Huawei Culture to Buy Mandala Film & TV Set Up by Leading Director’s Daughter

Liao Shumin

(Yicai Global) June 7 — Huawei Culture is set to pay CNY3 billion (USD471 million) for a two-year old film and television production company founded by the daughter of renowned Chinese director Zhang Jizhong.

Huawei Culture will buy Zhang Yue’s Dongyang Mandala Film & TV Culture, based in Shantou, Guangdong province, state news outlet The Paper reported. Huawei Culture [SHE:002502] suspended share trading on June 5 ahead of the acquisition. It did not disclose how much of Mandala Film & TV the investment would buy it.

Zhang Yue, Mandala’s president and legal representative, was born in 1978 and previously worked at Phoenix Satellite Television. She was also a vice president of Beijing Qiyi Century Science & Technology and a general manager of its copyright management center. Zhang has a 38.7 percent interest in Mandala.

Mandala Film & TV is no stranger to Huawei Culture. Zhejiang Dream Stardom Film and TV Culture, a Hangzhou-based wholly owned unit of Huawei Culture, raised its stake in Mandala by CNY200 million for 10 percent of its equity. Reports also claimed an angel investment round boosted the company’s value to CNY2 billion.

Formed in June 2016, the company specializes in TV dramas, movies, variety shows, and integrated marketing of entertainment activities. It had net income of CNY30 million (USD4.7 million) last year on operating revenue of just over CNY88 million.

Editor: Ben Armour