Squire Patton Boggs and Bird & Bird have won top mandates on the sale of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC to Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, known as Wolves, has been sold by investment group Bridgemere UK, which was advised by Squire Patton Boggs on the deal.

The Squire team that helped sell the club, which was one of the founders of the Football League in 1888, was led by London corporate partner and football M&A expert David Hull.

Hull said: "We have been seeing continued and unprecedented interest in English football among overseas buyers, particularly from Asia-Pacific where the sport is expanding at an exciting pace."

Bird & Bird advised Shanghai-based global investment group Fosun. Fosun's other projects include Club Med and Cirque Du Soleil. In the UK, it is particularly known for its investment in nursery brand Silver Cross as well as travel company Thomas Cook.

Fosun was advised by a Bird & Bird team led by corporate finance and energy partner Matt Bonass, alongside Felicity Reeve, a partner in the firm's media, entertainment and sport sector group. Bonass specialises in public and private M&A, private equity, joint ventures and equity capital markets work.

Bonass said: "This is a great example of our corporate transactional team combining with our sports regulatory team to advise on what is a very high profile football acquisition in the UK. This acquisition follows on from our work this week for the IAAF."

Squires has advised on a number of football-related deals in the past. James McKay, a corporate partner at Squires, advised on the sale of Aston Villa in June.

This follows on from Squires' M&A team advising on the sales of Sheffield Wednesday FC, Fulham FC, Manchester City and Blackburn Rovers FC during the past few years.