Wanda to invest in more sports clubs

The founder of Chinese retail, property and entertainment powerhouse Wanda Group says he plans to invest in more globally recognised sports clubs.

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group, ranked China’s richest man by Bloomberg with assets of $42.1 billion, bought 20 per cent of Spanish football club Atletico Madrid in April for euro 45 million. He also bought Swiss sports marketing group Infront for euro 1.05 billion.

This week he said he will buy into “at least three more” sports clubs this year.

Chinese press agency Xinhua reported Wang Jianlin saying: “Within this year, Wanda will still buy at least three sports companies. Upon the completion of these mergers and acquisitions, Wanda is going to be the world number one in the sports industry.”

It’s all part of a strategy to boost Wanda Group’s influence in the global sports business, which would also benefit its retail networks through brand associations.

Beijing-headquartered Wanda Group owns retail, entertainment and hotel businesses, including the AMC cinema business. He is expanding into theme parks and film production and has a commercial property arm, Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, which owns shopping malls.