China's Wanda Buys Dick Clark Productions For $1 Billion
its stable of overseas acquisitions, paying $1 billion for Dick Clark Productions, the TV
company that produces the Golden Globes and the "Miss America" pageant.
Wanda is one of China's most important conglomerates and China's largest property
developer. Its chairman, Wang Jianlin, is China's richest man by most measures, with
an estimated net worth exceeding $32 billion.
The company owns AMC Theatres and bought Legendary Entertainment for $3.5
billion in January. In September, it announced a movie partnership with Sony Pictures.Diversifying away from China's weakening property market, Wanda Group has made
entertainment a major focus of its growth in recent years. It has openly embraced a
mission to fend off Western imports in the Chinese market and become a globally
recognized Chinese entertainment brand.
That push into the U.S. entertainment industry has raised alarm among some
American lawmakers concerned about creative freedom and the promotion of
Chinese propaganda. A group of legislators recently asked the U.S. Government
Accountability Office to review Chinese takeovers.
The namesake company of legendary American television host Dick Clark was
purchased in 2012 by a group including investment firm Guggenheim Partners.
It produces several awards shows and the New Year's Eve countdown show in
New York.
Wanda said in its statement Friday that Dick Clark Productions' existing management
"will remain in its entirety," and that both sides had reached a long-term operating
agreement. It expects Dick Clark Productions to show "strong increases" in revenue
and profit every year, but did not say whether its agreement with management was
contingent on revenue targets.
Wanda's statement said it expected to find ways to coordinate development between
Dick Clark Productions and its previous deals in film, tourism and sports.
Hollywood has eagerly welcomed Chinese partners. From 2000 to 2015, Chinese
direct investment in U.S. entertainment firms amounted to $4 billion, according to
Rhodium Group. That pace then skyrocketed in January with Wanda's purchase
of Legendary, which almost doubled that total by itself.
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