Alibaba Pictures plans to acquire 100% equity of Pony Media, a live performance supplier, from Alibaba Group for $167 million.

According to the announcement from Dolphin Research APP, Alibaba Pictures has revealed that on September 19, 2023, the company (as the buyer) entered into a share purchase agreement with Alibaba Investment (as the seller). The buyer has conditionally agreed to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Pony Media Holdings Inc. at the delivery time, for a total consideration of $167 million (equivalent to approximately HK$1.307 billion). At the delivery time, the company will issue and distribute approximately 2.513 billion consideration shares to the seller at a price of HK$0.52 per share. As of the date of this announcement, the seller is wholly owned by Alibaba Group. Through the Maoyan brand, the target group is a leading live entertainment provider, offering various activities in China, including concerts, music festivals, live performances, theater, sports events, and exhibitions. The target group has hosted over 1.8 million events and has accumulated over 100 million registered customers. Its business covers the entire live entertainment value chain, including event organization, promotion, and ticketing. After the acquisition, the group, together with the target company, will be positioned as the offline entertainment flagship platform of Alibaba's cultural and entertainment group. By expanding the influence of the Maoyan brand in the upstream of the live entertainment industry value chain, such as event organization, promotion, venue operation, and artist management, the company aims to consolidate its scale advantage and competitive barriers, and further enhance the brand awareness of its offline entertainment business.