Yao Capital, a 2B yuan ($299M) private equity firm founded by former NBA player Yao Ming, has led an undisclosed series B financing round in Glory Sports Int'l and "acquired a significant stake in the company," according to Nina Xiang of CHINA MONEY NETWORK.
Cable TV and broadband company Liberty Global, Twin Focus Capital and other existing investors "also participated in the round." In addition, Yao Capital and Glory "have also agreed to immediately launch a new joint venture in China," where the combat sports market is in the "early stages of growth." The terms of the joint venture were not disclosed, although in an announcement, the company said that it "expects to hold its first event in China in the near future." Yao, who is the chair and co-founder of Yao Capital, said, "To me, the sport of kickboxing is a synonym for courage, grit and the will to succeed. Today, we join forces to promote the sport of kickboxing and encourage more young people to be involved in this sport to become the hero in their own life."
Glory said that "it will be increasing its live events to 18 dates in 2017, including expansion into Southeast Asia and Latin America, as well as launching reality television programming." Yao Capital "focuses on growth and buy out investment opportunities in sports and entertainment industry in China as well as overseas." The firm "previously invested in a sports ticketing company spun out from Beijing Weiying Technology, a movie ticket booking platform embedded in Tencent's WeChat app" (CHINA MONEY NETWORK, 9/13).
