Barnsley FC majority shareholders adding to their portfolio by purchasing stake in German outfit

The Pacific Media Group - who own a majority stake in the Reds - have purchased a 10 per cent interest in Kaiserslautern, with the deal approved by the club as well as its majority owner and regional investors.

Alongside Kaiserslautern, PMG already have an interest in seven clubs, including Barnsley.

Last autumn, PMG completed a deal to take over Dutch second-tier outfit Den Bosch.

Alongside Barnsley, PMG have interests in a host of other clubs, including Belgium First Division A club KV Oostende - whose chief executive is former Oakwell CEO Gauthier Ganaye -, Danish second tier outfit Esbjerg FB, French side Nancy - a club formerly managed by ex-Reds head coach Daniel Stendel - and Swiss side FC Thun.

In January 2021, the Chinese-American consortium, whose main investors include Barnsley co-chairmen and majority shareholders Paul Conway and Chien Lee - acquired French Ligue 2 outfit Nancy.

Former Oakwell CEO Gauthier Ganaye was made president of Nancy, having already been executive chairman of KV Oostende in Belgium.

Then last April, Esbjerg fB, relegated from the top tier Superliga last season, became another club to come under the control of PMG, with Den Bosch becoming the third club to join their portfolio in 2021.

Further back in May, 2020, the group agreed a deal to buy debt-ridden Belgian outfit KV Oostende.

PMG acquired a majority shareholding in the struggling Belgian First Division A club - paying off part of the debts immediately, with another part to be paid off in the longer term.

Back in 2019, the group failed in a bid to buy Championship Partick Thistle

The group's bid to buy Thistle was thwarted due to guidelines put in place by the Scottish Football Association preventing the ownership of multiple clubs.

On the addition of a stake in Kaiserslautern, Lee tweeted: "We completed the investment in FC Kaiserslautern, one of the most historic clubs in Germany and is our 8th investment in the European football."