Chinese businessman buys majority stake in Helsinki IFK

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A Chinese businessman has bought a majority stake in Finnish top league football club Helsinki IFK, a move that the former national champions hope will boost their growth ambitions.

Chang Jin will take 51.9 percent stake in the seven-times Finnish champions for an investment of around 2 million euros (1.73 million pounds), the club said.

"It gives us capital to develop things on the Finnish market and it gives us a lot of international connections," the club's chairman Christoffer Perret told Reuters.

Helsinki IFK, formed back in 1897, have not won the national crown since 1961 but were promoted back to the top division last season and currently lie one from bottom of the table in 11th place.

(Writing by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Ian Chadband)