LeTV Sports, a sports-rights venture operated by Chinese IPTV operator LeTV, has said it aims to raise $500m (€454m) to fund acquisitions and grow into an all-round sports media business.
LeTV Sports chief executive Lei Zhenjian told the Bloomberg news agency that the envisioned fundraising would value the company at $3bn. This is more than six times the $450m valuation reached at a prior round completed in May which raised $100m. Yunfeng Capital and Prometheus Capital were joined by Wanda Investment in that round.
Lei said the company needs capital to acquire sports rights, develop a new event management business, and start online sales of sports and exercise equipment such as drones and wearable devices.
LeTV Sports plans to increase staffing levels by about 75 per cent to approximately 700 people by the end of the year, in anticipation of a fivefold jump in revenue in 2015, Lei added without specifying sales numbers.
“As we increase the business areas we focus on, it will become more challenging for us as well, because we will face more competitors in each section,” Lei said. “This is a challenging time for LeTV Sports, as we hope our main businesses will grow faster.”
LeTV Sports has enjoyed a productive month on the rights acquisitions front. It has agreed a three-season deal, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, for rights to the Uefa Champions League and Europa League club football competitions, along with a contract with the Scottish Professional Football League across the same period.
LeTV Sports signed a strategic collaboration with the MP & Silva agency under which it acquired rights for a number of properties in China. It also agreed a three-year deal for rights to the 2016 to 2018 editions of the Wimbledon tennis championships.
Lei added that LeTV Sports hopes to complete its latest round of fundraising in the fourth quarter.