By Julie Zhu and Kane Wu
HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and Olympic champion Li Ning is considering taking his namesake sportswear company private from the Hong Kong stock exchange, four people said, adding to a string of such potential deals in a faltering market.
Li is considering leading a consortium to buy out Li Ning Co Ltd, which had a market capitalisation of HK$52.85 billion ($6.8 billion) as of Monday, said the people, who have knowledge of the matter.
Li, 61, founded Li Ning Co a few years after retiring from a decorated gymnastics career in 1988. Along with his family, he owns more than 10% of the company, its 2023 interim report showed.
A number of global and regional private equity firms, including TPG, PAG and Hillhouse Investment, have been tapped to see if they are interested in joining as an investor, two of the people said.
The discussions to take Li Ning Co private are in the early stages and…
