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Alibaba buys stake worth US$750 million from Wanda
Alibaba invests in cinema division of Chinese Wanda.
Alibaba the huge e-commerce organisation has agreed to buy stake from Wanda worth US$750 million. Wanda has been indebted. It’s stake are on its cinema section. The holding company controlled by the Beijing government will take 5.11% (around US$500 million). Generating over US$1.2 billion for Wanda.
Following rapid diversification, Wanda ended up mired in debt and under the scrutiny of Chinese regulators, forcing its head Wang Jianlin — once China’s richest man — to sell off parts of his empire.
Wang Jianlin sold parts of his empire as a result of the debt acquired by Wanda. US$5.4 billion has been raised so far from the sales of its stake.
Wanda Film owns 1,352 cinemas around the world with more than 14,000 screens 12% of the global box office. Alibaba is now the second largest shareholder in this division.
Alibaba has already bought stake in Hollywood in 2016 from a division which owns DreamWorks Picture.
They originally started with real estate, but later diversified into cinema, amusement parks and sports. In 2015 they bought 20% stake in Spanish football club Atletico Madrid.