China’s Dalian Wanda Group is considering a Hong Kong listing for its sports assets as part of efforts to rationalize its portfolio that could also include other sales, according to five people familiar with the situation.
An IPO of Wanda’s sports assets would include Infront Sports & Media AG, a Swiss sports marketing company (which owns the Tour de Suisse cycling race) and World Triathlon Corp, the organizer and promoter of the IRONMAN race.
Owned by Wang Jianlin, one of China’s richest men, Wanda’s businesses range from real estate to football and cinemas but it has been rattled in the past year by a government-led crackdown on overseas deals and high leverage.
The conglomerate last month tapped investment banks for a potential initial public offering of its sports businesses, three of the sources said. Citic Securities, China’s largest brokerage, is one of the banks involved, added one of them.
The share offering would also include Wanda’s smaller sports assets in China, such as cycling and basketball leagues, one of them said. The public float would not involve Wanda’s 20 percent stake in the Spanish football club Atletico Madrid, valued at 67 million euros after a recent capital raise, the source said.
The IPO would most likely take place in Hong Kong, but bankers have also pitched for a U.S. listing, according to the people.
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