Chinese industrial conglomerate Fosun is creating a joint venture with tennis boutique agency StarWing. The venture is scheduled to be announced this week.
Fosun already owns a piece of soccer agency Polaris Sports, best known for representing Cristiano Ronaldo, and bought second-division English soccer team Wolverhampton Wanderers, so StarWing gives it an opening in tennis.
“Asia is the next big thing for us,” said Lawrence Frankopan, founder and CEO of StarWing, whose clients include Stan Wawrinka, Kristina Mladenovic and Chris Evert. “Whether that is from a tournament perspective to players.”
Having a local partner in China, in any business, has proved key to negotiate the governmental intricacies of competing in that country, so Frankopan is optimistic that StarWing will make headway there now.
The joint venture also extends to Polaris, which helps StarWing broaden its universe of companies for player endorsements.
For now, the joint ventures do not include the sale of equity in StarWing, one of many boutique agencies that compete in tennis.
