Golden Globe’s Dick Clark Production Bought By Dalian Wanda For $1 Billion

After buying film production company Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion earlier this year, China’s Dalian Wanda is making a foray into the U.S. television industry with the purchase of Dick Clark Productions (DCP), the company behind the Golden Globe Awards, the company announced Friday.

The acquisition of the entire stake in DCP will cost the Chinese conglomerate $1 billion, and is “a big step forward in expanding Wanda’s map in the entertainment industry,” according to the official announcement. The current management of DCP will be kept on in its entirety, it added.

The production company, founded in 1957, owns the television broadcast rights for a number of popular ceremonies, which, other than the Golden Globe, include the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, as well as the New Year celebrations in New York City. “The majority of the rights that DCP possesses are for an indefinite period. The company's primary revenue stems from the broadcasting rights of these ceremonies, and it has long-term agreements with all the major TV stations,” the statement said.

Dalian Wanda, owned by China’s richest man Wang Jianlin, is the world’s largest cinema chain and bought AMC Theaters for $650 million, another U.S. acquisition made this year. The entertainment arm of the group also competes with Disney, and had opened a theme park, called Wanda World, in China just ahead of Disney’s Shanghai opening.

The company was also reported to be making a bid, worth over $4 billion, to buy mixed martial arts franchise, Ultimate Fighting Championship.