LeTV Sports, a new sports-rights venture operated by Chinese IPTV operator LeTV, has generated $129m (€116m) through a funding round, with media moguls Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin being the lead investors.
Ma is the founder and chairman of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba while Jianlin is the founder of the Wanda property and entertainment conglomerate.
LeTV Sports handles media rights for 120 events in 12 sports such as football, basketball, tennis, golf and tennis, and also provides production services.
Ma’s investment was through the Yunfeng Capital private equity company. Yunfeng Capital managing director Jessica Xia said: “The business model of Letv Sports accords to our philosophy of investment. We will help LeTV Sports become a world-class enterprise by providing all sorts of support, not only in capital investment but also in fostering better company management, development strategies and brand building.”
Investment vehicles Prometheus Capital and Fortune Link were among the other investors in the funding round. Last June, Alibaba paid $192m for a 50 per cent stake in Chinese football club Guangzhou Evergrande. In February, Wanda struck a deal to acquire the Infront Sports & Media agency for €1.05bn.