A person familiar with the matter said that Chinese property and investment firm Dalian Wanda Group "has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Legendary Entertainment," valuing the U.S. movie studio company at between $3B and $4B, according to Liana Baker of REUTERS.
The move represents Wanda's latest bid "to expand overseas and become a major player in the U.S. entertainment industry following its acquisition of AMC Entertainment Holdings," the second-largest movie theater chain in North America, for $2.6B in '12.
Wanda, controlled by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, "will own a little more than half of Legendary Entertainment," with Legendary Founder & CEO Thomas Tull and the rest of its management owning the remainder.
The person said that other investors in Legendary, including Japan's telecommunication conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) and investment firm Waddell & Reed Inc, "have agreed to sell their stakes in the company" (REUTERS, 1/5). In N.Y., Barnes & Forsythe reported industry experts said that the deal "makes sense for both Wanda and Legendary, which tends to produce the type of big-budget, special-effects-driven movies that Chinese audiences like." Wanda can provide Tull "with money, a growing audience and a champion in China that can get more of his films into the tightly controlled market." Peter Schloss, managing partner of CastleHill Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the media and sports industries, said, “Wanda represents a good source of funding for him" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/5). Wanda has not only expanded into the entertainment industry but also into the sports sector. The company last year purchased Switzerland-based agency Infront Sports & Media and took over the parent company of the Ironman series, World Triathlon Corp. Wanda then combined the two and created Wanda Sports. Wang, together with Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, also invested in sports media company LeTV Sports (SBD Global).
