Where is former West Brom owner Guochuan Lai now after company issued with strike off notice

It is more than two years since Guochuan Lai sold West Brom to Shilen Patel - with Albion in a perilous financial position.

Lai, who purchased the club from Jeremy Peace, oversaw the club’s drop out of the Championship and its financial demise in the years that followed.

His time in charge of the club was a story of loans and financial problems.

After protests and fan anger continued to ramp up - the club was sold to Patel in February 2024 for £60m.

Since then, Patel has endured a rocky time turning around Albion’s financial fortunes but prudent work now sees Albion on a much more stable financial footing.

That comes despite the club breaching PSR regulations this season and receiving a two point deduction - a controversy that the club were left unhappy about.

It was revealed last week that Albion were potentially heading for a £20m breach but for the work of Patel and his team.

The situation heading into the summer is a far cry from the final days of Lai - who has hardly been heard from since he sold his majority share in the club.

But news around Lai and a company he had in the UK that was still active, has emerged this week.

When Lai took ownership of Albion, he did so through a company called Yunyi Guokai (Shanghai) Sports Development Limited, for a fee in the region of a £150m.

That company, which is owned by Lai, was still listed on Companies House until recent days under the name Yunyi Guokai Limited.

However, it has emerged that the firm, which has an address listed in Solihull, has been issued with a strike notice off by Companies House.

The news appeared on X through a post from football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

It is the first anyone has heard of Lai - since his sale of the club went through in February 2024.

There is little information available as to what the unpopular former Albion owner has been doing since the sale.

Reports online claim that since he sold his majority share in Albion, he has remained focused on private investment in China and is still linked to a number of subsidiaries of the Palm Eco-Town Development Company, where he previously served as general manager.