China’s Wanda Film will now work with Alibaba on ticketing, among other areas, after the e-commerce giant bought a stake in the firm.
China’s Dalian Wanda Group, the cinema operator that runs giant AMC, has gained 4.68bn yuan from Alibaba in exchange for a 7.66 per cent stake in its film division.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will therefore be the second-biggest shareholder in Wanda Film.
According to the filing, Wanda Film will also cooperate with Alibaba in its ticketing, film distribution, marketing, financing as well as pre-screening advertising and online ticketing.
Cinema chain AMC Entertainment, owned by Dalian Wanda Group, last year saw a loss in the third quarter due to “weakness” in its summer box office.
The firm’s results still surpassed expectations, though AMC posted a loss of $42.7m (£32.5m/€36.9m) against a profit of $30.4m in the same period of 2016.
Ticketing revenue rose 52 per cent to $754m during the latest quarter, when factoring in mergers, and the average ticket price during the quarter was $9.48, down from $9.57 the previous year.
Last week, a group led by Tencent agreed to buy a 14 per cent stake in Dalian Wanda Commercial Management for $5.4bn
Beijing Cultural Investment Holdings, controlled by the Beijing government, will also pay 3.12bn yuan for a 5.11 per cent stake in Wanda Film.
Image: Philld
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