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Chinese group buys 65% stake in MP & Silva

SINGAPORE — MP & Silva, a sports media company whose partners include the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), National Football League (NFL), Formula 1 racing and the English Premier League, has sold a 65 per cent stake to Beijing Baofeng Technology and financial services firm China Everbright.

SINGAPORE — MP & Silva, a sports media company whose partners include the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), National Football League (NFL), Formula 1 racing and the English Premier League, has sold a 65 per cent stake to Beijing Baofeng Technology and financial services firm China Everbright.

It said in a media release last night that it had sold the share to Shanghai Jin Xin, a company established by Baofeng and Everbright for the deal which, according to The Financial Times, values MP & Silva at more than US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion).

The deal is the latest Chinese bet on the global growth of professional sports. Sports teams and leagues in the United States and Europe are increasingly looking overseas for growth, and MP & Silva is an established middleman: Its primary business is negotiating team and league broadcast rights around the world.

Last year, the firm sold the NFL’s broadcast rights across Europe through 2019. According to its media release, it recorded a turnover of more than US$600 million for the year ending June 2015.

With headquarters in London and Singapore, some of the company’s other sports partners include Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga, the French Open and Major League Baseball’s World Baseball Classic. Its television clients include Walt Disney’s ESPN and Fox Sports.

The company also handles sponsorship sales and is developing the Americas Champions League, an international football tournament that would crown a club champion from North and South America and the Caribbean.

In February last year, MP & Silva signed a six-year deal with the FAS — valued at about S$25 million — covering the global media rights, sponsorship rights and international events for the Singapore national and age-group football teams.

According to MP & Silva’s release, Baofeng Technology will develop a “Sports Channel” and multiple “Sports Apps”. MP & Silva will be a platform to support “Baofeng Sports Operations”.

Sports business analysts TODAY spoke to said the latest deal may see MP & Silva’s portfolio grow and develop a foothold in China.

“With financial services company China Everbright behind it, it should make it easier for MP & Silva to bid for contracts with the strong financial backing,” said James Walton, clients and markets principal, Deloitte Southeast Asia, and head of Sports Business Group for South-east Asia.

“Many companies are interested in going into the large Chinese market, so MP & Silva will be given a hand in that now, and could see its portfolio not only grow, but diversify.”

Beijing Baofeng Technology operates a number of online businesses, including a movie player and game website. It also makes virtual reality headsets.

It went public last year, and shares jumped 4,208 per cent in the first 55 trading days.

China Everbright is a large state conglomerate that, like many of its peers, is seeking to diversify abroad as its domestic banking arm contends with ever-slower economic growth. AGENCIES

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