The City Football Group has acquired a majority stake in its eighth football club.
The group, which owns Manchester City, has agreed a deal to take a 65 per cent stake in Mumbai City FC in the Indian Super League.
CFG also has majority stakes in New York City in the US, Melbourne City FC in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Club Atletico Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain and Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China.
CFG Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said on cityfootballgroup.com: "We believe that this investment will deliver transformative benefits to Mumbai City FC, to City Football Group and to Indian Football as a whole.
"City Football Group is committed to the future of football in India and to the potential for Mumbai City FC within that future.
"We are very much looking forward to playing an active role in Mumbai City FC's fan and local communities, and working with our co-owners to further develop the club as quickly as possible."
Mumbai City, who are co-owned by Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor, have had Freddie Ljungberg, Nicolas Anelka and Diego Forlan as their marquee players in the past, and are currently placed seventh in the 10-team ISL.
Cricket-mad India is a big underachiever in football and have yet to make an appearance at a World Cup finals.
A number of European clubs have, however, gone to India over the last few years to set up academies on a franchise basis to establish a foothold in a market where the popularity of soccer is burgeoning.
The news comes a day after it was announced American technology company Silver Lake had acquired a 10 per cent stake in CFG in a £389million investment deal that values the group at £3.73billion (Dh 18.6 billion).
That takes the group's value above that of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United in figures published by Forbes in May.
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City Football Group senior clubs
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Manchester City's Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus celebrates after scoring a goal in the Uefa Champions League. Acquired in 2008, the Premier League Champions are CFG's flagship club. AFP -
Keaton Parks of New York City FC controls the ball during an MLS game. The City Football Group tapped into US football when the franchise entered the league in 2015. AFP -
City play a friendly against Yokohama Marinos in a friendly in 2019. The Japanese club were acquired in 2014. AFP -
Melbourne City forward Javier Cabrera controls the ball during an A-League match. The club came into the CFG fold in 2015. Getty Images -
Players of Uruguay's second division club Atletico Torque train in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2017. It's the group's main venture into South America. Reuters -
Girona FC, currently in Spain's second tier, became a CFG acquisition in 2017. Getty Images
