An international consortium headed by Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), who owns CTBC Brothers baseball club, was yesterday reported to be planning to purchase the Taipei Dome (台北大巨蛋) by putting together a deal worth NT$60 billion (US$1.9 billion).
Media reports said that firms and businesspeople that might join the consortium include South Korean-Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son (孫正義), founder and CEO of Japanese investment and e-commerce giant Softbank Group; the Chearavanont family, owners of Thailand-based Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group; and Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou (周杰倫).
The consortium reportedly aims to buy the operating rights of the Taipei Dome complex, belonging to Farglory Group (遠雄集團), which signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with Taipei City Government in 2012 and completed it in May last year, after years of delays due to safety concerns, legal challenges and other issues.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The NT$37 billion stadium is planned to be mainly used for baseball, but it can also host soccer, softball and other competitive games, along with concerts and large-scale shows. With its 40,000 seating capacity, the Taipei Dome is the nation’s largest indoor sports venue.
The consortium members are reportedly eyeing the entire Taipei Dome complex — of which operation rights until 2060 are held by Farglory Group — and have potential commercial deals in mind. In addition to the indoor venue, the complex includes a shopping mall, a hotel, office spaces, restaurants, boutique shops, a movie theater and an underground parking lot, which are still under construction.
“It is true that since we have started operating the Taipei Dome, many companies and groups have contacted us... But we have no plans to sell it or to transfer business rights,” Farglory Group general manager Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) said yesterday.
“We still have the BOT agreement made with the Taipei City Government, so we are following it and offering the best service for citizens and sports fans,” Yang said.
A Taipei City Sports Department official said that the city government would respect Farglory Group’s decision.
Meanwhile, local media quoted a friend of Koo’s as saying “there is no concrete plans regarding a business deal on the Taipei Dome.”
However, Mirror Media yesterday reported that Koo told his close circle that a consortium — including him with a 50 percent stake, along with Softbank Group and CP Group with 20 percent each, other Taiwanese firms with about 10 percent and Jay Chou with 1 percent stakes — is preparing to buy the venue.
Koo is the owner of the Brothers, one of the six clubs in the CPBL, and head of national baseball association the CTBA. He also became president of the Baseball Federation of Asia in 2022
Sports pundits said that Koo has for a long time been planning to move the Brothers to the Taipei Dome from their current venue in Taichung.
They said that the interest in the Taipei Dome is high from clubs including the Wei Chuan Dragons and the Fubon Guardians.
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