Chinese Consortium to Buy 13% of Manchester City FC Owner

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 [e-mail]

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2015 05:35 ET (10:35 GMT)

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