Leading Chinese Sports-Specialist Private Equity Firm
Strengthens Global Kickboxing Leader, Accelerating Further
International Growth
NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Glory Sports
International (GSI), parent company of the world's premier
kickboxing league, today announced that it has completed a Series B
financing led by Yao Capital, who has acquired a significant
strategic stake in the company. Liberty Global – the world's
largest international cable television and broadband company – has
also participated in the syndicate, plus existing GLORY
shareholders Twin Focus Capital of Boston and other existing partners.
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Focusing on growth stage sports & entertainment investment
opportunities, Yao Capital was founded by former NBA superstar
Yao Ming, veteran investor
David Han, the former Chief
Investment Officer of Wanda Group and former Managing Director of
The Carlyle Group, and Erik
Zhang, Yao Ming's
long-time business partner and Team Yao leader.
"To me, the sport of kickboxing is a synonym for courage, grit
and the will to succeed," said Yao
Ming, Chairman and co-founder, Yao Capital. "As kickboxing
is gaining worldwide popularity among the younger generation, Yao
Capital is pleased to partner with GLORY, the world's number one
league in this field. Today, we join forces to promote the sport of
kickboxing and encourage more young people to be involved in this
sport to become the hero in their own life."
Bruce Mann, Chief
Programming Officer, Liberty Global
added: "GLORY is a great fit for Liberty Global's content
investment strategy. We find investing in up-and-coming sports both
interesting and strategic. I believe Liberty Global's support and
operational leverage in combination with the arrival of Yao Capital
as an investor positions GLORY extremely well to deliver on their
vision."
GLORY will be increasing its live event presence to 18 dates in
2017, including expansion into Southeast
Asia and Latin America, as
well as launching reality television programming.
In addition, Yao Capital and GLORY have also agreed to commit
significant capital to immediately launch a new joint venture in
China, where kickboxing and
stand-up fighting have a long tradition of popularity and the
combat sports market is in the early stages of growth. The terms of
this additional commitment were not disclosed, although GLORY
expects to hold its first event in China in the near future.
Pierre Andurand, Chairman and co-founder, GLORY said: "We
are delighted that Yao Capital has become a major strategic
investor in GLORY. Yao Capital has a remarkable, successful team
with deep experience in growing sports businesses. GLORY will
benefit from their expertise and participation as we grow the
league globally, and in particular in China where we see great potential and
exciting fighters. Liberty Global adds unmatched knowledge and
media resources to the ownership group."
"GLORY will engage with fans more than 2 billion times in 2017
across our live events, television, and digital and social
platforms; and growth is accelerating," said Scott Rudmann, Vice-Chairman and co-founder,
GLORY. "GLORY athletes are the best strikers in combat
sports. Our television ratings as well as consumer engagement with
our brand are increasing everywhere around the world. Fans,
broadcasters, and sponsors have recognized GLORY as the 'go-to'
property for the pinnacle of kickboxing and stand-up combat."
ABOUT GLORY:
GLORY is the global leader in live kickboxing events and
television programming, with broadcast and digital partners in over
200 territories around the globe. Since being founded in 2012, the
organization has held 36 events in more than 12 countries across
four continents. GLORY's athlete roster includes 130 of the best
strikers in the world, currently spanning seven weight classes –
six men's divisions and one women's division.
GLORY maintains offices in Denver, London, Amsterdam, and Singapore. GLORY kickboxing rules are
comprised of a mix of several combat disciplines including
traditional Boxing, Kung Fu, Karate,
Muay Thai, and Tae Kwon Do. Like us
on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @GLORY_WS, and visit us
online at glorykickboxing.com.
ABOUT YAO CAPITAL:
Established in January 2016, Yao
Capital is an RMB 2 Billion private
equity firm founded by former NBA superstar Yao Ming and veteran investor David Han, the former Chief Investment Officer
of Wanda Group and former Managing Director of The Carlyle Group.
Yao Capital focuses on growth and buy-out stage investment
opportunities in sports & entertainment industry in
China as well as overseas.
In particular, Yao Capital is in a unique position to
leverage its abundant resources in world sports market and bring in
both capital and strategic value-add to invested international
sports companies to launch or strengthen their China presence.
ABOUT LIBERTY GLOBAL:
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and
broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across
Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure
that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital
revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to
develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation
networks that connect our customers who subscribe to over 59
million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We
also serve over ten million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi
service across six million access points. Liberty Global's
businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group
(NASDAQ: LBTYA, LBTYB and LBTYK) for our European operations, and
the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ: LILA and LILAK, OTC Link: LILAB), which
consists of our operations in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under
the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and
UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow,
Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a
submarine fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com or follow
us on twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Eric Jackman, GLORY PR
+1 718-354-9024
eric@jacktaylorpr.com