Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group has filed for a US initial public offering of its sports unit, which includes the Infront agency.
The news confirms multiple reports over the past 18 months regarding such a move for Wanda Sports Group, whose holdings also include World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Wanda Sports gave an estimated IPO size of $500m (€442.6m), with Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup engaged to lead the process to list American depositary shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the WSG symbol.
In the filing, Wanda Sports said it is required to use some of the proceeds of the IPO to repay an 11.5 per cent loan connected to a restructuring of the group, with the remainder set to go towards investments and general corporate use.
The Wanda Group will retain a majority of total voting power after the IPO.
It was reported in January that Wanda had made a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Headquartered in Beijing, Wanda Sports Group has more than 60 offices and 1,600 employees around the world.