Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group has appointed Deutsche Bank as advisers on a potential sale of the Infront sports marketing agency.
Infront said that itself and the Wanda Sports Group (WSG) arm have launched a review process to find new investors.
The formal beginning of the investment search and the hiring of the financial services group, reported by Reuters citing multiple sources, comes after months of signals from within the industry that Wanda has been mulling a sale of its flagship sports asset.
Wanda bought Infront from private equity firm Bridgepoint for €1.05bn (now $1.14bn) in 2015. The takeover was followed by lavish Chinese spending on sports IP, event hosting and star additions at the Chinese Premier League.
However, Wanda’s main business of property development has suffered in recent years amid falling sales. The Covid-19 pandemic and a change of direction from the Chinese government also hit hard.