China-based Dalian Wanda Group today said that it has "bought the organiser of Ironman Triathlon races" for $650M in a "diversification push that the property developer said may involve another sports purchase by year-end," according to Zhang & Miller of REUTERS. Wanda bought World Triathlon Corp from Providence Equity Partners "for what the seller said amounted" to $900M, including debt. The purchase is Wanda's "latest sporting acquisition" after buying Infront Sports & Media and a stake La Liga club Atletico Madrid, "as the group counters a slowdown in its domestic property market with a move into entertainment." Dalian Wanda Owner Wang Jianlin said, "Wanda's next task is to widely market this global extreme, endurance sport in China." Zhang & Miller note Wanda "plans to hold as many as three races in China next year and increase Chinese participants to 200,000 over the next decade from 100." World Triathlon CEO Andrew Messick said that Ironman "hosts 200 events in 27 countries and has nearly 250,000 registered athletes" (REUTERS, 8/27). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Kevin Helliker notes Ironman within the endurance-athletics market 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." But becoming increasingly popular now is a "half-that-distance race called Ironman 70.3." Messick said that "about three quarters of the Ironman races at those distances sell out, often within a few hours." Messick added that he would "remain in [his] role under Dalian Wanda, and that WTC would remain based in Tampa" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/27). BLOOMBERG NEWS notes Providence bought WTC in '08 from the Gills family that had owned the company since '90. WTC in a statement said that it is "expected to generate" $183M in revenue this year, following four years of growth averaging 21% (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 8/27).
