Chinese Consortium to Buy 13% of Manchester City FC Owner
December 01 2015 - 4:50AM
Dow Jones News
HONG KONG—A consortium of Chinese firms is investing $400
million for a minority stake in the owner of the Manchester City FC
soccer franchise, as Chinese buyers scour the globe for
entertainment assets.
China Media Capital Holdings and Citic Capital Holdings Ltd. are
buying just over 13% of City Football Group, which owns the
Manchester City franchise along with other soccer related assets,
according to a statement. The deal will put a $3 billion value on
City Football Group, which is controlled by an Abu Dhabi investment
company.
Chinese investors from Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. to
property conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group have been snatching up
rights to films and sporting events with the aim of using the
content to attract Chinese viewers to their platforms. In January,
Tencent beat out Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp.
for the exclusive online five-year rights for the National
Basketball Association in mainland China, in a deal that people
familiar with the negotiations said was worth at least $500
million.
In August, Dalian Wanda agreed to buy the Ironman triathlon
series of races from Providence Equity Partners for about $650
million plus the assumption of debt. Wanda also paid $2.6 billion
to buy U.S. movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. in
2012.
European soccer, particularly the English Premier League, enjoys
a solid fan base in China. Other Chinese investors have also looked
to snap up stakes in the Spanish soccer league. Dalian Wanda paid
$52 million for a 20% stake in Spanish soccer club Atlé tico
Madrid in January. Chinese entertainment company Rastar Group
recently agreed to buy 56% of Barcelona-based Espanyol.
The search for high-profile sports rights abroad comes as China
has struggled to develop top-tier competition in its own
professional sports leagues. The sports push has a high-profile
backer in President Xi Jinping, who joined in a selfie with British
Prime Minister David Cameron taken by Manchester City star Sergio
Agü ero during Mr. Xi's state visit to the U.K. in October.
Manchester City has emerged as a top team in the Premier League
since it was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group, owned by
Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Manchester City currently stands
at the top of the Premier League, just ahead of Leicester City FC
and longtime local rival Manchester United FC.
City Football Group plans to use the funds to grow in China and
other international markets, according to the statement. CMC,
founded by Chinese media tycoon Li Ruigang, also owns the media
rights to China's top domestic league, the Chinese Super League.
Mr. Li, who has a longtime association with the powerful Shanghai
Media Group, will serve on City Football Group's board. Citic
Capital manages around $5 billion of private-equity funds and other
assets from global and Chinese investors.
City Football Group also owns New York City FC and Melbourne
City FC.
-- Lillian Lin in Beijing contributed to this article
Write to Rick Carew at rick.carew@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 01, 2015 05:35 ET (10:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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