Big news from Wang Jianlin again!

Wang Jianlin clears out Legendary Entertainment's equity

Recently, Legendary Entertainment, the production company behind the "Dune" series of films, has acquired the remaining shares of the company held by Dalian Wanda Group. This agreement has given control to Legendary Entertainment and Apollo Global Management. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but Legendary Entertainment has stated that it completed the acquisition using its own financial resources without relying on external financing. Apollo Global Management is one of the world's leading private equity fund management companies, headquartered in the United States.

Josh Grondin, CEO of Legendary Entertainment, said in an interview that negotiations to acquire Wanda's shares in the company began about six months ago. He does not recall whether the negotiations were initiated by Legendary Entertainment or Wanda Group, but he stated that the transaction would help the company with potential future expansions.

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Josh Grondin said, "We have a considerable amount of liquidity on our balance sheet, and this was a great opportunity to acquire the investor's shares at a reasonable price and achieve value addition."

Apollo Global Management said in a statement, "We are delighted to further deepen our cooperation with Legendary Entertainment and support the talented team. We believe that Legendary Entertainment is an excellent platform with the potential for future growth, especially against the backdrop of the ever-evolving entertainment industry."

Although Legendary Entertainment self-financed the acquisition of Wanda's shares, the company stated that it still has "ample remaining liquidity to support current operations and planned expansions" after the transaction was completed. In 2023, Legendary announced that it had secured an $800 million credit facility for five years, led by J.P. Morgan.

On the other hand, Wanda is facing cash shortages and a large amount of debt, forcing it to sell assets. In 2024, Wanda sold its shares in mall operations and sold the yacht manufacturer Sunseeker International to Lionheart Capital. Grondin said that Wanda was initially reserved when the idea of divesting shares was proposed.

Earlier this year, Legendary released "Dune: Part Two," a science fiction epic that received high praise and grossed nearly $715 million at the global box office. Legendary is also set to release the spin-off series "Dune: The Prophet" in November. In addition to the "Dune" series, Legendary has also created the "MonsterVerse" film series, with the latest installment, "Godzilla vs. Kong: New Empire," premiering this spring and grossing over $570 million worldwide.

Other works by Legendary include "The Hangover," "The Dark Knight," and "Enola Holmes." In television, Legendary has produced "Emperor: The Legacy of the Monster" for Apple TV+ and "Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft" for Netflix, among other programs.Wang Jianlin Became the Controlling Shareholder with a $3.5 Billion Investment Eight Years Ago

In January 2016, the signing ceremony for Wanda Group's acquisition of Legendary Entertainment was held in Beijing. Wanda Group announced the acquisition of Legendary Entertainment for no more than $3.5 billion in cash. This was the largest overseas cultural merger and acquisition by a Chinese company at the time, and Wang Jianlin was still the richest man in China that year.

At that time, Wang Jianlin said that it was a "miracle" for a Chinese company to be able to acquire such a heavyweight large American company. The film production, cinema chain, and distribution industry chain built by Wanda greatly enhanced Wanda's core competitiveness and say in the global film industry.

He said that after the acquisition, Wanda would create more market opportunities for Legendary Entertainment, especially in the rapidly growing Chinese film market, allowing Legendary Entertainment to achieve high-speed performance growth.

In 2022, Wanda sold a minority stake in Legendary Entertainment, and Apollo Global Management acquired a part of Legendary's shares for $760 million.