LeTV launches second round of financing LeTV Sports accelerates its pace of separate listing

The company has officially launched the second round of financing recently and is contacting relevant potential investors. If it goes well, it will complete the new round of financing by mid-2016 at the latest. The reporter also learned from people familiar with the matter that LeSports has formulated plans to go public separately and will start the listing process as soon as 2017.

Original title: LeSports 'separate listing accelerates

LeSports insiders confirmed to reporters that the company has officially launched the second round of financing recently and is contacting relevant potential investors. If it goes well, it will complete a new round of financing by mid-2016 at the latest. The reporter also learned from people familiar with the matter that LeSports has formulated plans to go public separately and will start the listing process as soon as 2017.

"If it impacts the capital market in 2017, LeSports will face a lot of development pressure in the next two years. On the one hand, it will have to complete the established business layout, and on the other, it will have to deal with competition from other giants such as Alibaba." An investment banker interviewed by reporters believes that the funding issue is an issue that LeTV Sports must properly solve. Judging from previous public information, in order to support the development of its various business lines, LeTV's financial pressure is already very huge, and the future financial support for LeTV Sports will be very limited. Therefore, LeSports needs to complete the financing as soon as possible to ensure the funding source for the next stage.

It

is well known that LeTV has entered the sports industry through alliance with National Security to increase its separate listing chips. Previously, LeTV had named Beijing Wukesong Stadium in a high-profile manner and recently announced a strategic cooperation with Beijing Guoan Football Club. Most industry insiders believe that as LeEco's professional sports business company, LeEco Sports will receive "key care" from LeEco in the future. LeEco is likely to inject the above businesses into LeEco Sports to increase its leverage for a separate listing.

In response to external speculation, LeSports people told reporters that LeTV has not yet stated that it will inject the stadium and Guoan Club business into LeSports, but it does not rule out the above possibility. Since LeTV and LeSports have elaborated on the development plans of their respective sports ecosystems at the group and company levels, LeSports is likely to undertake the above businesses in the future and become the core company of the entire LeSports ecosystem.

Although LeTV did not make a clear response to reporters on the prospects of LeTV Sports 'separate listing, since the end of 2015, LeTV launched the equity incentive plan and its LeTV Mobile completed high-value financing. Against this background, market analysis generally believes that LeTV Sports As a very important business company under LeTV, it is very likely that LeTV will eventually choose to list separately. Another analysis pointed out that from the public information, LeTV is ambitious in sports business, but its financial strength is worrying. To achieve the set development goals, LeTV would be wise to start financing and listing its business companies separately.

On May 13, 2015, LeSports, which was only one year after its establishment, completed an A financing of 800 million yuan with a valuation of 2.8 billion yuan. This round of financing was participated by institutions and individuals such as Wanda Investment, Yunfeng Fund, Dongfang Huifu, and Price Investment. Subsequently, LeSports entered a period of rapid development and successively obtained regional broadcast rights for the world's top events such as the Premier League and F1. According to LeSports, through various copyright cooperation, LeSports has currently obtained the rights to broadcast 300 sports events around the world, and its videos have basically included mainstream sports audiences.

It is reported that LeSports 'second round of financing will reach US$500 million. If the financing is successfully completed, LeSports' valuation is expected to reach US$3 billion. Although LeSports did not provide a detailed introduction to the financing details. However, most market analysts believe that due to the strategic cooperation reached with Beijing Guoan, this will become an important bargaining chip for LeSports in the future, and may help LeSports increase its valuation and obtain high financing.

Completing financing has become a top priority.

"Guangzhou Evergrande is the best example. Evergrande's performance in domestic and foreign venues in recent years is obvious to all. In addition to bringing rapid growth in the sales of sports goods in the Evergrande Entertainment Department, the benefits it has brought to Evergrande are incalculable." A foreign investment bank investment director said in an interview with reporters that if an equity cooperation is reached with Guoan Club and eventually injected into LeSports, it will greatly increase LeSports 'influence, which will increase the valuation of LeSports.

Previously, LeEco announced that it would be named Guoan Club and reached a strategic cooperation with it. However, due to policies such as season registration, LeTV did not complete the equity transaction with Guoan, and Guoan Club will maintain its current equity structure in 2016. However, LeSports CEO Lei Zhenjian said that the equity transaction with Guoan is still ongoing. Guoan Club previously announced the launch of a mixed ownership reform with a valuation of 4 billion yuan and plans to sell 50% of its equity.

"Even if Guoan cannot be captured in the near future, this expectation will still push up LeSports's valuation. Even if we miss the second round of financing, based on LeSports 'current development speed, there will still be follow-up financing or even a separate listing. If Guoan can finally be 'won' and injected into LeSports, LeTV only needs to choose the right time to inject it into LeSports, which will help it achieve its goal of high financing." The above investment bankers further analyzed.

In fact, LeEco has always had high hopes for the deal with Guoan. Lei Zhenjian believes that the cooperation between Guoan and LeTV will make LeSports's business more three-dimensional. LeSports has rich resources and layout in many aspects such as content, events, intelligence (including smart hardware and smart venues), Internet services, and even globalization. It can complement and integrate with Guoan Club, which will be of great benefit to the company's business.

However, the industry believes that LeSports 'current top priority is to complete financing as soon as possible to ensure financial support for the next stage of development. According to Lei Zhenjian, LeSports's main businesses currently include four major areas: content platform, event operations, intelligence, and Internet services. In 2016, LeSports will not only broadcast top events at home and abroad, but will also host more than 60 events on its own. In addition, LeSports will continue to strengthen its layout in the copyright business of sports events and continue to win more rights to broadcast more top events. There is no doubt that these layouts require a large amount of financial support and will further boost LeSports 'financing needs.

Judging from the current development, LeEco's various branches have independently raised funds and even gone public, which has become LeEco's first choice. Previously, LeEMobile completed its first round of financing of US$530 million and recently launched its first round of employee equity incentive plans, which was interpreted by the outside world as a sign that LeEMobile has launched its independent listing. With the official launch of LeSports 'second round of financing, it is widely believed that LeSports will also accelerate the process of independent financing and listing.

Editor: kong