By Julie Zhu and Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Chinese billionaire entrepreneur and Olympic champion Li Ning is considering taking his namesake sportswear company private from the Hong Kong stock exchange, four people said, adding to a string of such potential deals in a faltering market.

Li is considering leading a consortium to buy out Li Ning Co Ltd, which had a market capitalisation of HK$52.85 billion ($6.8 billion) as of Monday, said the people, who have knowledge of the matter.

Li, 61, founded Li Ning Co a few years after retiring from a decorated gymnastics career in 1988. Along with his family, he owns more than 10% of the company, its 2023 interim report showed.

A number of global and regional private equity firms, including TPG, PAG and Hillhouse Investment, have been tapped to see if they are interested in joining as an investor, two of the people said.

The discussions to take Li Ning Co private are in the early stages and details have not been finalised, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the information was confidential. The company made its Hong Kong debut in 2004.

Its stock extended gains from 2.4% in the morning trade to be up as much as 20% at HK$24.55 following the Reuters report in the afternoon, the highest since November. It closed at HK$22.1.

Beijing-headquartered Li Ning Co said in a response to Reuters that it had "not received any information regarding this matter as of now."

It said in a stock exchange filing after Tuesday's market close that it is not aware of any reasons that caused the company's "recent unusual movements" in price and trading volume or any information that must be disclosed to avoid a false market.

Li did not respond to a request for comment sent via the company. TPG, PAG and Hillhouse declined to comment.

Stock markets in Hong Kong and mainland China have tanked over the past year amid China's economic slowdown, a lack of strong stimulus policies and geopolitical tensions.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slumped 14% in 2023, while China's benchmark CSI 300 index fell 11%.

Li feels his company is undervalued in Hong Kong and would target a hefty premium over its current share price in a potential buyout, two of the sources said.

He did not have an imminent plan to relist his company on the mainland, one of them added.

Li Ning Co was the worst-performing blue-chip stock on the Hong Kong bourse in the past year, down nearly 70% as of Monday, LSEG data showed. That compares with a 25% drop in main rival Anta Sports.

Li was regarded as China's "gymnastics prince" after winning six of the seven gold medals at the 1982 World Cup Gymnastic Competition, and carried on to win six medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.