Frederik Van Lierde of Belgium celebrates after winning the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Oct. 12, 2013. (Photo : Reuters)
Dalian Wanda Group announced on Thursday that it has bought the owner of the highly popular Ironman Triathlon endurance races for $650 million, in a diversification campaign that the property developer said may involve additional investments into sports by the year’s end.
Wanda, which is headed by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, purchased World Triathlon Corp. from U.S. fund Providence Equity Partners LLC for $900 million including debt, according to Reuters.
The purchase is Wanda's most recent sports-related acquisition following its investment in Swiss sports media company Infront Sports & Media and a stake in Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid in recent years, as the company tries to counter its slump in China's property market by spreading out into the entertainment sector.
Wanda, the parent of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co., China's largest commercial real estate developer, aims to generate $100 billion of revenue by 2020 from $40 billion in 2014. The purchase of Ironman will bring in $183 million this year, following four years of compound growth of 21 percent, Providence said.
"Wanda's next task is to widely market this global extreme, endurance sport in China," Wang said at a briefing in Beijing, adding that the group would likely buy another sports company before the end of the year.
The Ironman Triathlon comprises of a 3.9-km (2.4 mile) swim, a 180-km bike ride and 42.2-km run, which must be completed in less than 17 hours. Wanda plans to hold up to three races in China next year and increase Chinese participants to 200,000 over the next decade from 100.
Ironman CEO Andrew Messick said that Ironman currently hosts 200 events across 27 countries and has nearly 250,000 registered athletes.
"Wanda Group is a global-minded organization that shares our desire for excellence and continued growth, particularly in Asia," he said.
According to Wanda, World Triathlon Corp.'s entire management has signed a long-term contract to continue following the acquisition
In turn, Providence Equity will get four times the return on its Ironman investment, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters under the condition of anonymity.
