News Corp sells controlling stake in Chinese TV channels to China Media Capital

Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation yesterday said that it will sell controlling stakes in three of its Chinese TV channels and a movie library to private equity fund China Media Capital (CMC) for an undisclosed sum.

Under the deal, CMC, China's first private equity fund that focuses on investment in the media industry will acquire a controlling stake in News Corporation's Xing Kong, Xing Kong International, Channel [V] Mainland China along with its Fortune Star Chinese movie library.

Xing Kong and Xing Kong International are general entertainment channels while Channel [V] Mainland Channel is a popular music brand among the youth audiences. The Fortune Star Chinese movie library has a total of 757 Chinese-language titles, a number of which have worldwide perpetual rights. The content reaches Chinese communities across the globe.

In addition to Xing Kong and Channel [V], News Corporation's other broadcast channels in China include Star Movies and National Geographic Channel. News Corporation also owns 17.6 per cent of Phoenix Satellite Television which runs Phoenix Chinese Channel, Phoenix InfoNews and Phoenix Movies Channel.

News Corporation also broadcasts Mandarin-language sports channels EPSN and Star Sports through its 50 per cent owned ESPN Star Sports joint venture. The media company's other investment in China includes Chinese WSJ.com and MySpace China.

CMC, founded in 2009, and the News Corp deal being its first ever investment, is backed by Shanghai Media Group and China Development Bank. CMC was registered and approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission with RMB 5 billion in assets under management.
CMC seeks to identify investment opportunities in media businesses in both China and abroad with the aim of providing backing through growth capital, corporate restructuring, management buyouts and strategic acquisitions.