Dalian/Dick Clark Deal D.O.A.?

It was in early November of last year when Chinese real estate and entertainment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group shocked the industry when it announced its intention deal to buy dick clark productions for the vastly inflated sum of $1 billion. What a difference three months makes — as TheWrap.com now reports, “Dalian Wanda’s highly publicized $1 billion purchase of dick clark productions is dead.”

As the entertainment industry new site now exclusively reports, “The deal has fallen apart over problems getting currency out of China — and passing regulatory muster with the Chinese state,” citing unnamed “insiders.” As the story reads, “The Chinese government now has a system in place for evaluating the price being paid… it was just too high,” adding that the real reason DCP won’t be leaving the U.S. is over currency controls. Speculation that the Trump administration would not approve the deal was not the primary reason for its breakdown, according to individuals who spoke to TheWrap.

A few weeks ago TheWrap had reported the sale was in jeopardy and that Wanda had not made a final payment to close the acquisition — speculation also indicated the deal would also face intense scrutiny from the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

To give some perspective on the monstrous size of Dalian’s $1 billion offer — DCP was initially acquired by Dan Snyder‘s RedZone Capital Management in 2007 for about $175 million. Five years later, Guggenheim Partners bought DCP for $370 million — a price that many at the time thought was inflated. More recently, Guggenheim spun DCP off to Eldridge Industries, which is owned by former Guggenheim exec Todd Boehly. All this being said, however, TheWrap.com report states that “Top brass at DCP owner Eldridge Industries still expect the deal to close.”

http://www.thewrap.com/dick-clark-productions-sale-dalian-wanda-dead-exclusive/