Experts said Wednesday that the decision of AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC), which is majority-owned by Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin's Dalian Wanda Group, to buy Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group will help Wanda realize its ambitions of moving further into the entertainment and leisure businesses.
AMC said on Tuesday it will buy London-based Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group, which has 242 theaters and 2,236 screens, in a deal valued at about 921 million pounds ($1.21 billion).
The purchase, which requires the approval of EU regulators, will represent a big step in Dalian Wanda Group's goal to account for 20 percent of global box-office income by 2020, according to a statement on the website of Dalian Wanda Group Tuesday.
The deal will complete the global layout of Wanda cinemas, in the world's leading cinema markets in North America, China and Europe, making the company the world's largest movie theatre chain operator, the company said in the statement.
A global cinema chain can make Wanda the only non-American company with global distribution capacity, in addition to the six Hollywood giants, according to the statement.
The size of the distribution channel is often in proportion with that of the box-office income, an industry insider, who declined to be identified, told the Global Times Wednesday.
"A large portion of box-office income typically go to cinema operators. And as Wanda is also in the movie-making industry, the further expansion of its distribution channel helps it to build out its existing eco-system," the insider said.
AMC, the second-largest movie theater chain in North America, will own 627 theaters and more than 7,600 screens in eight countries after the purchase of the leading theater operator in Europe, according to a Reuters report.
As the growth of Wanda's property business has slowed, the company has sought to diversify into other businesses, including entertainment.
On July 5, Dalian Wanda Group announced its first-half results. Revenue climbed 10.6 percent year-on-year to 119.9 billion yuan ($18 billion), boosted by expansion into the entertainment and leisure businesses.
The company did not provide profit figures.
The company has acquired a range of assets in recent years including U.S. film studio Legendary Entertainment in January for $3.5 billion.
Its sports, film, entertainment and tourism branch saw revenue rise 57 percent in the first half while property revenue fell 17.3 percent, according to the company.
Developer scores big with China Cup
Dalian Wanda Group said on Wednesday that it will co-host the first China Cup International Football Tournament with the local government where the competition will be held, showing its growing appetite in the domestic soccer industry.
The 2017 competition will be held in January in -Nanning, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
"I am a big fan of soccer, and I do hope the Chinese national team will play in the World Cup," Wanda Group Chairman Wang Shi said at a press conference in Beijing.
Wang said founding the China Cup is just one way to revive Chinese soccer, and it could give the national team a springboard to the World Cup.
The China Cup is the first international soccer competition to land in China. It is a FIFA-approved international A-level tournament, capable of earning FIFA points for global rankings. China and the three first-class national teams from Europe and the Americas will play four games.
Starting from 2018, the China Cup will invite groups from Europe and the Americas whose teams have the highest skill levels, enabling international soccer stars to play in front of a vast crowd of Chinese soccer fans.
The announcement of the China Cup followed the release of reform guidelines for the nation's soccer industry earlier this year, Yu -Hongchen, Party chief of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), said at the press conference.
The competition will also be a good platform for top foreign and domestic teams.
It took Wanda two years and more than 100 negotiating sessions to gain approval from the CFA, the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA to make the China Cup a reality, the company said.
