China's Dalian Wanda Group acquires Infront Sports & Media for €1.05bn

Dalian Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate which specialises in entertainment, hotel development and management and commercial real estate, acquired the Swiss sports marketing & media rights agency Infront Sports & Media, for $1.2bn (€1.05bn) announced the group on 10/02/2015.

"By acquiring Infront, Wanda will also be in a position to increase its influence in the global sports industry and help raising the level of competition in Chinese sports. We are very confident to support Infront in its aim to become the number one global sports marketing company," said Wang Jianlin, chairman of Wanda Group.

Infront Sports & Media was founded in 2003 by Robert Louis-Dreyfus and Klaus Jacobs and was bought by the British private equity fund Bridgepoint in 2011 for a sum of €550m from Jacobs Holding and shareholder Martin Steinmeyer.

Dalian Wanda Group will hold a 20% stake in Atletico Madrid

• Dalian Wanda Group will acquire a 20% share in Atletico Madrid for €45m, said the Chinese company and the Spanish club on 21/01/2015.
• The transaction, which was approved by the board of the club, takes…