Bank agrees to sale shares of Valencia to Singapore investor Lim

VALENCIA, Spain --

Singapore investor Peter Lim is set to purchase a controlling stake of Valencia and complete his drawn-out take over of the Spanish club.

Bankia, the bailed-out Spanish bank that held most of the club's debt, says it and Valencia have reached a deal to refinance the club's debt and have Lim's company Meriton Holdings Limited acquire 70 percent of the club's shares.

The bank says the sale of the shares to Lim, whose negotiation started 10 months ago, is only pending authorization by government overseers.

Bankia says in a statement that the deal allows it the ''recovery of almost all the 320 million euros loaned to the club and its foundation.''

According to Forbes, the 61-year-old Lim is worth 2.5 billion dollars.