China's most successful football club, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, has raised $132 million from new investors in a deal that valued it at $2.4 billion -- within striking distance of Manchester United.

Asian champions Evergrande raised 869 million yuan from issuing the new shares on China's little-known, over-the-counter market, the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) system, where it listed in November.

But the sale fell short of Evergrande's previously stated target that the money-losing club would raise up to 2.65 billion yuan.

Before the fundraising, it was 60 percent owned by property developer Evergrande and the rest was held by e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The sale diluted their stakes to 56.71 percent and 37.81 percent respectively, a statement released on Thursday said, implying 5.48 percent of the company was now owned by the 23 new investors.

Investors paid 40 yuan per share for their stakes, a lofty price that some had questioned given that the club has been losing money.

The deal values Evergrande at a jaw-dropping $2.4 billion -- putting it in a similar league to New York Stock Exchange-listed Premier League club Manchester United, which is currently worth $2.53 billion.

Evergrande lost $75 million in 2014, according to earlier results.

Among the new shareholders, the largest is a fund managed by Shenzhen's Foresea Kaynes Investment with a 1.16 percent stake, the statement showed.

In China, football clubs often serve their owners by providing po
Source: AFP