Wanda failed to acquire DCP for US$1 billion and was sued. Wang Jianlin's three small goals were gone

the Hollywood Reporter revealed that China's Dalian Wanda Group's acquisition of Dick Clark Productions, a US "Golden Globe" production company, was terminated, marking the first overseas acquisition failure of Dalian Wanda Group.

original title Wanda failed to acquire DCP: Wang Jianlin lost three small goals

on March 10th, the Hollywood Reporter revealed that China's Dalian Wanda Group's acquisition of Dick Clark Productions, an American "Golden Globe" production company, was terminated, which was the first overseas acquisition failure of Dalian Wanda Group. Eldridge Industries, the owner of Dick Clark Productions, said in a statement that the agreement had been "broken" after Wanda failed to meet its contractual obligations, with termination fees totaling $50 million, but Wanda had paid $25 million to extend the deadline for fulfillment of the contract. Now that the deal is completely dead, DCP is suing Wanda for the remaining $25 million.

looking back on Wang Jianlin's foray into Hollywood, he got off to a good start, but the whole process suffered frequent setbacks, which was not as simple as expected.

Last November, China's Dalian Wanda Group announced on Friday that it had agreed to buy US entertainment company DickClarkProductions for $1 billion, the first time Wanda has been involved in television production. DickClarkProductions has produced a number of awards ceremonies, including the American Music Awards (AmeriCAn MUsic Awards), the Golden Globes (GOLDen Globes), and the Hollywood Film Awards (Hollywood Film Awards). In addition, it produced FOX's live music program "The Passion" in March this year. The company was founded in 1957 and owns more than 20 TV programs.

Wanda made a surprising series of "buys" in the US film industry in 2016, but even if he is the richest man, Wang Jianlin's small goal of buying one of the top six Hollywood studios has encountered obstacles. As soon as the news of the high-profile acquisition was released, foreign media expressed concern about Wang Jianlin's ambitions and believed that Wang Jianlin would not stop until he won the six major film studios. In addition, Wang Jianlin's "unscrupulous" acquisition has been targeted by many US congressmen. John Culberson, a senior member of the US House of Representatives, wrote to the US Department of Justice that a series of recent mergers and acquisitions by Wanda Group against US entertainment companies have raised concerns about foreign control of a large part of the US media industry. They believe that Wang Jianlin and China will threaten Hollywood's dominance as a commercial and cultural force in the entertainment industry.

the big order that Wanda has worked so hard to win has been bearish and teetering for several months. When attending the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017, Wang Jianlin expressed mixed feelings about whether the "big order" could be closed, and worried that the US government would block the acquisition. In February this year, "TheWrap" broke the news that Wanda's acquisition of DC fell through because of problems with the outbound acquisition funds and regulatory approval. Today, officials officially announced that the deal had been terminated and sued to recover half of the $50 million "reverse break fee" related to the transaction. Is it so difficult for Wang Jianlin to buy a Hollywood company?

in the last five years, Wanda has made more and more strides into the center of the global film industry, expanding the territory of the enterprise from the original real estate to the cultural industry. In 2012, Wanda bought AMC,2015, the world's second-largest cinema chain, for $2.6 billion and spent $3.5 billion to acquire legendary Pictures, a Hollywood company with super IP such as "Warcraft" and "King Kong". In September 2016, Wanda signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Sony Pictures, one of the six major Hollywood studios, which is the first step in Wanda's acquisition of the six major studios.

Wang Jianlin is outspoken about his ambitions to enter Hollywood. "my goal is to acquire Hollywood companies and bring their technology and film production capacity to China," Wang Jianlin said in an interview with Reuters in August 2016. " In Wanda's "confession" of Paramount, Wang Jianlin said, "We are not only interested in Paramount, but all of the six Hollywood giants." In addition to Paramount, the Big six of Hollywood also include 20th Century Foss, Warner Brothers, Disney, Universal and Sony. Wanda wants to build a real film empire, which is a necessary step.

in July 2016, Wanda partnered with Paramount parent company viacom to buy Paramount's 49 per cent stake, but was strongly opposed by Viacom holding company American Entertainment and the company's owner, the redstones family. After the "confession" Paramount was rejected, Wang Jianlin continued to buy more and more courageously. Chinese people expect Wang Jianlin to establish a "Chinese channel" for the world film and television industry, but the final acquisition deal is still stillborn. The failure of the Dick Clark Productions deal is the first time that China's Dalian Wanda Group has failed to pass a major overseas acquisition, and this battle for ideology and discourse will take time when only the "Big six" in the world have global distribution channels.

Edit: nancy