BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative, internet-empowered entertainment services in China, today announced that FountainVest Partners ("FountainVest") has acquired a significant minority stake in the Company. A representative of FountainVest has been appointed by the Board as a non-executive Director, effective as of January 15, 2020. The Company's CEO, Mr. Zhihao Zheng, co-invested in the transaction with personal funds.
FountainVest is one of the most established independent private equity firms in Asia, with a strong track record investing in leading media and entertainment companies. The firm focuses on long-term oriented investments in industry leaders, partnering closely with management teams to accelerate growth and create value in areas including strategy, operations, acquisitions and capital markets. Its past and current private equity investments in media, sports and entertainment include Focus Media, Amer Sports, Pure Fitness, Endeavor China, and IMAX China, among others.
"FountainVest is known for its strategic, long-term investment vision and excellent investment track record throughout the entertainment industry," commented Mr. Zhihao Zheng, CEO of Maoyan. "Going forward, we are quite excited to work with FountainVest to drive the sustainable development of Maoyan in the Chinese entertainment industry, which will lead to the creation of long-term value for our partners, users and shareholders in turn. Moreover, my investment represents the management team's confidence in the growth potential of the industry and the expansion capabilities of the company."
Mr. George Chuang, Co-President of FountainVest, commented: "Starting from its initial business in online entertainment ticketing, Maoyan has grown into a leading integrated entertainment service platform with multiple drivers for growth. We are delighted to become a shareholder, with co-investment from the company's CEO Mr. Zheng. We endeavor to leverage our experience and sector resources to help the company further expand its business, achieve long-term development, and ultimately provide better entertainment experiences to Chinese consumers."
Since launching its comprehensive growth strategy in early 2019, Maoyan has provided a variety of marketing services and data insights to 43 hit movies, including "The Wandering Earth," "My People, My Country," "Pegasus," and "Ip Man 4: The Finale," as well as such popular TV shows as "The Longest Day in Chang'an," "The Legendary Tavern," and "Traditional Chinese Medicine."
The success of the Company's growth strategy to date is a product of its ability to integrate and leverage its cross-platform resources in support of marketing campaigns for clients in China's entertainment industry. In 2019, for example, Maoyan served as the general ticketing agent for multiple events and live performances of top-tier artists, including Jay Chou, JJ Lin and RISE. Based on their cooperative successes, several artists and event organizations have expanded their partnerships with Maoyan into all phases of their marketing campaigns. Notably, the strategic alliance between Maoyan and Tencent, launched in 2019, has progressed into such areas as movies, TV series and videos.
Maoyan's App is the top ticketing application in China, according to QuestMobile data. Maoyan's multi-mini program ecosystem has accumulated over 250 million users while its digital media network has grown to more than 200 million followers.
China has become the second-largest entertainment market in the world. The total revenues of China's entertainment market reached 1.7 trillion yuan (US$244 billion) in 2018, and the market is projected to hit 3.2 trillion yuan in 2022, according to market research consultancy iResearch. The robust growth of China's entertainment market is being driven by the development of technology and the mobile internet, consumption upgrade and growing spending power, and increasingly diversified and personalized entertainment formats.
About Maoyan Entertainment
Maoyan Entertainment (Hong Kong: 1896) is a leading integrated platform providing innovative, internet-empowered entertainment services in China. Since its inception, Maoyan has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider to an innovative, one-stop platform for entertainment services. Maoyan has a comprehensive strategy to become a leading platform servicing the entire entertainment industry in China. The upgraded strategy is supported by five key platform pillars: an online ticketing platform, a products and services platform, a data platform, a marketing platform and a funding platform.
Investor Relations Contact
Maoyan Entertainment
Email: ir@maoyan.com
ICR, Inc.
Xinran Rao
Email: Maoyan@icrinc.com
Phone: +1 (212) 537-4035
