Wanda in huge Hollywood deal
January 12, 2016
China's property and entertainment conglomerate Wanda Group confirmed Tuesday it was buying Hollywood's Legendary Entertainment, which produced blockbusters such as "Jurassic World", the Batman "Dark Knight" trilogy and "Inception." It added it would spend $3.5 billion (3.2 billion euros) on the transaction.
Wanda is controlled by Wang Jianlin, considered to be the richest man in China. Jianlin is said to be looking to diversify his business empire overseas.
Wanda has already greatly expanded its entertainment holdings in recent years. It's the world's biggest cinema operator after buying America's second-largest cinema chain, AMC Entertainment, in 2012.video#
Booming business
Under the agreement announced Tuesday, Legendary's founder and CEO, Thomas Tull, will continue to head the movie maker.
The deal to secure a majority stake in Legendary Entertainment comes as Wanda Group attempts to shift away from its core, but slowing domestic property operations.
Wanda Group said its revenues rose by 19 percent last year with spectacular deals to buy into everything from financial services to Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid.
hg/bea,cjc (dpa, Reuters)