Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Dec 21, 2016 1:10:51 GMT -6
variety.com/2016/film/asia/china-metals-xinke-raymond-wong-pegasus-1201946677/
Chinese Metals Firm Xinke Buys Into Raymond Wong’s Pegasus
Anhui Xinke, the Chinese metals company that last month announced a deal to buy Voltage Pictures, is now to acquire a large stake in Hong Kong-based Pegasus Entertainment.
Celebrated actor-director-producer Raymond Wong (aka Wong Pak-ming) is to sell 29.9% of Pegasus to Xinke for $25 million (HK$194 million.) Wong, who founded the company in 2010, sees his share stake drop to 19.9% and is no longer designated as the controlling shareholder.
Contacted by Variety, Pegasus and Wong offered no explanation for the sale. Xinke has not yet made notification of the transaction to the Shanghai stock market, where its shares are listed.
Pegasus is a producer and distributor in film and TV, with credits including the Wong-directed “All’s Well” series of ensemble comedies. It recently produced “Bounty Hunters” which scored $31.9 million on its release in mainland China.
Xinke last month announced that it was buying an 80% stake in the parent company of Oscar-winning production and sales firm Voltage Pictures. Headed by Nicolas Chartier, Voltage was producer on both “The Dallas Buyers Club” and “The Hurt Locker.” Xinke said that it would pay a minimum of $345 million for the stake, with the price possibly rising to $518 million. The Voltage deal is expected to close by the end of December.
Earlier this year, Xinke, a copper processor based in China’s Anhui province, set up a Hong Kong-based media investments arm Wotaiji International Media, which it used to make the Voltage deal.