With a "cavalier disregard for China's slowing economy," the country's richest man, Wang Jianlin, inked a $650M deal for a U.S. sports company -- a move that he described as a "big bet on the emerging Chinese middle class," according to Charles Clover of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Dalian Wanda, owned by property and entertainment tycoon Wang, on Thursday held the formal signing for 100% of the World Triathlon Corp. Wanda has "expanded outside of its core areas of property development for the past few years." Wang said that the WTC deal represented a "further transition" away from being "a traditional property company." It is the "third major investment in the sports industry" he has made following Infront Sports & Media and Atlético Madrid. With China's stock markets "battered," and the economy "appearing to be slowing faster than many observers predicted," Wang said that he was "not overly concerned." He said, "Wanda's operations will be unaffected" (
FT, 8/27).
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Dalian Wanda Group adds to sports empire with $650 deal for Ironman owner.
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REUTERS' Zhang & Miller reported Wanda aims for revenue of $100B by '20 from $40B in '14. Ironman will bring in $183M this year, following four years' compound growth of 21%, Providence said. Wang: "Wanda's next task is to widely market this global extreme, endurance sport in China." Ironman CEO Andrew Messick said that Ironman hosts 200 events in 27 countries and has nearly 250,000 registered athletes (
REUTERS, 8/27). BLOOMBERG reported the management team at Tampa, Florida-based World Triathlon will stay with the company after the acquisition, and has signed a "long-term contract." The company said in a statement, "Triathlons are on the cusp of explosion in China." Wang said that Wanda "
may acquire one more sports company by the end of this year" and is in talks with "another few" that all have intellectual property rights for sports not yet popular in China. Without "being specific," Wang added that Wanda may announce a "major acquisition" in one or two months (
BLOOMBERG, 8/26).
POWERFUL BRAND: In N.Y., Kevin Helliker reported a source familiar with the deal said that it had a value of about $900M, and that it represents a "quadrupling of Providence's investment in World Triathlon Corp., owner of the Ironman brand and races." The endurance-athletics market "stayed red hot throughout the economic downturn of seven years ago and has shown no sign of slowing." Across the world, "growing multitudes of typically high-income professionals are paying three-figure entry fees to compete as long-distance runners, triathletes, cyclists and swimmers." Within that market Ironman is "widely perceived as the most powerful brand, in part because of its proprietary use of that name." Classically, an Ironman race featured a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run -- an event WTC now calls Ironman 140.6. Wildly popular now is a "half-that-distance race called Ironman 70.3." Wang said that Wanda has been "shopping globally for high-profile sporting companies and competitions." He said, "It has been very difficult for China to get hold of a major athletic event," noting that the U.S. and Europe "own the athletic arena." Providence Managing Dir R. Davis Noell said, "Ironman is not only a great brand but a great business. It generates a lot of cash. It fits into a lot of macro trends around health and wellness." The new owner "would be positioned to help facilitate an Ironman invasion of China and other Asian markets." WTC CEO Andrew Messick said, "We have two races in Taiwan." He called China "an emerging Triathlon market" (
WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/26). The AFP reported WTC is rivaled in administering triathlons by the Int'l Triathlon Union, which has in the past "accused it of lower standards" and replacing "the focus of building sport participation and exposure with a revenue generating model to run profits." The two organizations held talks last year which the union described on its website as "historic and aimed at coordinating their rules." So far this year Wanda has spent €45M on a 20% share of Atlético and €1.05B on Infront (
AFP, 8/27).
