In recent years, Wang Jianlin has been forced to continue to "lose weight" and continue to sell assets. Among them, with the imminent sale of Sunseeker Yacht Company, Wanda Group's overseas assets will be emptied.
In the past, the film industry under Wanda Group, as the company's "profit pillar", has now been decided by Wang Jianlin to sell it as a whole. As a result, the listed company Wanda Film (002739.SZ) may face a name change.
Saying goodbye to Wang Jianlin, Ke Liming officially took over Wanda Films
On April 17, Wanda Film issued an announcement to disclose the progress of its change of controlling stake.
On April 15, Wanda Film received a notice that Wanda Culture Group and Wang Jianlin had completed the registration procedures for the transfer of 20% and 1.2% of the shares of Wanda Investment held by them to Ruyi Investment.
After this equity transfer, the equity control relationship of Wanda Film is as follows:
After the completion of the equity transfer, Ruyi Investment holds 51% of the equity of Wanda Investment, and Ke Liming is the actual controller of Ruyi Investment, while Ke Liming indirectly holds 16.34% of the shares of China Ruyi (00136.HK) through its wholly-owned enterprises, and Shanghai Ruyi Film and Television Production Co., Ltd., controlled by China Ruyi through the agreement, holds 49% of the equity of Wanda Investment.
Therefore, Ke Liming indirectly controls 20% of the equity of Wanda Film through Wanda Investment and is the actual controller of the latter. This also means that Ke Liming replaced Wang Jianlin and became the actual controller of Wanda Film, and Wang Jianlin officially withdrew from the actual controller of Wanda Film.
The transaction is a win-win situation, with two infusions of more than RMB4.4 billion from China Ruyi, allowing Wanda to recoup funds to cope with the financial crisis, while China Ruyi can expand its investment portfolio and improve investment returns.
However, for Wang Jianlin, selling Wanda Films also lost a strong money-making platform. According to the recently released annual forecast, benefiting from the strong recovery of the domestic film market, Wanda Film is expected to achieve a profit of 900 million yuan to 1.2 billion yuan in 2023, compared with a loss of 1.923 billion yuan in the previous year, turning losses into profits.
A well-known producer became the owner of Wanda Films
The protagonist of this acquisition, Ke Liming, was born in 1983 and is a well-known Chinese producer. He is also the chairman of the board and an executive director of China Ruyi (00136.HK), a Hong Kong-listed film and television company.
According to the 2023 financial report, Ke Liming currently holds 32.17% of the shares of China Ruyi, and Tencent holds 21.97% of the shares.
It is worth noting that Ke Liming, who became the actual controller of Wanda Film, did not choose to hold an important position in Wanda Film, but sent the internal management of China Ruyi to Wanda Film to hold a senior position.
In January this year, Chen Xi resigned as an executive director of China Ruyi in order to take up a position at Wanda Films, and was appointed as the chairman and non-independent director of Wanda Films in the same month, while Gong Qiao from China Ruyi was elected as a non-independent director of Wanda Films.
Ke Liming has considerable experience and strength in the film and television industry, which is why Ke Liming dared to win the controlling stake of Wanda Film, the leader in the film and television industry.
He holds a Master's degree in Money Banking and a Bachelor's degree in Risk Management from Griffith University, Australia. After graduating, Ke Liming chose to return to China to work, first in Hong Kong to work in finance, and then to Beijing, where he began to enter the film and television industry.
In terms of film investment, Ke Liming has shown extraordinary talent and frequently achieved good results. As an investor and producer, he has participated in the filming of TV series such as "The Frontier of Love", "No War in Beiping", "Langya Bang", "The Legend of Miyue", as well as films such as "Hello, Li Huanying", "To Youth: So You Are Still Here", "To Our Dying Youth", "Old Boy Raptors Crossing the River", "Send You a Little Red Flower", "Exchange Life" and other films, and participated in the production of "Bear Infested: Reverse Time and Space", "Flying Life 2", "Hot and Hot" and other films.
As of the end of 2023, the total assets of China Ruyi totaled 16.681 billion yuan. In 2023, China Ruyi's revenue will be RMB3.627 billion, up 175% year-on-year, and its adjusted net profit will be RMB9.67, up 276% year-on-year.
Ke Liming is not satisfied with only investing in movies/TV series, but extends his tentacles to the capital market, and has been the "receiver" of a big guy, the big guy is Xu Jiayin.
In October 2020, HengTen Networks acquired Ruyi Pictures and Pumpkin Films held by Ke Liming for a consideration of HK$7.2 billion, and Ruyi Pictures was successfully listed on the backdoor. Ke Liming officially became the third largest shareholder of HengTen Network, with a shareholding ratio of 12.50%.
In 2021, Evergrande (03333.HK) was in urgent need of recovery due to the debt crisis, and Ke Liming chose to spend a huge amount of money to "transfuse" China Evergrande, and transferred 739 million shares of Evergrande held by HengTen Network for HK $4.433 billion. At this point, Ke Liming took over HengTen Networks from Xu Jiayin and became the new helmsman of the company, and HengTen Networks was renamed China Ruyi the following year.
Ke Liming was ridiculed as the "savior" of China's richest man, because Xu Jiayin and Wang Jianlin both won the honor of China's richest man.
For the development prospects of Wanda Film after the change of ownership, some brokerages expressed optimism. Soochow Securities International said that Ruyi Investment Holdings Wanda Film, led by top film producers/investors, Wanda Film's film production business resources and production strength are expected to increase, and the follow-up revenue and profitability of the business may bring surprises to the market.
On April 18, Wanda Film's stock price soared nearly 4% at one point, and finally closed up 2.13%.
Author: Far away