Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang purchases ‘multi million euro’ stake in Formula E Holdings
CMC Capital Partners, founded by Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang, has announced an investment in Formula E Holdings, the official promoter of FIA Formula E Championship.
The investment valued in the “tens of millions of euros” is led by CMC Capital, according to a company announcement. The consortium also includes China’s sports marketing and management company SECA, a unit of CMC Capital group.
Formula E was launched in 2014 as the world’s first all-electric single-seater racing series. The races take place on street circuits in major cities around the world. The third season, which commenced in October and runs until July, is comprised of races in cities such as Hong Kong, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, New York and Montreal.
Li said Formula E has quickly evolved into a premium global sports intellectual property promoting sustainability, innovation, and market penetration of electric vehicles, as well as in media partnership, sponsorships and tourism.
“CMC will join hands with SECA to help expand Formula E’s presence globally and in China,” Li said in the announcement.
The investment in Formula E represents CMC’s latest effort in developing and investing in premium global sports intellectual properties, said CMC.
The company signed a deal in October 2015 for the exclusive global broadcast rights over the next five years of Chinese Super League,
CMC was founded by Li in 2009 as the mainland’s first media sector-focused fund dedicated to media and entertainment investments both in China and abroad.
It has separate movie-making ventures with IMAX Corp and Warner Brothers Entertainment, and also partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Dreamworks Animation Skg, which made Kung Fu Panda 3.
Li made headlines in Hong Kong when he became an indirect investor in TVB, the city’s main free-to-air terrestrial broadcaster, following his company’s purchase of an undisclosed stake in the broadcaster’s largest shareholder, Young Lion Holdings, in April 2015. In October 2016, Li increased his influence and became vice chairman of TVB, which last week received an unsolicited “conditional cash partial takeover offer” to buy a 29.9 per cent stake in the company.
