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Baofeng, Everbright Acquire 65% Of Int'l Media Company MP & Silva

MP & Silva announced an agreement to create a strategic partnership with Everbright, a financial services company in China, and Baofeng, an Internet entertainment and technology company specializing in Virtual Reality and digital entertainment, through an investment from Shanghai Jin Xin investment fund. Shanghai Jin Xin, a company that Baofeng and Everbright established for the strategic partnership, has acquired a 65% equity investment in MP & Silva Group. All of the current MP & Silva shareholders will maintain a significant role in and investment of 35% in the group after the transaction. MP & Silva, which has 20 offices worldwide, recorded a turnover in excess of $600M for the year ending June '15, and expects significant turnover growth for the current year. This partnership will provide MP & Silva with additional financial resources to accelerate the growth of the business and build on over a decade of success. Baofeng Technology will develop a Sports Channel and multiple Sports Apps. The MP & Silva business will act as a platform to support Baofeng Sports Operations. Baofeng Sports will be operated as an independent company that will cooperate closely with MP & Silva (MP & Silva). BLOOMBERG's Soshnick & Novy-Williams reported a source said that the deal values MP & Silva at $1.4B. It is the "latest Chinese bet on the global growth of professional sports." Specifically, sports teams and leagues in the U.S. and Europe "are increasingly looking overseas for growth, and MP & Silva is an established middleman:" its primary business is negotiating teams’ and leagues’ broadcast rights around the world. Baofeng could not be reached for comment after hours in Beijing, "and emails seeking comment bounced back." MP & Silva spokesperson Rachel Hughes declined to comment (BLOOMBERG, 5/23). In London, Massoudi & Mitchell reported China will "deepen its investment in global sports and entertainment." China Everbright "is a large state conglomerate that, like many of its peers, is seeking to diversify abroad" as its domestic banking arm "contends with ever slower economic growth at home." Baofeng was "one of China’s hottest stocks" before the country’s markets crashed last year, with its share price rising 3,300% in the three months to June '15 (FINANCIAL TIMES, 5/23).

'COMPETITIVE' PROCESS: REUTERS' Pollina & Jourdan reported MP & Silva CEO Marco Auletta said, "It has been a competitive sales process with lots of interest from international companies and private equity funds. Everbright and Baofeng have emerged as the right partners to support our international growth and help us expand in adjacent fields such as virtual reality, where Baofeng is a key player in China." Auletta said that the management team "has retained shares in the business and will work closely with the new stakeholders to tap Asian markets." UBS advised MP & Silva on the deal while China Int'l Capital Corp. and online deals platform DealGlobe worked with Everbright and Baofeng (REUTERS, 5/24).

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