment, Trade purchases
SubsidiariesGuangzhou Loong Lions
Websitewww.nenking.cn
Nenking Group
Simplified Chinese能兴集团
Traditional Chinese能興集團
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinNéngxīng Jítuán
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese南海能兴
Traditional Chinese南海能興
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinNánhǎi Néngxīng

Nenking Group (simplified Chinese: 能兴集团; traditional Chinese: 能興集團; pinyin: Néngxīng Jítuán), or Nanhai Nenking (simplified Chinese: 南海能兴; traditional Chinese: 南海能興; pinyin: Nánhǎi Néngxīng), is a Chinese conglomerate founded on 28 March 1998 and based in Foshan, Guangdong, providing Real Estate, Property Management, Financial, Sports Culture, Pharmaceuticals, Investment Abroad, Trade Purchases services over the Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region of China.[1][2]

Nenking is the owner of a CBA team called the "Guangzhou Loong Lions", and it is also the title sponsor of Hong Kong "Eastern Sports Club", including "Eastern Football Team" and "Eastern Basketball Team". In 2018, Nenking started stepping in esports, organizing an OWL team for Guangzhou named the "Guangzhou Charge".

History

  • In 1993, Guangdong Nenking Real Estate Development Co., Ltd founded. It was the predecessor of Nenking Group.
  • On 28 March 1998, Nenking Holdings Group Co., Ltd founded.
  • In 2010, Nenking acquired Shaanxi men's basketball club and named it the "Long-Lions".[3][4]
  • On 12 August 2016, Hong Kong sports powerhouse "Eastern Sports Club" announced that Nenking got the title sponsorship of the Club", which including Football Team and Basketball Team.[5] "Eastern" was facing a financial crisis before this and Nenking, acting as the white knight, poured around 30 million HK$ into "Eastern".[6]
  • On 7 March 2017, "Rupert Hoogewerf's Global Rich List 2017" released. Nenking's founder and chairman Zhong Naixiong was on the list for the first time for 1.5 billion US$ (≈ 10.5 billion CN¥) wealth, ranking 1479.[7][8]
  • On 2 August 2018, Nenking started stepping in esports. It got the Guangzhou franchise of the Overwatch League and organized an OWL team for Guangzhou.[9] The team is lately named as the "Guangzhou Charge".[10]
  • On 28 August 2020, Nenking established a new esports brand, "Ultra Prime" for Nenking's esports business. Ultra Prime Esports manages all Nenking's esports teams, such as Guangzhou Charge of the Overwatch League.[11]
  • On 17 December 2020, Nenking acquired the LPL team of the Chinese esports franchise "eStar Gaming".[12]
  • On 29 March 2021, Nenking Esports Center grand opened. Located in GBA International Sports and Cultural Center, Nenking Esports Center will be the base of Ultra Prime Esports and all Nenking's esports teams. Nenking also announced that "eStar Gaming" LOL Branch was rebranded to "Ultra Prime" LOL Branch.[citation needed]

Major subsidiaries

Involvement in FC Sochaux-Montbelliard

In April 2020, Nenking Group officially became the owner of the Football Club Sochaux-Montbéliard, one of the founding members of the French League.[15][16] "This sale to the group whose founding president is Mr. Zhong Naixiong comes in accordance with the agreements previously made with Ledus" and Frankie Yau become president.

At the time, the club's newly-appointed Executive Director General Samuel Laurent said Nenking Group chairman Zhong Naixiong wanted to restore the club's status as a top-tier team in "three or four years".

During the 2022/2023 season, the club faced financial difficulties and needed a capital injection from Nenking in order to remain in the French Ligue 2. In July 2023, Nenking announced that they wouldn't inject capital and the DNCG (the organization responsible for monitoring and overseeing the accounts of professional association football clubs in France) relegated Sochaux to National (French Football 3rd Division) due to their financial problems. The club now faces a potential Bankruptcy. As a result, the FC Sochaux-Montbelliard would lose its professional football club status and would be relegated to the 6th Division. [17]

While Romain Peugeot, the great-grandson of the club's founder, had concluded an agreement for a takeover offer allowing the group to remain a 33% shareholder of FC Sochaux-Montbelliard,[18] Nenking did not respect his commitment to pay the 4 million euros planned.[19] The objective of the operation was to avoid the bankruptcy of the club and to allow it to return to the French Ligue 2 championship.

The club was founded nearly a century ago by French automobile company Peugeot and they won the top division league title in the 1934–35 and 1937–38 seasons, the French League Cup in 2004 and the Coupe de France, the country's premier knockout cup competition, in 2007. [20]

The Nenking company sold FC Sochaux on 25 August after causing a chaotic management situation that almost led to the demise of a club that was almost a hundred years old.

References

  1. ^ 集团概况 [General Situation] (in Chinese (China)). Nenking Group. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  2. ^ 业务板块 [Business Segments] (in Chinese (China)). Nenking Group. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  3. ^ a b 陕西男篮主场正式搬至佛山 与艾弗森接触力邀加盟 [Shaanxi men's basketball team moved to Foshan, inviting Allen Iverson to join] (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  4. ^ a b 陕西男篮南迁佛山 主场定在禅城区岭南明珠体育馆 [Shaanxi men's basketball team moved southward to Foshan, basing in Lingnan Pearl Gymnasium, Chancheng District]. Southern Metropolis Daily (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  5. ^ 【港超】內地企業南海能興入主 東方易名東方龍獅 [Nanhai Nenking took the main sponsorship, changing Eastern's name to "Eastern Long-Lions"]. Hong Kong 01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  6. ^ 白武士鍾乃雄HK足球有價值 [White knight Zhong Naixiong: HK football has its value]. Oriental Daily News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2016-11-22. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  7. ^ "Rupert Hoogewerf's Global Rich List 2017". www.hurun.net. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  8. ^ 曾群善. 富豪榜新人能兴钟乃雄 [Rupert Hoogewerf's Global Rich List's Newcomer: Zhong Naixiong of Nenking]. Southern Metropolis Daily. Retrieved 2018-08-10 – via oeeee.com.
  9. ^ a b "Atlanta and Guangzhou take the stage". overwatchleague.com (Press release). Blizzard Entertainment. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  10. ^ "Feel The Charge! Nenking Group Unveils Its Guangzhou Overwatch League Team Branding" (Press release). Business Wire. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  11. ^ a b Chen, Hongyu (28 August 2020). "Guangzhou Charge Owner Nenking Group Launch Esports Umbrella Brand Ultra Prime". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  12. ^ Fudge, James (18 December 2020). "Guangzhou Charge Owner Acquires LPL Franchise eStar Gaming". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  13. ^ 天河体育馆-能兴集团 [Tianhe Gymnasium - Nenking Group] (in Chinese (China)). Nenking Group. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  14. ^ 能者兴之,光辉二十载 [From Ability to Prosperity, 20 Years of Brightness - Nenking Group] (in Chinese (China)). Nenking Group. Retrieved 2018-08-17.
  15. ^ "Sochaux relegated as Chinese owners Nenking fail to generate required cash". CNA. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  16. ^ "Ligue 2 side Sochaux acquired by Chinese real estate firm Nenking - Get French Football News". 2020-04-27. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  17. ^ "La DNCG confirme la relégation du FC Sochaux en National". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  18. ^ "Football. FC Sochaux : Nenking accepte l'offre de rachat présentée par Romain Peugeot". www.estrepublicain.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  19. ^ "Football. FC Sochaux : c'est acté, Nenking ne paiera pas sa part". www.estrepublicain.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  20. ^ "Sochaux relegated as Chinese owners Nenking fail to generate required cash". CNA. Retrieved 2023-07-14.