HE is the self-made multi-millionaire who spent time in the armed police force and who has now set his sights on Saints.

Gao Jisheng is the man behind the company currently in talks with Southampton FC over a possible £200m-plus takeover deal.

The 64-year-old is the founder, chairman and CEO of Lander Sports Development Co Ltd, the firm revealed as being in negotiations to claim a stake in St Mary’s.

Having worked his way up through the industry, Jisheng sits at the top of an empire which was built on property but has now switched to the lucrative sports development sector.

Born in October 1952, Jisheng served in the Shanghai People’s Armed Police for seven years from the age of 18, during which time he graduated from Shanghai Normal University - before becoming a self-made multi-millionaire.

He founded Lander Holdings Group Ltd in 1995 and has only recently switched the company’s focus from property to sports investment.

Jisheng’s 59 per cent stake, which he shares with his daughter Jingna, in Lander Holdings was estimated at $1.4 billion last June when Forbes, the respected business magazine, reported that the company’s shares had increased by an incredible 700 per cent during the previous year.

Two months later it was announced that Lander Real Estate Company Ltd had become Lander Sports Development Company Ltd.

Lander Sports is based in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, but last week the company opened an office in London, which was registered with Companies House on October 27.

Last year Macau Business Daily reported: "Lander’s business scope has shifted entirely from property investment to the organization of sports activities; design, construction and management of stadiums; research and sales of sporting goods as well as engaging in sports agency business."

Soon after the name-change it announced a ten-year partnership deal with Hangzhou Sports Development Group, which involved launching a company responsible for re-establishing the region’s women’s soccer team.

It is committed to investing more than £1m a year into the club with the aim to establish it as one of China’s top women’s sides within three years.

Jisheng has also launched Lander E-sports, a Macau-based broadcasting company.

This subsidiary aims to tap into the international market of sports games and broadcasting, by organizing video game contests covering 20 million participants and 100 million viewers.

Lander has also established a sports trading centre, acquired Asian Professional Basketball Management and Development and partnered with China Sports Publications Corporation.

According to Chinese sports marketing agnecy Yutang Sports, it also signed a partnership agreement with Macau casino-resort operator The Venetian Macao Ltd to co-develop, organise and broadcast large-scale sporting events.

But the deal was later terminated,with the reason not disclosed by either party.

Jisheng, who studied in Japan from 1989-90, is also a Distinguished Professor of real estate EMBA program in Tsinghua University, a research university based in Beijing.

After graduating, he served in the Shanghai People’s Armed Police as a squad leader and technician from 1970-77.

From 1977 to 1989, he worked in No.2 Light Industry Corporation in Hangzhou. In the five years before founding Lander , he served as the General Manager of Xiaoshan State-Owned Industrial Corporation.

Lander Real Estate provided residential community projects throughout China and was also involved in property management, materials distribution and catering businesses.

But its research, development and distribution of sports, which has been a feature of the company for many years, is now all-consuming.